Leah Payne

Really enjoyed talking to Leah and Andrew a while back on their pod.

Banjo Made Me Lose My Religion On worship music, heathenry, and apostasy

@nathanevansfox.bsky.social on worship music, heathenry, and apostasy - and growing up charismatic and Pentecostal, where music is a sacrament:
nathanevansfox.substack.com/p/banjo-made...

Here AI Am to Worship? Thousands are listening to AI-generated Christian music, and they may not even know it.

Thanks to Tate Young of @sojo.net for including Yours Truly in this fascinating story about AI & Christian music!
sojo.net/articles/new...

with quotes and insights from @drleahpayne.bsky.social, Stephen Mason from Jars of Clay, @flamygrant.bandcamp.com, and Noreen Herzfeld.

Here AI Am to Worship? Thousands are listening to AI-generated Christian music, and they may not even know it.

NEW: Tate Young reports on AI in Christian music. They found multiple artists with tens of thousands of monthly listeners, and no indication that those artists are generative-AI.

Surprised to see Kid Rock on Christian TV? Why the Trinity Broadcasting Network & Robert James Ritchie are a perfect pairing.

"American 'Christian media' is often less about moral purity than about spectacle, testimony, and the irresistible promise that even the loudest rebel can be born again."
New from Yours Truly about why Kid Rock on TBN made all the sense in the world
open.substack.com/pub/drleahpa...

Season 4 Trailer Podcast Episode · Rock That Doesn't Roll: The Story of Christian Music · Trailer · 2m

🎸🤘✝️ Want to think seriously w/ hilarious & insightful people about the quirky world of Christian music? #RockthatDoesntRoll, a podcast I co-host w/ @andrewgill.biz, has a new season dropping on March 4th! Click here for a preview!

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Two Queens of Contemporary Christian Music speak out 👑 Amy Grant and Sandi Patty are challenging their listeners - and the President of the United States - to do better in 2026

They know what it was like to feel the worshipful gaze of the faithful one moment, and their scorching disapproval the next. Grant and Patty survived, learned to thrive, & they are challenging their listeners in new ways. open.substack.com/pub/drleahpa...

Men occupied 85-90% of the top 40 positions on CCM charts for most of the 80s and 90s - Amy Grant and Sandi Patty made up a lot of the remaining 10-15%. They were the queens of that world, and as such, only they know what it was like to feel the worshipful gaze of the faithful one moment, and their scorching disapproval the next. They survived, learned to thrive, and they are challenging their listeners in new ways.

Men occupied 85-90% of the top 40 positions on CCM charts for most of the 80s and 90s - Amy Grant and Sandi Patty made up a lot of the remaining 10-15%. open.substack.com/pub/drleahpa...

Battle of the books

The least sporty mom you know just figured out how to participate in the youth sports industrial complex and it's... competitive reading. Let's go Team Genius!

Sandi Patty sings the National Anthem

🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 Just in for Presidents' Day: Sandi Patty, icon of late 20th century patriotism & Star-Spangled songstress of choice for many a POTUS, now rebukes 47, DJT: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Thank you so much!

Sandi Patty sings the National Anthem

🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 Just in for Presidents' Day: Sandi Patty, icon of late 20th century patriotism & Star-Spangled songstress of choice for many a POTUS, now rebukes 47, DJT: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Two Queens of Contemporary Christian Music speak out 👑 Amy Grant and Sandi Patty are challenging their listeners - and the President of the United States - to do better in 2026

"As young women, they were marketed as models of perfection. Now, in their sixties, they are speaking not as ideals but as elders." Amy Grant & Sandi Patty are challenging their audiences in 2026 & I'd love to hear them tell us more!
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Two Queens of Contemporary Christian Music speak out 👑 Amy Grant and Sandi Patty are challenging their listeners - and the President of the United States - to do better in 2026

"As young women, they were marketed as models of perfection. Now, in their sixties, they are speaking not as ideals but as elders." Amy Grant & Sandi Patty are challenging their audiences in 2026 & I'd love to hear them tell us more!
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Weekly Roundup: Feb. 13 Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a report on the latest government worship service that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a look ...

Our fresh religion news roundup features insights from @jackjenkins.me, @nuriamk.bsky.social, @brianmannadk.bsky.social, @faithfulpolitics.bsky.social, @ffrfaction.bsky.social, @chrispolansky.bsky.social, @zschonfeld.bsky.social, @drleahpayne.bsky.social, and more!

Thanks so much to Chris Lilley for this thoughtful review of God Gave Rock & Roll to You for CrossCurrents - it’s an honor to think with smart people about the power & meaning of #CCM!
www.jstor.org/stable/27372...

Thanks so much to Chris Lilley for this thoughtful review of God Gave Rock & Roll to You for CrossCurrents - it’s an honor to think with smart people about the power & meaning of #CCM!
www.jstor.org/stable/27372...

Opinion | Surprised this Christian channel will air Kid Rock? You shouldn't be. Leah Payne: Those familiar with TBN and its history shouldn’t see it as a surprise

“Kid Rock is less an odd booking than a recognizable character in a familiar story. If anything, TBN’s involvement underscores how thoroughly charismatic media has become a conduit for contemporary conservative activism.”
Yours truly on America’s Halftime Show & TBN
www.ms.now/opinion/kid-...

Come learn about this amazing program we are cooking up at Portland Seminary! slate.georgefox.edu/register/?id...

About to do a little lite reading thanks to @ctrrelpol-washu.bsky.social & @ryanburge.bsky.social

Come learn about this amazing program we are cooking up at Portland Seminary! slate.georgefox.edu/register/?id...

And analysis from PRRI Affiliated Scholar @drleahpayne.bsky.social: bsky.app/profile/drle...

Opinion | Surprised this Christian channel will air Kid Rock? You shouldn't be. Leah Payne: Those familiar with TBN and its history shouldn’t see it as a surprise

www.ms.now/opinion/kid-...

by @drleahpayne.bsky.social

Opinion | Surprised this Christian channel will air Kid Rock? You shouldn't be. Leah Payne: Those familiar with TBN and its history shouldn’t see it as a surprise

Check out this great new op-ed by @drleahpayne.bsky.social on tonight's alternative Half Time show.

www.ms.now/opinion/kid-...

🙏🤘🎸

Opinion | Surprised this Christian channel will air Kid Rock? You shouldn't be. Leah Payne: Those familiar with TBN and its history shouldn’t see it as a surprise

Excellent MS NOW piece by @drleahpayne.bsky.social on Kid Rock performing on TBN tonight & what it says about Pentecostal Christianity:
www.ms.now/opinion/kid-...

Opinion | Surprised this Christian channel will air Kid Rock? You shouldn't be. Leah Payne: Those familiar with TBN and its history shouldn’t see it as a surprise

“Kid Rock is less an odd booking than a recognizable character in a familiar story. If anything, TBN’s involvement underscores how thoroughly charismatic media has become a conduit for contemporary conservative activism.”
Yours truly on America’s Halftime Show & TBN
www.ms.now/opinion/kid-...

For the 2nd edition of In Defense of Ska, I interviewed Leah Payne, author of God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You to get some backstory on Christian rock music, because I wrote a section on the Christian Ska scene

This week, I'm dropping our interview to the IDOS Patreon (link in bio)

649. This week we chat with Leah Payne about her book, God Gave Rock and Roll To You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music. We focus the family of Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Mickey Gilley in the history of Rock and Roll. louisianaanthology.blogspot.com/2025/10/649-...