Artists News | MercyMe's 'Shake' Sger Talks Reventn of Mic, Church Legalism, Gay Marriage, and God's Grace, 'Whout Sufferg 's Hard to Tly Appreciate Grace' (INTERVIEW) | BREATHEst

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MERCYME'S 'SHAKE' SGER TALKS REVENTN OF MIC, CHURCH LEGALISM, GAY MARRIAGE, AND GOD'S GRACE, 'WHOUT SUFFERG 'S HARD TO TLY APPRECIATE GRACE' (INTERVIEW) GRAMMY NOMATED CHRISTIAN NTEMPORARY BAND MERCYME, RELEASE THEIR EIGHTH STUD ALBUM, WELE TO THE NEW, ON TUDAY APRIL 8 AND LEAD SGER BART MILLARD SAID FEELS LIKE IS JT THE BEGNG. BREATHEST HAD AN PTH TERVIEW WH MILLARD AND DISCSED THE NEW ERA THE BAND HAS ENTERED OF DCHG THEIR TRADNAL LIFE LEGALISM AND EMBRACG THE JOY AND GRACE OF J CHRIST.BREATHEST: DO YOU THK PEOPLE ARE TEND TO ALWAYS REVENT THEMSELV, THAT WHOLE "NEW" EXPERIENCE LIKE THE SCRIPTUR OM GLORY TO GLORY, OR DO WE EVER FD THAT HAPPY MEDIUM? BART: WE LL MATURG CHRIST. IF I'M NOT ONE STEP CLOSER TO CHRIST NOW THAN I WAS A YEAR AGO, THEN I DON'T THK I'M REALLY DOG WHAT I WAS CREATED TO DO. WE DON'T E TO KNOW CHRIST AND THEN EVERYTHG SHUTS DOWN AND WE GO TO HEAVEN. THERE IS A JOURNEY PLACE.THE BETIFUL THG ABOUT THE JOURNEY IS THAT WE ARE GOOD WH CHRIST REGARDLS OF WHAT HAPPENS THE DAY WE E TO KNOW HIM, WHICH IS THE NOVEL NCEPT OF THIS WHOLE ALBUM. WE TEND TO LIVE LIKE WE HAVE TO STAY GOOD OR WE ARE GOG TO , VERS CHRIST SAYG 'HEY MAN THE VENANTS PLACE, ME AND YOU WERE GOOD SO YOU LIVE LIFE, AND ENJOY YOURSELF ALONG THE WAY. SEE HOW AMAZG I AM LIFE AND CREATN EVERYTHG ELSE AND ENJOY .' I THK THE ENEMY HAS SO BOUND UP THAT WE THK THE SEND THAT WE DON'T DO RIGHT OR GOOD ENOUGH THAT WE'RE ED. I THK THAT'S WHERE THE CHURCH HAS BEEN BONDAGE FOR YEARS AND WHERE I HAVE BEEN BONDAGE FOR YEARS, TIL THE LAST UPLE OF YEARS.BC: I READ THAT YOU GREW UP A VERY STRICT CHURCH WHERE DANCG WAS NOT EVEN ALLOWED, WHAT REVELATN HAS MA YOU EMBRACE THIS NEW REEE ATTU WHICH YOU N DANCE THE VIO OF YOUR FIRST SGLE "SHAKE" AND NOT FEEL GUILTY?BART: THE REVELATN FOR ME WAS THAT I PLAYED BY THE L MY WHOLE LIFE. I'M KD OF AN OVER ACHIEVER. I DID EVERYTHG I ULD. IF THEY TOLD ME I HAD TO DO TWICE I'D DO FOUR TIM. THE IRONY IS, THAT I WAS DOG EVERYTHG RIGHT FOR THE KGDOM BUT YET MY PERSONAL LIFE WAS FALLG APART. I FELT LIKE MY FAY WAS HANGG ON BY A THREAD.IT WAS HEART BREAKG, GOG TO THE SAME CHURCH I GREW UP WHEN MY WIFE AND I GOT MARRIED 15 YEARS AGO WHERE WE ULDN'T HAVE A DANCE BEE MY FATHER LAW WAS A CHAIRMAN OF THE ANS, AND WOULD LOOK SO BAD THAT THEY DIDN'T WANT TO GO THERE. I N'T THK OF A MOMENT WHERE MY WIFE WAS ACTUALLY WALKG OUT THE DOOR BUT WOULDN'T HAVE SURPRISED ME IF THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.IN AN TERVIEW, BILLY GRAHAM SAID, 'MY ONE REGRET WAS THAT I DIDN'T CHERISH MY FAY AND MY LIFE ENOUGH,' AND I THOUGHT WHAT AN AMAZG THG FOR SUCH A GODLY MAN TO SAY. I ULD TOTALLY RELATE. I REMEMBER SAYG GOD IS NOT A GOD OF CHAOS SO SOME HOW MY FAY LIFE AND MY MISTRY WILL WORK TOGETHER. I ED AS AN EXCE TO DO ALL THE STUFF I WAS DOG AND THEN MY FAY WAS SUPPOSED TO FIGURE OUT. I SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED MY FAY MORE AND EMBRACED WHAT GOD HAD LAID RIGHT ONT OF ME AND THE MISTRY WOULD TAKE RE OF SELF. WHOUT SUFFERG 'S HARD TO TLY APPRECIATE GRACE AND THAT'S HOW I END UP. I HAD TO FACE HEAD ON AND REALIZE, THIS IS WHAT MATTERS AND THIS IS WHAT DON'T MATTER.A IEND OF ME ME TO MY LIFE AND TOLD ME AT THE PERFECT TIME THAT NO MATTER WHAT I DO LIFE THERE'S NOTHG I N DO GOOD ENOUGH TO MAKE CHRIST LOVE ME MORE THAN HE ALREADY DO. AND SO FOR MY FAY'S SAKE, FOR MY OWN SAKE, FOR THE GOSPEL'S SAKE, 'WHY DON'T YOU JT STOP AND RT THE FISHED WORK OF THE CROSS?' FOR ME, RIGHT THEN WASN'T ABOUT DOG SOMETHG, WAS ABOUT DOG NOTHG. AND WAS LIFE CHANGG! THAT'S WHY THE ALBUM IS LLED WELE TO THE NEW, AFTER 20 YEARS OF MERCYME WE FEEL LIKE WE'RE JT GETTG STARTED.BC: WHAT ADVICE N YOU OFFER A BELIEVER WHO MAY BE YOUNG THEIR WALK OR UNAWARE, TO HELP THEM INTIFY THE BONDAGE OF LEGALISM?BART : I'VE BEEN A CHRISTIAN SCE I WAS 13, SO FOR ME TO BEE ANT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE ENEMY WANTED TO DO, SO I'VE LEARNED TO BE A LTLE MORE GRAC.LEGALISM OR THE LACK OF LEGALISM IS NOT WHAT MAK CHRISTIAN. WE N BE THE MOST LEGALISTIC CHURCH AND E TO KNOW J AND REMA LEGALISTIC, BUT BEE OF THE GRACE OF GOD WE ARE STILL GOG TO MAKE TO HEAVEN. THE DIFFERENCE IS PERSPECTIVE, BEE OF YOUR PERSPECTIVE YOU N MISS OUT ON THE JOY THAT CHRIST SIR TO HAVE HEAR ON EARTH.IF THE MSAGE IS PRENTED THE RIGHT WAY, I N'T IMAGE SOMEONE NOT WANTG TO BE EE OF LEGALISM AND WANTG TO BE EE. RELIGN IS SUCH A PRSG STORY PARISON TO A TE-EE LIFE WH CHRIST AND THAT'S WHAT WE ARE TRYG TO DO, IS SHOW THE DIFFERENCE. RELIGN WILL FALL SHORT. RELIGN'S PURPOSE WAS TO TER TO AN AMAZG EE GOSPEL, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.BC: NOW, ON THE OTHER HAND, WHAT N HELP THE BELIEVER NOT BEE SO LIBERAL, THAT THEY END UP GOG AGAST GOD'S TEACHGS SOME SORT OF A NEW AGE WAY?BART: I BELIEVE THAT EVERYTHG REVOLV AROUND THE LIGHT, I THK THAT'S WHAT ALL DOWN TO. I THK THE ENEMY HAS DONE A VERY GOOD JOB AT MAKG ANYTHG