Obscure CCM Bands Vol. 3

There was a particular experience common to many of us who grew up around CCM in the mid to late 90's. It felt like the CCM market was flooded with all kinds of bands as labels tried to see which ones would 'stick'. Thus, there is this whole pool of "obscure" bands from which to pick from for these last several blog posts. Some emerged as real heavyweights - Switchfoot, Third Day come to mind. Others never got traction for whatever reason.

Shaded Red was a band that landed squarely in this latter category. I can't remember how I stumbled upon their first album. Probably either my friends Jason Zaugg or Dave Robertson - shout out to those guys. It may have been from hearing the single below in its brief run on the radio. The band actually did make its mark on the CCM world with its second album Red Revolution. "Revolution" and a cover of "When God Ran" drew praise from critics and fans. But even with some modest success, this second album would be there last. 

It's my personal theory that this band's trajectory was permanently altered by the tragedy that befell them before their last album was even released. They were in a car accident that killed their drummer and I can only imagine how hard this was to process, let alone continue as a group. 

But I will always appreciate the art they produced. In the vein of Jars of Clay, they mixed acoustic and electric guitars along with piano, and later horns to produce a classic "Christian grunge" sound. Their first self-titled album became a rarity - due to their original label closing up shop if I remember correctly. In fact, in the early 2000's, I remember shelling out at least $30 to help my friend Dave's girlfriend purchase it as a birthday present for him. We were all at a Christian rock festival and randomly came across it in a vendor's collection. 

Thankfully, someone's uploaded the entire album to Youtube. "Caught" and "Found Someone" are the favorites I always gravitate towards. Shoutout to Jamie and Jonathan Roberts and the rest of their crew who created some really good music in a really short period of time.

Music Mondays

My wife had borrowed one of my old CD's and it was playing when I borrowed her vehicle over the weekend. It was a little known CCM band called Shaded Red. Their first album was a classic - in fact, outside of dc Talk, it is the perfect example of my musical tastes during the late 90's.
Anyway, that original album prompted me to buy their next (and only) label-produced album, Red Revolution.

I hadn't listened to it in years til my wife had, but it's most noteworthy song struck a chord with me listening to it again.

"When God Ran" is a worshipful retelling of the story of the Prodigal Son. It's actually a cover of an older hit by Benny Hester. Phillips, Craig, and Dean have also covered it, reintroducing it to a much larger fan base.

But here's the version I've come to love with a video behind it portraying the story itself: