Sounding Off: Deborah Evans Price on Mike Farris
by Deborah Evans Price
One of the great things about greeting the New Year is looking forward to the new music that’ll be coming our way. Yet being the reflective soul I am, the dawning of another year always makes me replay the previous one in my head and think about the music that made an impact on me. One project that leaps immediately to mind is Mike Farris’ Salvation in Lights on INO Records. That begs the question: What are we going to do with Mike Farris? And by we, I mean the music industry gatekeepers and those responsible for making sure great music gets to the masses. There are those who have already embraced this cause with zeal, but there are some who have yet to come to the party and it’s those folks that I’d like to light a fire under! (Attention Christian radio programmers: Are you catching a whiff of smoke?)
Formerly the frontman for the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies, Farris made his bow in the Christian format with an album so full of soul and raw passion that it’s impossible to listen and not be moved. INO Records president Jeff Moseley deserves credit for signing Farris even though he doesn’t fit in the box generally reserved for Christian artists. “A rock radio promoter from Epic sent me an MP3 and I heard one song and fell in love,” Moseley told me during a recent chat in his office. “Many times music comes across your desk and a lot of times we judge it for commercial viability, but this is one when I just said ‘this guy is way too good to be shouting from the sidelines or be marginalized. Whether we sell a million records or ten records, this is a voice in the culture that needs to be heard.’ So I signed Mike literally off that MP3. We knew that as primarily a Christian label we’d have some limitations but really wanted to do everything we could to give it a shot.”
INO got behind Farris and they weren’t alone in their excitement. Salvation in Lights created the biggest buzz I’ve heard in years. To be honest, I can’t recall when a record has created such a stir among industry insiders. Retailers that I call to solicit quotes for stories were calling and emailing me about Mike. Other journalists (and Lord knows we can sometimes be a jaded lot) were calling to encourage me to write about Mike. People that aren’t on the INO payroll and have nothing to gain by singing his praises were spreading the word and continue to do.
The problem is there’s a crucial missing link in exposing Farris – radio – Christian radio to be specific. The label sent out samplers hoping, of course, to get airplay, and they did. Farris got spins on public radio, Triple A and college stations. Christian radio guys profess to love Farris and his music, yet without airplay such praise is pretty empty.
“I am surprised and a little disappointed at Christian radio for not embracing him more than they have to date; retail as well for that matter,” says my good friend Brian Smith, VP of operations for Georgia-based retail outfit Value Central Entertainment, and a rabid Mike Farris fan. “Mike is a phenomenal talent, supremely unique and a refreshing change from the status quo, and as we all know everyone needs to participate in career development. I think our company has, and as a result we are seeing his CD sell across the country. I applaud his label for also sticking to their guns and keeping his name out there. In a climate of disposability they see what they have and are trying to nurture a gem of an artist. They can't do it alone, and this needs to change.”
I personally agree wholeheartedly with Brian, and frankly I expect more from Christian radio than other formats. I expect Christian radio to be more inclusive, more adventurous and more willing to support music that has such an obvious ability to impact lives. Country radio is routinely criticized for playing it safe and not taking chances, but over the years, we’ve all seen country radio break some great acts. I remember when the Judds first burst on the scene. They didn’t sound like anything else at that time, but they were given a chance. There are numerous other examples in the country format from the Tractors’ Baby Likes to Rock It to LeAnn Rimes' Blue to Tim McGraw’s Indian Outlaw and of course those Mutt Lange-produced Shania Twain hits that changed peoples’ perception of country music. Some of those have had staying power and some faded, but they got their shot. When radio takes chances great things can happen, but it takes brave souls willing to buck the status quo and give listeners a taste of something fresh and exciting.
“At his live performances, I’ve watched Lexus-driving music biz pros stand with mouths agape, in disbelief,” says savvy Melissa Riddle, writer/editor/media consultant with Nashville-based RiddleMeThis Communications. “I’ve seen grown men weep and old ladies dance at his shows. And I, a concert-weary music critic, happily admit to shaking my groove thing with abandon a time or two. So it’s really frustrating to see a true artist like Farris create a mind-blowing project like Salvation in Lights, a genre-bending, soul-lifting hybrid of a record that, were we in an age where authenticity and artistry mattered in music, would sell-through, top every chart, win big awards, and even better, bridge the great Sunday morning divide in churches black and white. Like Bessie Smith, like Sam Cooke, like Cash and Parton and Springsteen and U2, a kind of music history is being made with this guy. What is wrong with our music-saturated culture, that people don’t get that?”
Smith agrees. “He is an artist that really ‘believes in’ what he sings about. No fake with this guy and that is what connects. Emotion is the fabric of music and he is swimming in it! That and he is a genuinely nice person, who appreciates the battle he fought and won and is living his life now in celebration of having been given a second chance. You can't fake that, A&R that, media hype that – you have to live that. He does and it is why he is so special and why the music community needs to embrace, enhance, enrich and enjoy this talent.”
Preacher it Brother Brian! Amen!
More by Deborah Evans Price...
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About the Writer
Deborah Evans Price is a Nashville-based journalist who has spent the past 11 years covering country and Christian music for Billboard magazine, and has contributed stories on everyone from Alan Jackson to Bon Jovi to Avril Lavigne.
Deborah has received the "Outstanding Mainstream Contribution to Gospel Music" award from the Gospel Music Association. Considered a key analyst in the music field, Deborah has been interviewed by MSNBC, CNN, CMT, New York Times, Today Show, and ABC Primetime, among other outlets. She's served three years as judge on TBN's "Exalting Him Christian Artist Talent Search," where some say she's become the "Paula Abdul" of the Christian competition.
A Virginia native, Deborah grew up on Air Force bases in New Jersey, Georgia, Arkansas, and Japan. She and husband Gary have been married 21 years and have a 16-year-old son Trey. They reside outside Nashville and attend Mill Creek Baptist Church.