THAT'S SPIR LED SOUND LIKE 'S THE HIPPIE MOVEMENT.THE BOTTOM LE IS THAT OUR CHRISTIAN WALK DOWN TO ONE THG, WE TRY TO DO ALL THE THGS TO PLEASE GOD TO GET HIS ATTENTN WHEN THE WHOLE TIME HE'S SAYG 'I'VE BEEN PLEASED WH YOU SCE THE DAY YOU LLED MY NAME, I NEVER STOP, SO WE N GET PASS THAT, THERE IS NO NMNATN, I'M THRILLED WH YOU AT YOUR WORST AND AT YOUR BT, BEE WHAT YOU DO, IS NOT WHO YOU ARE.'THE BIBLE SAYS IF YOU WANT TO PLEASE GOD, THEN JT BELIEVE , TST , FOLLOW MEANS LIVE A SPIR LED LIFE. THE SAME SPIR THAT ROSE CHRIST OM THE AD DWELLS SI OF YOU, AND BEE OF THAT FACT, ALL WE HAVE TO GO BY IS WHAT THE SPIR LEADS TO DO. THE SAD TTH IS, SOMETIM WILL BE AGAST WHAT RELIGN OR YOUR FELLOW BELIEVERS, OR YOUR CHURCH MAY SAY, OR MAY UNRSTAND, AND MAY PUT YOU A HARD SPOT, BUT I BELIEVE THAT'S WHAT DOWN TO. I BELIEVE THE GOSPEL IS VERY TAILOR MA FOR EACH OF , THE ULTIMATE TTH IS ONLY ONE ANSWER AND THAT IS, CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY, TTH AND LIFE, NO ONE TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH HIM.I DID THIS BIG BLOG A WHILE BACK ABOUT ELLEN DEGENER HOSTG THE OSRS AND GOT EATEN ALIVE BY PEOPLE SAYG THAT I SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE. ALL I SAID WAS THAT SHE DID A GREAT JOB, AND SHE'S VERY FUNNY. SO I HAD TO KDA E BACK AND SAY, LOOK I JT WANT TO MAKE CLEAR THAT I LOVE ELLEN WH AS MUCH GRACE AS I N POSSIBLY MTER UP AND I THK SHE IS UNBELIEVABLE AND I PRAY THAT SHE TO KNOW CHRIST ONE DAY MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE. I THK 'LL BE UNBELIEVABLE.PEOPLE HAVE ASKED ME 'WHAT DO YOU THK OF GAY MARRIAGE?' I WISH THERE WAS A LOOP WHOLE THAT SAYS WAS OK BEE THAT WOULD MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR ALL OF , BUT I N'T FD . I TRY NOT TO GO THERE BEE THAT SHUTS THE DOOR SO FAST TO HAVG THE ABILY TO SHOW GRACE. ON THE FLIP SI OF THAT, I HAD TO MAKE CLEAR, THAT I HAVE GAY IENDS THAT I LOVE WH ALL MY HEART. IN FACT, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THAT I HAVE THIS BURN TO SEE THEM E TO KNOW CHRIST REGARDLS OF WHAT THE CHURCH MAY THK OF ME; BEE I RE FOR THEM MORE THEN I DO FOR SOME OF THE CHURCH.BUT I BELIEVE WH ALL MY HEART THAT WHOUT CHRIST YOU DON'T GET , PERD. SOME PEOPLE SAY THEY NEED TO STOP BEG GAY TO E TO CHRIST, BUT HERE'S THE THG, I HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT HOW TO STOP LYG YET, OR GOSSIPG AND SOME HOW, CHRIST HAS LET ME . THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT STGGLE WH THE FLH THAT WILL BE HEAVEN.I HOPE I'M NOT FALLG TO SOME NEW AGE HIPPIE THG WHEN I SAY S ALL ABOUT BEG SPIR LED AND SHOWG PEOPLE GRACE BEE I DO BELIEVE THAT'S WHAT THE GOSPEL IS. IF I EVER THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO HEAVEN THAN CHRIST, THEN I HAVE MSED UP, SOMEBODY PUNCH ME THE FACE, BEE I DON'T BELIEVE THAT, BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT GRACE IS SO VAL.BC: THERE IS A NEW THG GOG AROUND THE CHRISTIAN DTRY THAT ARTISTS, WORSHIP LEARS, ACTORS, AND RAPPERS DO NOT WANT TO BE LLED CHRISTIAN BEE THEY SAY LIMS THEIR REACH. WHAT DO YOU THK ABOUT THAT?BART: I DON'T REALLY RE, I RATHER PICK THE LABEL OF CHRISTIAN THEN NOT BE LLED A CHRISTIAN. I THK RELIGN HAS KDA ED AND GIVEN A BIG BLACK EYE. WHERE I STAND IS, I AM A CHRISTIAN, THIS IS THE TYPE OF CHRISTIAN I AM. UNFORTUNATELY, WE REPRENT A LOT OF LEGALISTIC, RELIG PEOPLE, THAT EMBARRASS ME MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE.I'M NOT GOG TO ALLOW THE MASTREAM WORLD TO STRIP ME OF WHO I AM AS A CHRISTIAN. I'M NOT GOG TO LET THE KNUCKLE HEADS THE CHURCH DO THE SAME THG. AND SO, I'M A CHRISTIAN, I AM A CHRISTIAN BAND. A GOOD SONGWRER WR ABOUT WHATEVER NSUM THEIR HEART, AND MY HEART IS NSUMED WH CHRIST.I GUS, YOU N NOT LL ME A CHRISTIAN BAND BUT YOUR GOG TO KNOW ABOUT 30 SENDS THAT I AM. WE'VE BEEN AROUND FOR 20 YEARS AND THAT THG HAS BEEN GOG AROUND FOR SO LONG, I'VE KD OF OUT-GROWN THAT.THE ON THAT MAKE A BIG AL ABOUT NOT BEG LLED THAT, 'S LIKE YOU'RE TRYG TO MAKE UP FOR SOMETHG ELSE THAT'S MISSG. THERE'S ALWAYS AN AGENDA. YOU N LL ME ANYTHG YOU WANT, AS LONG AS YOU'RE LISTENG TO MY MIC (LAUGHS).LISTEN THE ALBUM PREVIEW OF MERCYME'S ALBUM WELE TO THE NEW, BELOW:LATEST NEWS

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*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* IS KATHY TROCCOLI GAY

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ontend-pencraft-Text-module__size-14--Ume6q ontend-pencraft-Text-module__le-height-20--p0dP8 ontend-pencraft-Text-module__weight-normal--s54Wf ontend-pencraft-Text-module__font-text--QmNJR ontend-pencraft-Text-module__lor-sendary--WRADg ontend-pencraft-Text-module__ret--dW0zZ ontend-pencraft-Text-module__body4--Pl3xY">Not</div></button><button tabInx="0" id="trigger471857" aria-expand="false" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-ntrols="dialog471858" ariaLabel="View more" type="button" class="button share-actn"><div class="actn-in"><svg role="img" width="100" height="100" viewBox="0 0 100 100" fill="none" stroke-width="1.8" stroke="#000" xmlns="><g><tle></tle><circle cx="23" cy="50" r="9"></circle><circle