Carman: Still crazy 'bout Jesus after all these years

By Buzz Trexler
for The (Maryville, TN) Daily Times, Winter 2003

Everything about Carman has always been big.

A cursory check of his credentials cites the New Jersey native:

• being named Billboard Magazine’s "Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year" in 1990;
• racking up numerous gold and platinum albums;
• seeing 50,000 people pack a Johannesburg, South Africa, stadium just to hear him in 1993. (He broke that record in 1994 when he appeared before a crowd of 71,132 at Dallas' Texas Stadium.)

There’s more, but it’s a bit too much to tell. Go to www.carman.org if you want to see it all.

The story goes that Carman, then Dominic Licciardello, played drums and guitar as a boy and began singing in his teen years. He played clubs and then went on to Las Vegas. After hearing Andrae Crouch in concert, Carman accepted Christ and eventually moved to Tulsa, Okla., where Carman Ministries took root.

It’s probably safe to say that Carman brought arena rock to the contemporary Christian music (CCM) scene. He also brought his music to life through film and videos. If it was not the first time a CCM artist did such a thing, it was likely never done on the scale that Carman achieved.

His latest work is a worship album titled "Ultimate Praise."

Asked what led him to produce a worship album as his first compilation since releasing the movie "Carman: The Champion," the singer/songwriter replies, "Well, actually, it’s really not that much different from what I’ve done before. The only difference really is the fact that we’ve incorporated a live audience in this.

"Really, it’s like a regular record, but it has the feel of a concert to it," he explains. "We’ve managed to capture kind of what happens at a concert and put it on a CD — which was a little tricky — and yet still maintain the sonic integrity of an album."

The album was recorded in a Nashville studio, he said, to produce in a "controlled environment to get the right sound."

Asked if he found it difficult to get his message out in an industry probably populated by more musicians than ever, Carman replied, "I haven’t really experienced that, yet. As a matter of fact, it’s exactly the opposite."

He goes on to say that, for some in the audience, it seems like it may be the first time they have heard his music. "And for those, it comes across as new and fresh, and not having been done before," he says. "And for those that have heard it before, they’re anticipating certain key elements."

The conversation turns to what he views as the greatest change since he entered the field about 26 years ago.

"I don’t see as much versatility in the individual artists as I did years ago," Carman said. "There’s a lot of ministry elements that are missing that used to be there years ago."

In the past, he said, a Christian performer would walk on stage and be "able to sing, they’re able to perform, they were able to lead worship and praise, they were able to preach the word, have an invitation, pray for folks, minister the whole evening.

"Now, you don’t really see that," he said. "You see artists, when they go on, they sing their songs, and they kind of leave. And they don’t have the ministry elements. So, it’s not as well rounded as it used to be."

Carman notes that contemporary Christian artists are under a great deal of pressure.

"You have to understand the pressure that recording artists get from record companies, because they’re always pressured to have a crossover pop hit ... for the sales," he said. "So, in order to get a crossover pop hit, they can’t really so much about Jesus, God, and be so obvious in their lyrics."

Carman said the result is "denatured" music in which the ministry aspects of the songs diminish. "When that happens, the first things to go are the altar calls, and the preaching of the Word, and the worship, and all of those other things go with it."

The result: "You have more of a musical artist upon the stage as opposed to a music ministry upon stage."

Contemporary Christian songwriter Steve Camp has lamented that CCM and secular pop music are growing so close in form and content that at some point the two genres are virtually indistinguishable. Asked about that prospect, Carman replied, "I think that’s pretty much where it’s at on the most part right now.

"But, you know what, a lot of that really depends upon the individual artist, though," he said. "I mean, they have to have it in their heart to put it in their art.

"So, if they’re willing to compromise their lyrics and what they’re capable of doing ministerially on the stage for the sake of sales, or success, or possible acceptance by the world, that’s between them and the Lord.

"God did not call us to be popular. He called us to be effective."

The Rev. Frank "Buzz" Trexler is managing editor at The Daily Times and pastor of Green Meadow United Methodist Church, www.themeadow.org. You can e-mail him at PastorBuzz@nxs.net.