Rock That Doesn't Roll: The Story of Christian Music

This a special addendum episode to season 4. Nico Muhly is an extremely accomplished composer known for work with Sufjan Stevens, Bjork, Grizzly Bear, Steve Reich, Philip Glass and so much more (including two operas for The Met). He's also had a sort of parallel career composing sacred music in the English choral tradition. On Sunday, October 4, 2026 a sacred music piece he made as composer in residence at Christ Church Oxford will have its NYC debut at Carnegie Hall. We had a wide-ranging discussion with Nico about his approach to composition and how he moves between the high art world and the sacred music world so effortlessly. 
From Taverner to Today - Christ Church Cathedral Choir at 500 - Carnegie Hall, October 4, 2026
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Do you have a Christian rock story to tell? Want to respond to this episode? Leave us a message at ‪(629) 204-4264‬.
If Rock That Doesn’t Roll is important to you, support us on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/rtdr (join via the website, not the iOS app for a 30% discount)
If you'd like to make a one-time donation: https://coff.ee/rtdr
If you can't afford a donation, please tell five friends about the show.
You can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing RTDRpod@gmail.com
Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments.
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Do you like coffee? Try Larry's Coffee and support the show. The first time you spend $15, we get $30.

This is episode was originally released in 2024.
If there's one music genre lampooned more than Christian rock, it might just be ska. And Christian ska? Expect next level ridicule. But a lovable band of misfits from Denver, Colorado managed to do something that might seem unthinkable: combine two maligned genres and become a cultural phenomenon with an enduring cult following. On the season two finale of Rock that Doesn't Roll, music journalist Andrew Gill (Sound Opinions), and historian Leah Payne (God Gave Rock and Roll to You: a History of Contemporary Christian Music) follow the unlikely rise of Five Iron Frenzy, with insight from Leanor Ortega Till, aka "Jeff the Girl," aka the saxophonist from one of the best-loved bands in the Christian rock universe.
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Do you have a Christian rock story to tell? Want to respond to this episode? Leave us a message at ‪(629) 204-4264‬.
If Rock That Doesn’t Roll is important to you, support us on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/rtdr (join via the website, not the iOS app for a 30% discount)
If you'd like to make a one-time donation: https://coff.ee/rtdr
If you can't afford a donation, please tell five friends about the show.
You can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing RTDRpod@gmail.com
Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments.
Buy RTDR merch here (deeply discounted Sept. 4-7)
Do you like coffee? Try Larry's Coffee and support the show. The first time you spend $15, we get $30.

For 1990s evangelical teens, punk, hardcore, and ska were a gateway to a passionate, edgy way to express their Christianity outside the mainstream. But was the music and the message enough to keep the evangelical faith? In this episode, originally published in October 2023, hosts Andrew Gill and Leah Payne follow three Christian punk rock stories from Dr. Bradley Onishi of Axis Mundi Media, author D.L. Mayfield, and Tim Whitaker of The New Evangelicals as they share their stories of loving, leaving, or holding on to evangelical Christianity - and the music that fueled their teenaged devotion.
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Do you have a Christian rock story to tell? Want to respond to this episode? Leave us a message at ‪(629) 204-4264‬.
If Rock That Doesn’t Roll is important to you, support us on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/rtdr (join via the website, not the iOS app for a 30% discount)
If you'd like to make a one-time donation: https://coff.ee/rtdr
If you can't afford a donation, please tell five friends about the show.
You can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing RTDRpod@gmail.com
Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments.
Buy RTDR merch here (deeply discounted Sept. 4-7)
Do you like coffee? Try Larry's Coffee and support the show. The first time you spend $15, we get $30.

Adam Voith began his career in the music industry alongside the early bands riding the Tooth and Nail boom, blurring the line between Christian rock and the secular music industry. He went on to be a booking agent with clients including Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Haim, The Mountain Goats, Father John Misty and more. Now he's retired from the music industry and has gone back to his first love: independent publishing. He's just released his third novel, fictionalizing his experiences in the Christian rock world alongside the band Roadside Monument (with cameos from MXPX, Joe Christmas,Trey Many of Velour 100 and James Morelos of Made in Mexico Records). 
The title? A phrase we know all too well: Recommended If You Like. Adam is giving away this book- shipping included- so there's no reason not to get your own copy.
If you'd like to join a group conversation with Adam about this book, vote in our survey here: https://www.patreon.com/rtdr/posts/should-we-do-166031311 
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Do you have a Christian rock story to tell? Want to respond to this episode? Leave us a message at ‪(629) 204-4264‬.
If Rock That Doesn’t Roll is important to you, support us on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/rtdr (join via the website, not the iOS app for a 30% discount)
If you'd like to make a one-time donation: https://coff.ee/rtdr
If you can't afford a donation, please tell five friends about the show.
You can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing RTDRpod@gmail.com
Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments.
Buy RTDR merch here.
Do you like coffee? Try Larry's Coffee and support the show. The first time you spend $15, we get $30.

Matt Hinton has only been a member of Luxury for 27 years, so he's the new guy in the band. He's also a documentary filmmaker with two feature length films to his name: Awake My Soul: The Story of The Sacred Harp (co-directed with Erica Hinton) and Parallel Love, which is the story of Luxury.
Awake My Soul has been reissued in HD and with other assorted improvements. To mark the occasion, a number of theatrical screening are happening around the country. Find one near you at https://awakemysoul.com/
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Do you have a Christian rock story to tell? Want to respond to this episode? Leave us a message at ‪(629) 204-4264‬.
If Rock That Doesn’t Roll is important to you, support us on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/rtdr (join via the website, not the iOS app for a 30% discount)
If you'd like to make a one-time donation: https://coff.ee/rtdr
If you can't afford a donation, please tell five friends about the show.
You can connect with us on Instagram or by emailing RTDRpod@gmail.com
Sign up for our Substack to keep up with show developments.
Buy RTDR merch here.
Do you like coffee? Try Larry's Coffee and support the show. The first time you spend $15, we get $30.