The Aletheia
VOLUME 1 1, NUMBER 1 MONTREAT-ANDERSON COLLEGE
SEPTEMBER 15, 1987
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ADVISOR-DR. RICH GRAY EDITOR-NANCY NICHOLS
STAFF
TRACY AIKEN
STEPHANIE BOWSMAN
MINDY CLINARD
MARC DUARTE
DAVID GEIGER
GREG HOWARD
WILLIAM HU
RENEE JENKINS
SCOTT RUSSO
GARETT STANFIELD
KIM THOMPSON
JAMES WALDROUPE
ELAINE WIEDMAN
^ourmg.., it's never easy, Dut 1t is
.a necessity, if a musician wants to get
airplay and sell records. At least that's
now the story goes.
Christian rock artist Morgan Cryar
likes to be different. For his second Ip,
Fuel On Fire (Star Song Records), he
chose instead to stay home, rehearse a
new band, cut a video with ZZ TOP’S
video coordinator and watch "Pray In
The USA" become the *l Christian rock
song of the year.
Then he started touring.
Buoyed by its hot video, the song
"Pray In The USA" hit the *! position on
Christian rock shows from coast to
coast last fall. When the final points
were tallied, it was declared by The
Radio National Chart to be Hte
Christian Rock Song of 1986. One week
later, the video Itself was named by
Real Videos, the. top syndicated
Christian video show, to be The *i
Christian Video of !986.
"I felt that first, we needed to
create a demand for the concerts,"
comments Cryar In his Louisiana drawl.
“Now that the airplay is so strong and
the album is selling well, we're ready
to tour.
Cryar was always one for
understatements. 'Selling well" means
that Fuel On Fire Is selling three times
faster than his first album, Keen No
Secrets, which was one of the most
successful debut albums by a male
artist In Christian music. Everl
Now that he's on tour, the M-AC
college community experienced Morgan
Cryar's chart-topping rock & roll In
person. Cryar zweared in Gaither j
Chapel on Sunday, September 13, 1987
at 8:00 pm. There was no charge for
M-AC students, faulty and staff.
C.^yar first toured a couple of
seasons ago as a part of the DeGarmo &
Key/Farrell & Farrell World Tour. A
/ear later, Cryar took his band on the
"■oad and opened all 33 cities on
f>ETRA's "Beat The System Tour". This
was the most ambitious tour ever for a
Christian rock show and consistently
set ticket-sales records, night after
night.
• Now, Cryar is on the road again,
taking his brand of message oriented
rock & roll from coast to coast. “I
believe that music is a very Important
tool of communication, " Cryar
explains, " and you can say as much
with lyrics as you can with the spoken
word."
While he does share freely and
with great enthusiasm about his faith
in God, Cryar is not a preacher. "I try
not to give a concert with a sermon. I
am under the conviction that my songs
say it, and if they don't say It, then I
need to write new ones that do."
Apparently his current songs are
doing the job. A recent review In the
trade publication Cash Box concluded,"
With real good production and backup
vocals highlighting his powerful
material, Cryar gets his message
acrossl"
International media reponse to
Morgan’s music has been strong. £CD1
called Morgan "the all American
Christian rocker"; Great Britan's BUZZ
called him "one of rock gospel's
brightest new finds"; Australlla’s Ui£
Musician called his songs "fresh and
imaginative"; and Campus Life said,
“Cryar has the voice and style to carry
it all."
Touring is never easy. But for
Morgan Cryar, It is the most effective
way of communicating the good news
of Jesus Christ. And if he happens to
get more airplay and sell more records,
that's OK, too.