cx="50" cy="50" r="9"></circle><circle cx="77" cy="50" r="9"></circle></g></svg></div><div class="pencraft ontend-pencraft-Box-module__ret--VfQY8 ontend-pencraft-Text-module__size-14--Ume6q ontend-pencraft-Text-module__le-height-20--p0dP8 ontend-pencraft-Text-module__weight-normal--s54Wf ontend-pencraft-Text-module__font-text--QmNJR ontend-pencraft-Text-module__lor-sendary--WRADg ontend-pencraft-Text-module__ret--dW0zZ ontend-pencraft-Text-module__body4--Pl3xY">Other</div></button></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="post-hear"><h1 class="post-tle unpublished">The Chance of a Lifetime: Kathy Trocli's 'Imag'</h1><h3 class="subtle">Years before 1991's "Everythg Chang" h the pop charts, this adult ntemporary volist took her first step towards crossover succs wh an album about heartbreak, loss & termatn.</h3><div class="pencraft ontend-pencraft-Box-module__ret--VfQY8 ontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-directn-lumn--Rq7pk ontend-pencraft-Box-module__paddg-bottom-16--KVxKv"><div class="pencraft ontend-pencraft-Box-module__ret--VfQY8 ontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-directn-lumn--Rq7pk ontend-pencraft-Box-module__paddg-y-16--ohCEm"><div class="pencraft 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class><div class="available-ntent"><div dir="to" class="body markup"><p></p><div data-ponent-name="SubscribeWidget" class="subscribe-widget"><form actn="/api/v1/ee?nojs=te" method="post" noValidate class="form "><put type="hidn" name="first_url" /><put type="hidn" name="first_referrer" /><put type="hidn" name="current_url" /><put type="hidn" name="current_referrer" /><put type="hidn" name="referral_" /><put type="hidn" name="source" value="subscribe-widget" /><put type="hidn" name="referrg_pub_id" /><put type="hidn" name="addnal_referrg_pub_ids" /><div class="siBySiWrap"><put type="email" name="email" placeholr="Type your email…" /><button tabInx="0" type="subm" class="button rightButton primary subscribe-btn"><b class="button-text ">Subscribe</b></button></div><div id="error-ntaer"></div><div class="subtle-help-text below-put"></div></form><div class="ontend-log-typo_handler-EmailTypoHandler-module__animatnWrapper--UT0du"></div></div><p><span>In the last newsletter of 2022, I wrote about </span><a href=" rel>Amy Grant’s recent Kennedy Center Honors acknowledgment</a><span> and the reasons </span><a href=" rel>her revolutnary 1985 album </a><em><a href=" rel>Unguard</a></em><span> was a moment that reprented ”the possibily of Contemporary Christian Mic pg the claws of the stutn of the church that ffully claimed wh the tentn of re-shapg to s own image.” Over the next few newsletters, I’ll be focg on some of the albums that followed the cril 1985-1986 wdow that built upon the foundatn that Grant and other uncreded crossover nstctnists like </span><a href=" rel>Táta Vega</a><span>, </span><a href=" rel>the New York Communy Choir</a><span>, Deniece Williams, Cliff Richard and Philip Bailey laid.</span></p><div class="ptned-image-ntaer"><figure><a class="image-lk is-viewable-img image2" target="_blank" href=" data-ponent-name="Image2ToDOM" rel><div class="image2-set"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /><img src=" width="1456" height="1989" data-attrs="{"src":"" class="sizg-normal" alt srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" fetchprry="high" /></picture><div class="image-lk-expand"><svg xmlns=" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#FFFFFF" stroke-width="2" stroke-lep="round" stroke-lejo="round" class="luci luci-maximize2"><polyle pots="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyle><polyle pots="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyle><le x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></le><le x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></le></svg></div></div></a><figptn class="image-ptn">Kathy Trocli cir 1984 (CCM Magaze, January 1985)</figptn></figure></div><p><span>By 1985, CCM artists were on the backsi of the ecstatic begngs of the J Movement and fdg themselv relig environments mted to polil like the Pro-Life Movement and efforts to fund the Natnal Endowment for the Arts. The Evangelil gatekeepers rejected the Jimmy Carter brand of Christiany (which I’d argue was more aligned wh the simplicy and nocence of the J Movement) favor of Jerry Falwell’s dictatorial Moral Majory, whose agenda was wholeheartedly embraced by the stg print, Ronald Reagan, who had a earlier, as ernor of California, </span><a href=" rel>pledged his allegiance to an agenda of whe supremacy</a><span>, the not-so-silent arber of the Relig Right. </span></p><p><span>While, today, much of CCM [the genre] om the first half of the eighti gets dismissed as wanna-be-pop-fluff that peddled Christian clichés (and, y, much of that abound), there were </span><a href=" rel>ser sger/songwrers dog their bt</a><span> to nudge their churched-listeners towards ner-thought, challengg them to qutn or at the very least </span><em>thk</em><span> about the rigidy of the natnal Christian perspectiv that Christian televisn and media