As Christian rockers find mainstream success, they ask, Why pigeonhole us?
NEW YORK – Tune into the Grammys on Sunday night and you’ll hear the name Evanescence more than a few times. The goth-rock group is nominated in five categories, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and Best Hard Rock Performance for the song “Bring Me to Life.” On their way to the Grammys, the band has shown that its musicianship is solid but its diplomacy needs some work. In the past year, the group alienated a segment of the industry they seemed to have an affinity with – the Christian market – by insisting that its albums be pulled from Christian stores, charts, and radio stations. What sounds like heresy is really a sign of the growing pains experienced by artists of faith who are finding their way into the mainstream in larger numbers. Wanting to reach a wider audience, musicians are pushing beyond their Christian record labels to the world of MTV, and are sometimes bypassing the religious market entirely. “Almost every week or so I hear of another band that is either st
