Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry (Music in American Life)

Mungons, Kevin; Yeo, Douglas

ISBN 10: 0252085833 / ISBN 13: 9780252085833

Published by University of Illinois Press, 2021

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 391125623

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry (Music in American Life)
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0252085833
• ISBN 13: 9780252085833
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

From tent revivals to radio and records with a gospel music innovator

Homer Rodeheaver merged evangelical hymns and African American spirituals with popular music to create a potent gospel style. Kevin Mungons and Douglas Yeo examine his enormous influence on gospel music against the backdrop of Christian music history and Rodeheaver's impact as a cultural and business figure. Rodeheaver rose to fame as the trombone-playing song leader for evangelist Billy Sunday. As revivalism declined after World War I, Rodeheaver leveraged his place in America's newborn celebrity culture to start the first gospel record label and launch a nationwide radio program. His groundbreaking combination of hymnal publishing and recording technology helped define the early Christian music industry. In his later years, he influenced figures like Billy Graham and witnessed the music's split into southern gospel and black gospel.

Clear-eyed and revealing, Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry is an overdue consideration of a pioneering figure in American music.

About the Author

Kevin Mungons is a writer for print and digital platforms and editorial manager at Moody Bible Institute. Douglas Yeo was bass trombonist of the Boston Symphony and has taught trombone at Wheaton College and Arizona State University.