ma real. </span><br /><br /><em>Contemporary Christian Magaze</em><span> ( a short-lived name change om </span><em>Contemporary Christian Mic</em><span>) was, many ways, an important tool of (slight) ristance to this agenda. While still largely nservative s approach, the publitn provid a space which artists uld talk about their experienc, ncerns, and outlooks, often cg ntroversi along the way. In opposn to the hierarchy of the current state of promotn wh that world, the magaze placed an emphasis on the artists generatg pop/rock that aspired to be viable alongsi popular secular mic of s time. (Don’t miss </span><a href=" rel>Caris Al’s Substack</a><span> that evaluat the publitn!) They herald artists like the aforementned Vega, Williams, Lone Jtice, U2, and the Indigo Girls, who were all firmly planted the mastream mic world, but munited a particular ethos that spoke to matters of fah. The pag of </span><em>CCM</em><span> “the long eighti” (as Dr. Jafari Allen refers to them) reflect the nstant boat balancg that executiv and artists were navigatg: they uld not burn the bridge to the nsumers om the church who sentially fund their work but they also uld not reach the so-lled world whout dog jt that. </span></p><p><span>Amy Grant’s management team, Blanton/Harrell, was at the helm of Rnn Rerds, a label that was found 1981 wh flagship artists Pam Mark Hall, Kathy Trocli, and Michael W. Smh. Trocli had been passed over for label als, her hky alto off-puttg executiv more apt at sellg worshipful sopranos like Sandi Patty. Trocli’s vol tone danced outsi of the very specific norms Christian rerd executiv felt pelled to rerce for their dience. Women were to have high voic (translat feme), but a certa </span><em>kd</em><span> of high (read the cricisms leveled at </span><a href=" rel>Reba Rambo</a><span> for sgg the </span><em>wrong</em><span> kd of high). Lower voic translated as </span><em>other</em><span> thgs. </span><em>Sultry</em><span> is one of the adjectiv nsistently ed Christian reviews of Trocli’s work. I’d argue that masculy is the other signal that lower voic trigger for those kds of listeners. Make no mistake, the kds of expectatns for women extend beyond Christian mic. Women’s mic pneer Holly Near once relled a label executive tellg her that her voice “had no element of submissn,” which, the executive claimed, would make marketg her challengg. Kathy told </span><em>CCM</em><span> 1992, “Everybody rpond well to my talent but I had a breathy, darker voice and they didn’t know what to do wh me.” </span></p><p>But Trocli sred Rnn a smash h. </p><div class="ptned-image-ntaer"><figure><a class="image-lk is-viewable-img image2" target="_blank" href=" data-ponent-name="Image2ToDOM" rel><div class="image2-set"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /><img src=" width="595" height="599" data-attrs="{"src":"" class="sizg-normal" alt srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /></picture><div class="image-lk-expand"><svg xmlns=" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#FFFFFF" stroke-width="2" stroke-lep="round" stroke-lejo="round" class="luci luci-maximize2"><polyle pots="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyle><polyle pots="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyle><le x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></le><le x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></le></svg></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>The succs of Trocli’s 1982 but, </span><em>Stubborn Love</em><span>, was largely due to the tle track, -wrten by Amy Grant, Gary Chapman and Michael W. Smh, which topped CCM’s rad charts. While </span><em>Stubborn Love</em><span> was unabashedly and directly Christian, was evint that Trocli held promise outsi of the genre. “I want to sg to people who don’t normally listen to Christian mic. I want them to hear a song a way that will break their hearts so they’ll be vulnerable to listen to the gospel msage,” she told the </span><em>Kgsport Tim-News</em><span>. The album was a perfectly balanced alcence of soulful up and mid-tempo tun, cludg an oh-so-soulful ver of Ashford & Simpson’s “You’re All I Need To Get By” and heart-wrenchg rad-ready ballads like </span><a href=" rel>“It’s Your Love”</a><span> and the aforementned tle track which helped the album sell more than 100,000 uns. </span></p><div id="youtube2-qmPI7aIfPUY" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{"vioId":"qmPI7aIfPUY","startTime":null,"endTime":null}" data-ponent-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-ner"><iame src=" ameborr="0" loadg="lazy" gture="media" allow="toplay; fullscreen" allowtoplay="te" allowfullscreen="te" width="728" height="409"></iame></div></div><p><span>Trocli’s emergence is exceptnal, as she was not one of the church’s nventnal women. In parison to the daty Evie or the mol-que Amy, K.T. (as she’d e to be lled) was tomboyish—brandishg ltle make-up and a Members Only jacket on the ver of Stubborn Love—and self-assured. This was all acunted for the Christian prs wh ntual remrs that she was om </span><em>Long Island, New York</em><span> (alics me—for emphasis) and was not southern. “There was a lot of ‘softeng’ done to me as a woman here [ Nashville],” she told </span><em>The Tennsean</em><span>, notg the cultural differenc between New York and Tennsee. “I feel like the South has taken off a certa ‘edge.’ I’m a ltle mellower. I mean, my fay, they scream to pass the butter across the table.” </span><br /></p><div class="ptned-image-ntaer"><figure><a class="image-lk is-viewable-img image2" target="_blank" href=" data-ponent-name="Image2ToDOM" rel><div class="image2-set"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /><img src=" width="1396" height="1223" data-attrs="{"src":"" class="sizg-normal" alt srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" loadg="lazy" /></picture><div class="image-lk-expand"><svg xmlns=" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#FFFFFF" stroke-width="2" stroke-lep="round" stroke-lejo="round" class="luci luci-maximize2"><polyle pots="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyle><polyle pots="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyle><le x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></le><le x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></le></svg></div></div></a><figptn class="image-ptn">From Micle Magaze, 1984</figptn></figure></div><div id="youtube2-366kIpKOBkM" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{"vioId":"366kIpKOBkM","startTime":null,"endTime":null}" data-ponent-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-ner"><iame src=" ameborr="0" loadg="lazy" gture="media" allow="toplay; fullscreen" allowtoplay="te" allowfullscreen="te" width="728" height="409"></iame></div></div><p><span>Early terviews display nfince her self-knowledge a room full of men that seem to have been tryg to make her more malleable. She told </span><em>Micle</em><span>, “I know my range. I know my voice probably better than anybody do. So I n sk the most meat to , more than anybody else. I n work around my register. I n work wh the bt parts of me bee I know me better than anybody else.” </span></p><p><em>Heart & Soul</em><span>, her Grammy-nomated sophomore effort—released a year before </span><em>Unguard</em><span>—expand on that notn. It was a ltle ls </span><a href=" rel>Melissa Manchter</a><span> and a b more Jefey Osborne. The album is a tour force of R&B groov, powerhoe vols and well-crafted tun that sought to make matters of fah of tert to a broar dience than </span><em>Stubborn Love</em><span> had. She’s quoted by the </span><em>Hattiberg Amerin</em><span> as sayg, </span></p><blockquote><p>“The sound is not that much different om secular mic. It’s geared towards young people. It’s the same sound they’re acctomed to hearg the Top 40. We wanted them to hear somethg that’s close to what they hear every day.” </p></blockquote><p><span>So close, fact, the </span><em>Los Angel Tim</em><span> noted her “R&B/pop crossover potential,” but add, “perhaps too much crossover potential at tim—liberately or not, tchy dti like ‘Long Distance Letter’…are vague enough to make J sound like a glorified boyiend.” </span></p><div id="youtube2-9Pkmc84JeXw" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{"vioId":"9Pkmc84JeXw","startTime":null,"endTime":null}" data-ponent-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-ner"><iame src=" ameborr="0" loadg="lazy" gture="media" allow="toplay; fullscreen" allowtoplay="te" allowfullscreen="te" width="728" height="409"></iame></div></div><div class="ptned-image-ntaer"><figure><a class="image-lk is-viewable-img image2" target="_blank" href=" data-ponent-name="Image2ToDOM" rel><div class="image2-set"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /><img src=" width="1371" height="1142" data-attrs="{"src":"" class="sizg-normal" alt srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" loadg="lazy" /></picture><div class="image-lk-expand"><svg xmlns=" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#FFFFFF" stroke-width="2" stroke-lep="round" stroke-lejo="round" class="luci luci-maximize2"><polyle pots="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyle><polyle pots="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyle><le x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></le><le x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></le></svg></div></div></a><figptn class="image-ptn">Workg wh Brown Bannister on “Heart & Soul,” 1984. (Micle, 1985)</figptn></figure></div><p><span>She noted the challeng of fdg ctomized material for an R&B-centric project an terview wh </span><em>Micle</em><span>. “</span><em>Heart & Soul</em><span> was a ltle b tratg for me bee a lot of people weren’t wrg R&B and was like ‘Let’s wre the songs for K.T. She wants an ‘All Night Long’ song.’ Michael (W.) Smh up wh ‘Holy, Holy’ and that kd of thg.” Trocli’s tratns speak to the divisns between the Black & whe gospel worlds. There were certaly songwrers 1984 wrg the kds of songs she was huntg for (</span><a href=" rel>Bob Bailey</a><span>, BeBe Wans and Howard McCrary immediately e to md), but terracial llaboratns were still not typil CCM the eighti. Trocli’s own skills as a wrer had not been utilized on the album eher. </span></p><p><span>As she toured the album through 1985 openg for Michael W. Smh, she spoke openly about her reer aspiratns and dited that her next album would go a step further lyrilly and milly. She explaed to </span><em>Micle</em><span>, “I’m listeng to people like Jefey Osborne and Al Jarre. I like Kenny Loggs, I love Lnel Richie. But, on the other hand, I love Streisand. There’s a part of me that wants to go out on this next album and do a Chaka Khan-Ta Turner thg. That’s where I see myself head. A ltle touch of the mellow si of Lnel Richie, like a batn of that.” “I have hop to sg to the world,” she said whout pse on </span><em>100 Huntley Street</em><span> while promotg the album. </span></p><p><span>And that’s exactly what she worked to do wh -producers Dann Huff, a -mand ssn mician who’d played on albums cludg </span><a href=" rel>Teena Marie</a><span>’s </span><em>Starchild</em><span> and Chaka Khan’s </span><em>I Feel For You</em><span>, and Phil Naish. 1986’s </span><em>Imag</em><span> was a distct middle-fger to the strictur that the Christian market imposed on s artists. Sonilly, the album was leap-years ahead of the nventnal fare still popular on Christian rad outlets. In his review of the album for </span><em>CCM</em><span>, Mark Eischer not that the album “hs like a great party rerd. Sequencers stutter and shake; explosive, vlent dms synpate dangeroly off the beat, and untamed guar solos wrhe and snake through nse jungl of reverberatn.” Addnally, Trocli boldly dared to not offer-up a nventnal sgle ctomized for Christian rad. Not a sgle song on the album uttered the obligatory God or J-reference, stead optg for an emotnally vulnerable llectn of songs about human relatnships and their plitns, heartbreak and fivens, loss and termatn.</span></p><div id="youtube2-lQW9sYxWzEE" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{"vioId":"lQW9sYxWzEE","startTime":null,"endTime":null}" data-ponent-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-ner"><iame src=" ameborr="0" loadg="lazy" gture="media" allow="toplay; fullscreen" allowtoplay="te" allowfullscreen="te" width="728" height="409"></iame></div></div><div class="ptned-image-ntaer"><figure><a class="image-lk is-viewable-img image2" target="_blank" href=" data-ponent-name="Image2ToDOM" rel><div class="image2-set"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /><img src=" width="1456" height="1897" data-attrs="{"src":"" class="sizg-normal" alt srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" loadg="lazy" /></picture><div class="image-lk-expand"><svg xmlns=" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#FFFFFF" stroke-width="2" stroke-lep="round" stroke-lejo="round" class="luci luci-maximize2"><polyle pots="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyle><polyle pots="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyle><le x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></le><le x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></le></svg></div></div></a><figptn class="image-ptn">Tra advertisement for “Imag”</figptn></figure></div><p><span>The album was one of a handful that Rnn Rerds was utilizg their sire to reach the general market. Co-owner Mike Blanton told </span><em>Billboard</em><span>, </span></p><blockquote><p>“We’re makg a transn om focg on ntemporary Christian mic to focg on artists. We’re fdg a few select artists whom we’re nvced enough about their hearts that we don’t md what they’re sgg about. We’re the bs of promotg solid artists as a relatg force to the youth of Ameri.”</p></blockquote><p><span>Trocli’s </span><em>Imag</em><span>, Chris Eaton’s stellar </span><em>Visn</em><span> and Pam Mark Hall’s </span><em>Keepe</em><span>r—all released on the Rnn label that year—dite what uld have been for the future of ntemporary Christian mic post-</span><em>Unguard</em><span>. Whereas Christian mic had foced primarily on matters of the spir, the albums envisned a more fully embodied life that was not, Iyanla Vanzant’s words, “neck down ad.” The albums were outsi of the propaganda mache that was producg mic about abstence, directg teens to plan for marriage, and the terrors of beg pregnant out of wedlock. </span><em>Imag</em><span>, particular, directed young people to get to know their hearts, feelgs and ambns. </span></p><div id="youtube2-Tlt7RheV_BE" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{"vioId":"Tlt7RheV_BE","startTime":null,"endTime":null}" data-ponent-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-ner"><iame src=" ameborr="0" loadg="lazy" gture="media" allow="toplay; fullscreen" allowtoplay="te" allowfullscreen="te" width="728" height="409"></iame></div></div><p><span>Rnn’s mment to the albums, however, was short-lived. </span><em>Imag</em><span> was ignored by Trocli’s re dience and did not fd an dience the mastream—but did earn a Grammy nomatn. </span><em>Billboard</em><span>’s Bob Darn wrote his Gospel Lectern lumn that “there’s nothg bad here. But there’s nothg