Genuine Superstars Made Laughable

A friend sent me this link today. It is a preview paragraph for the upcoming Birmingham stop of Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith's "United" tour. I found it kind of humorous while at the same time a little sad.

The writer refers to Chapman and Smith as being "genuine superstars in the genre they helped make laughable." The writer then describes Chapman's music as "lush and orchestral" and Smith as "the moody rock guy prone to fits of funk." [Imagine a quizzical look on my face here.] I'm not sure that I would describe either artist with those respective labels. If anything, I would switch them around. That was my first clue that this writer didn't know much about the subject.

The second clue was the nice tip of the hat to Chapman's songwriting on "Cinderella," calling it "truly beautiful." So much so that the writer thought it was a good thing that Chapman fell in a "niche market" so that no crying drivers would crash when they heard the song on the radio. [Smile] Chapman's "Cinderella" is currently the No. 11 song on the Mediabase Christian AC year-to-date chart because, yeah, it actually is played on the radio.

Granted, this is from a Birmingham city paper that aims to be a bit irreligious, tongue-in-cheek, but whatever happened to getting some facts straight and being slightly informed. (There is a preview of a Relient K show further down the page that reads real well.) What I'd like to hear from you is: what do you think about this writer's take on the Christian ("niche") market in general? Fair assessment or not?

Billy