The fountainheads are artists like Lincoln Brewster, a singer, guitarist and songwriter who began as a touring rock guitarist in the mid-1990s and later became music minister at several churches, before starting his own recording career. His highly melodic songs, as well as those by other Christian-rock artists like Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman, are performed here in nearly constant rotation.
Then there is Air One, a national FM radio network with 164 stations that serves as an index of the current Christian-rock movement and provides a playlist for many of the bands here. For the most part the groups at High Desert Church don't write their own songs; they are high-functioning garage bands, playing cover versions. But they operate in a large, modern auditorium with top-quality sound, lights and video operated by young volunteers; there are smoke machines and overhead screens that announce the title of each song and its lyrics.
The ultimate purpose
Still, showmanship has its limits in praise-rock music. The musicians don't want to distract themselves, or their audiences, from the higher purpose of serving God; in interviews they talked about not exuding rock-star charisma but instead remaining humble. "We're not up there to have people say, 'Wow, what an amazing band,'" Day said. His goal, he explained, was to play with excellence but to remain "transparent."
"There's a constant tension," he continued, "between the audience and the people on the stage, all thinking, 'OK, music is a great tool, but the ultimate purpose is worship.' And riding that tension is tough."
The congregants also tend to respond fairly chastely. A performance at a Seven service may look like a rock show, with the audience dressed as fashionably as the band, but in some ways it represents an inversion of one.
"It's all about the heart of worship," said Bobby Stolp, 39, a drummer in several different bands here. "God can enjoy a distorted guitar as well as a clean guitar. Especially when you're playing it for him."
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