The other morning I was dropping my wife off at work and as I’m pulling away I hear familiar lyrics coming from the radio, but wait, something is not right… I was hearing Jeremy Camp’s cover of the Tim Hughes song, “Jesus Saves.” Now I am a big fan of Tim Hughes, and perhaps not as big a fan of Jeremy Camp, so that may taint my thoughts…
But my first thought was, “Why is this station playing an inferior cover of a great song?!” And then it occurred to me the number of Tim Hughes’ songs I hear on my local Christian radio station performed by someone who…is not Tim Hughes.
Mr. Hughes has great recordings, so why do many of the listeners of Christian radio I meet not know who Tim Hughes is? Because he doesn’t get played on the radio! I’m not sure why… Maybe because he is British and his recording really do have a “British” feel to them. (His album Hold Nothing Back exemplifies this, give it a listen!) Or perhaps because he doesn’t seem to have a large touring presence. My most pessimist thought is Tim Hughes doesn’t get played because the “Christian Entertainment Industry” (record labels, radio & tv stations, publishing companies…) makes more money when using his songs by another artist.
I hope not, that would be a very sad statement if found true.
But regardless, I think what I’m saying is check out Tim Hughes. He writes great songs, many of which are not recorded but are out there to be used as a resource for you in your church. This last detail I find compelling. There are Christian artists who write great songs for church, and you can find everything they’ve done…for only $1 a download. Tim Hughes offers much of his music and knowledge as a resource to you. I encourage anyone involved in the church to look up his thoughts, read his blogs, watch his videos, listen to his songs. WorshipCentral.org is a site that Tim Hughes is heavily involved with. He offers insights into his songwriting, thoughts on worship, and a look behind the curtain of his recording process. Hughes’ songs tend to be much more based in the liturgy, or at least he in the writing process looks beyond the “prototypical texts” for praise and worship songwriting. In fact many a week there are an abundance of his songs that work exceptionally well with the texts.
So please do check out Tim Hughes. You will not be disappointed.
Red Chair Music 