Over the Rhine: Great Christian Music

I don't listen to Christian music.

Lord knows I've given it enough chances. I've listened since the early days of the "contemporary Christian" genre when Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith were the only options. And time and again, I've been let down by the quality of musicianship, preferring instead the secular counterparts that Christian artists often try so hard to imitate.

But Over the Rhine has won me over.

Perhaps it's because their songs, while sometimes clearly stemming from Christian roots, are never preachy. Perhaps it's because they cross genres as seamlessly as they blend sensuality with theology. Perhaps it's because they simply make great music.

Take, for example, the title track from their 2005 album, "Drunkard's Prayer": "You're my water/You're my wine/You're my whiskey from time to time...Sweet intoxication/When your words wash over me/Whether not your lips move/You speak to me." 

Is this referring to God? A lover? Like the poetic ambiguity of the lovers in Song of Songs, it's hard to be certain.

Sometimes, Over the Rhine's songs stretch our theological imagination, such as the expression of Christian apocalyptic themes in the title track of their 2007 release, "The Trumpet Child," where the blowing of Gabriel's horn at Christ's return is likened to "Satchmo's grace." 

Even more daring is the description of Jesus ("She wore a dark and faded blazer/With a little of the lining hanging out") in "Jesus in New Orleans," from their 2003 double album, "Ohio."

How often do you find musicians who can give expression to Christian millennialism and jazz with equal proficiency? Or, who ask us to see Jesus as an ordinary woman in a New Orleans bar?

It's this kind of creative output that got me hooked to Over the Rhine more than a decade ago.

Built around singer/songwriters Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, the group has actually been making music for 20 years. And yet this Cincinnati-based band, who have shared the stage with none other than Bob Dylan, still remains largely unknown.

But with the release of their latest album, "The Long Surrender," their fan base is sure to grow. Lucinda Williams makes a guest appearance on the duet "Undamned," and the album is produced by Joe Henry, who has worked recently with the likes of Solomon Burke, Ani DiFranco, Aimee Mann and Elvis Costello.

Although I personally prefer the playfulness of "The Trumpet Child," with Henry's help, "Surrender" is arguably Over the Rhine's finest album to date, showcasing the best of their intimate, Nashville-influenced sound.

True to form, there is a theological undercurrent to many of the tunes on "Surrender."  Themes include faithfulness ("What a waste that I still love you/After the mess you've made"), acceptance ("All my favorite people are broken"), and sensuality ("Lean into you/God's hands on my hips/Grip the midnight microphone/Steel every cell of my flesh and bone").  

One highlight of the album, the plaintive "Only God Can Save Us Now," is a description of the patients at the care facility where Bergquist's mother resided for a time after suffering a stroke.

The songs of Detweiler and Bergquist, a married couple, often sound the depths of their lives, inviting listeners to share in the quotidian, personal moments of their relationship, talking deep into the night over a glass of wine, spending the day together in bed, almost giving up on one another. 

To reinforce this sense of intimacy, they even went so far as to record an album ("Drunkard's Prayer") in their living room.

In a culture where models of functional relationships are few and far between, I find that the healthy and creative expression of the joys and realities of marriage--ranging from sexuality to playfulness to diappointment--is perhaps Over the Rhine's single most important contribution to a small corpus of music that I can proudly claim as "Christian."

Over the Rhine visited Pittsburgh last Friday for a live studio session with WYEP and a concert at Mr. Smalls Theatre. You can hear the archived studio session at www.wyep.org.