outstandg, eher,” but this wrer disagre. While certaly viat om the big productn of the stellar </span><em>Heart & Soul</em><span>, </span><em>Imag</em><span> had s own athetic that wasn’t terted recreatg the wheel or ticklg the ears of those who jt wanted the next “Holy, Holy.” </span></p><div id="youtube2--YBGRqWmlUM" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{"vioId":"-YBGRqWmlUM","startTime":null,"endTime":null}" data-ponent-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-ner"><iame src=" ameborr="0" loadg="lazy" gture="media" allow="toplay; fullscreen" allowtoplay="te" allowfullscreen="te" width="728" height="409"></iame></div></div><p><em>Imag</em><span> plays like a raw nerve exposed, wh Trocli blastg hard-lived songs like “Ready and Willg,” “Chance of a Lifetime” and “Gotta Keep Danc’” like her life pend on . That kd of emotnal exposure tends to unearth disfort. Darker them are always a challenge to sell—particularly to an dience ndned to anticipate “J ma all better” antidot. </span></p><p><span>The biggt difference between </span><em>Heart & Soul</em><span> and </span><em>Imag</em><span> is that Trocli had fally gotten to speak for herself—she -wrote seven of the album’s ne songs. She told </span><em>Contemporary Christian Mic</em><span> that year, “It don’t necsarily say ‘J’ here and ‘J’ there, but I feel like I’ve tablished myself ont of thoands of people and talked about the Lord and His kgdom enough and stood as a Christian woman before dienc enough to know that they n pick up ‘Don’t Wanna See You Down’ and go ‘There’s a Christian heart behd that.’ I don’t feel like I’m promisg at all. If anythg, I feel like I’m beg more vulnerable.” </span></p><div id="youtube2-PLf7Zyc16wY" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{"vioId":"PLf7Zyc16wY","startTime":null,"endTime":null}" data-ponent-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-ner"><iame src=" ameborr="0" loadg="lazy" gture="media" allow="toplay; fullscreen" allowtoplay="te" allowfullscreen="te" width="728" height="409"></iame></div></div><p><span>Trocli exed the scene, however, before </span><em>Imag</em><span> uld get off the ground. While the album certaly prented the kds of pop songs she told the media she’d missed sgg, the subject matter of the album reflected the level of emotnal tumult she was facg. She later explaed to </span><em>CCM</em><span>, “I wasn’t ntent wh what I was dog milly and I was gettg more and more unhappy bee spirually I wasn’t okay and emotnally I wasn’t okay.” </span></p><p><span>She moved back to New York and did ssn work on Taylor Dayne’s blockbter </span><em>Tell It To My Heart</em><span> and </span><em>Can’t Fight Fate</em><span> albums, begng a procs of self-disvery and spirual healg. “Gettg out when I did,” she reflected an early 90’s terview, “helped that procs for me of fdg out who is that I am and what is that I want to sg.” The rult of her time away was 1991’s largely self-posed </span><em>Pure Attractn</em><span>, produced by Ric Wake whose creds beyond Taylor Dayne clud (among others) Mariah Carey, Natalie Cole and Barry Manilow. The album fed the mands of the Christian marketplace wh her own sir to sg to a broar dience. The Diane Warren-penned </span><a href=" rel>“Everythg Chang”</a><span> peaked at #14 on </span><em>Billboard</em><span>’s Hot 100, achievg the long-awaed pop succs. Her self-tled follow-up to </span><em>Pure Attractn</em><span> produced </span><a href=" rel>two more </a><em><a href=" rel>Billboard</a></em><a href=" rel>-chartg adult ntemporary sgl</a><span>, but found far greater succs on the Christian charts wh the album’s Dove Award-nomated closer, </span><a href=" rel>“My Life Is In Your Hands.”</a><span> </span></p><p><span>Sce </span><em>Kathy Trocli</em><span>, she has primarily foced her efforts the Christian market as an artist and personaly, wrg books, tourg the Women of Fah circu and rollg out her own cise. Her albums have vacillated between generic Christian clich wh tun like the aforementned “My Life Is In Your Hands,” “Go Light Your World,” and the pro-life anthem, “A Baby’s Prayer” (which won her first Dove Awards) and artistic triumphs like 1998’s achgly betiful and unr-appreciated </span><em><a href=" rel>Corner of En</a></em><span> which unrsold her prr albums. She offset her Christian work wh exquise llectns of show tun and adult ntemporary classics cludg </span><em><a href=" rel>Together</a></em><span>, rerd llaboratn wh Sandi Patty, and 2010’s </span><em>Heartsongs</em><span>. </span></p><p><span>She was one of the first CCM artists to talk about AIDS (albe 1997), donatg the proceeds om her #1 sgle </span><a href=" rel>“Love One Another”</a><span> to His Touch Mistri Hoton, Texas, an anizatn mted to providg support, re and hog for those wh HIV/AIDS. When </span><em>Contemporary Christian Mic</em><span> wrote s first lengthy feature on the AIDS epimic (also 1997), Trocli spoke to the homophobia she’d wnsed the church—even if she didn’t take an affirmg stance. “Sce I’ve e to J, I’ve seen probably more of a vehemence toward that s than any. I’ve been endls nversatns where there are jok and [gay] people actually imated. How e they’re not makg fun of the adulters or the teenage pregnant girl? God hasn’t put a specific taboo on this s—people have. We’re sred of what we do not know.” </span></p><p><span>Trocli, like many other Christian artists, was simultaneoly aligned wh Foc on the Fay, a group that has said that the LGBTQ muny is ma up of people </span><a href=" rel>“whose sexualy has been damaged or whose healthy velopment has been railed.”