RIP CCM

I was quite sad to walk into my local Family Bookstore last week and see the "FINAL PRINT EDITION" of CCM Magazine on the shelf. I don't know why it surprised me. I don't know when the last time I picked up the magazine was. I spend many days of my late youth and into my 20's reading that magazine. Cover's would make makeshift posters in my bedroom, and later my apartment. In the day's before the internet, I would scour the back pages where they listed tour information, looking to see who was coming to town. But in the day of the interweb, a guess the need for a magazine like CCM has faded away.

The final print issue had a lot of nice touches. A look back by original publisher John Styll. Lots of older artist (Randy Stonehill, Eddie Degarmo) offering their own look backs. Charlie Peacock writes a rather bleak, but very accurate assessment of the impact of CCM music on the culture and the church.

And then when I looked up info on the magazines passing. I saw that Larry Norman died earlier this year. I'm really feeling old.