</a><span> She appeared their </span><em>Sex, Li & The Tth</em><span> vio, which promoted their abstence-only iology—a untertuive approach to AIDS activism. She also, however, </span><a href=" rel>-hosted</a><span> the ntroversial, progrsive Christian Tony Campolo’s </span><em>Red Letter Christians</em><span> seri. In 2015, </span><a href=" rel>Campolo took the oppose stance</a><span> of Foc on the Fay as pertaed to LGBT people, wrg, “As a social scientist, I have nclud that sexual orientatn is almost never a choice and I have seen how damagg n be to try to “cure” someone om beg gay. As a Christian, my rponsibily is not to nmn or reject gay people, but rather to love and embrace them, and to enavor to draw them to the fellowship of the Church.”</span></p><p>As the Christian marketplace has bee creasgly policized and homogenized, her difference has bee more muted. Glimmers of where she stands ocsnally ph through. When a 2021 patrtic post for the fourth of July (which was swiftly removed) beme a clter of Facebook ers om both polil parti askg her for clary on her posns, she rpond to one poster who felt that Bin’s princy had put the Uned Stat “back on track,” by sayg “This is too small and too big of a platform for me to get to specifics. Wh rpect, this is not the Ameri I see.” </p><p><span>In October of 1987—six months after the Jim Bakker sndal h ternatnal news—Roland Lundy, Word Rerds’ former senr Vice Print at Word Rerds durg the ‘crossover’ years, told </span><em>Billboard</em><span> that the Christian mic dtry was a “purgg procs.” “The strongt facet left right now is the lol church. That’s where the numbers are steady—and growg. To that end, the succsful pani will work wh the lol church…’s where the survivors will have to direct their efforts.” </span></p><p><span>Lundy’s utilizatn of survivor is ditive of a trmatic suatn. In such a scenar, one do what one has to do to survive, not necsarily what one would </span><em>prefer</em><span> to do, which begs the qutn: how much of what we see the ntemporary Christian market today is a ntued act of survival? Was/is the “purgg procs” not so much a spirual matter, but rather one that expels dividuals who do not nform to the party le? Is the regurgatn of cliché and regrsive polil valu simply for the sake of enomic benef and cultural power? One n only be told what to thk, what to say and how to say for so long before they eher velop Stockholm Syndrome or break ee om their abers. </span></p><p><em>“All your life you’ve been roped and tied/Wag for your dream e te/Now ’s fally here like a new ontier/Now you’re not so sure ’s for you/Consir the choice you ma/You jt might be throwg away the chance of lifetime,”</em><span> Trocli sang on </span><em>Imag</em><span>, an album that serv to be re-evaluated for s ristance and non-nformy. It’s hard to not hear and retrospectively wonr what might have happened had she and the other artists who were on the edge of the crossover cliff chosen to survive outsi of the evangelil bubble. </span></p><div id="youtube2-r7QT3i-NPYc" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{"vioId":"r7QT3i-NPYc","startTime":null,"endTime":null}" data-ponent-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-ner"><iame src=" ameborr="0" loadg="lazy" gture="media" allow="toplay; fullscreen" allowtoplay="te" allowfullscreen="te" width="728" height="409"></iame></div></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"" data-ponent-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href=" rel><span>Share</span></a></p><p></p></div></div><div class="visibily-check"></div><div class="post-footer"><div class="pencraft ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flexGrow--mx4xz ontend-pencraft-Box-module__ret--VfQY8 ontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-jtify-space-between--NvIcg ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-align-center--rSd6h ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-16--TpblU ontend-pencraft-Box-module__paddg-y-16--ohCEm ontend-pencraft-Box-module__borr-top-tail-themed--e17yZ ontend-pencraft-Box-module__borr-bottom-tail-themed--eVwFY post-ufi"><div class="pencraft ontend-pencraft-Box-module__ret--VfQY8 ontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-8--HFpIK"><div class="like-button-ntaer post-ufi-button style-button"><a role="button" class="post-ufi-button style-button has-label wh-borr"><svg role="img" style="height: 20px; width: 20px;" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="#000000" stroke-width="2" stroke="#000" xmlns=" class="in"><g><tle> .

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