About CCM Soundcheck

A podcast about Contemporary Christian Music from 1985 to 2005. Every episode centers on one song.

We're two friends who grew up on this music. We remember the radio stations, the church camps, the cassette tapes, and the CDs we wore out. This show is us digging back into that era: the songs, the stories behind them, and the world they came out of.

Whether these songs were the soundtrack to your youth group years, your first concert, your church van rides, or an entire season of your life, we hope CCM Soundcheck helps you hear them again with fresh ears.

And if you have never heard them before, pull up a chair. We have a lot of music to share.

The Third Chair

Every episode features a rotating cast guest in the Third Chair. This is someone with no prior experience of that episode's song. They haven't heard it. They haven't seen the video. They walk in cold.

We built the show around this because of what happens when someone experiences a song for the first time next to two people who already love it. Longtime fans hear things they'd stopped noticing. New listeners get an honest reaction, not a rehearsed one. And everyone in the room gets to see the song again, differently.

The seat rotates. Different guests, different reactions, every episode.

What a typical episode looks like

• That Reminds Me — the hosts share their own history with the song.
• Liner Notes — the facts: who made it, how it charted, why it mattered.
• History Lesson — what else was happening in the year it dropped.
• Cold Reaction — the Third Chair guest hears it for the first time, live.
• Re-Produced — how each host would remake or re-release it today.
• Game Time — a rotating lineup of games... about the song, the artist, the era, or CCM in general.
• Wrap-Up — final thoughts, and your chance to suggest the next song.

Meet your hosts

CJ

CJ grew up in a pastor's family. His dad was in the Air Force before going into ministry, so the family moved a lot: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Minnesota. When people ask where he's from, he says Alabama. That's where the family landed during his formative years, in a town of about 600 people, and it's where his love of CCM took hold.

CJ spent five years as a worship pastor. These days he works as an executive in the Minneapolis area, but music never really left.

CJ's motto: "Why use five words when fifty will do?"

Gary

Gary grew up in a small town in Iowa. At his house, CCM was all that was allowed. That's where he fell in love with music and decided to pursue it as a career.

Gary is a drummer, a musician, and a working studio producer. He's spent time on the other side of the glass, actually building the sound that ends up on a record. When we talk about how a song was made, or how we'd produce it differently today, that's Gary's territory.

When he's not at home, he's probably out somewhere playing a gig.

CJ and Gary

CJ and Gary serve on the same church worship team, CJ on vocals, Gary on drums. Their conversations about the CCM they both grew up on started there, in between services, and eventually turned into this show.

Beyond the worship team, CJ and Gary have only really worked together once before, on a kids' Christmas musical a couple years ago. CCM Soundcheck is their first major project together.

Why we're doing this

We genuinely appreciate CCM music and want to share it with those who haven't experienced it. The world deserves more CCM.

Got a song we should cover?

We're always taking suggestions for classic CCM songs to feature. Browse the episodes to see what we've covered so far — and stay tuned, because you'll soon be able to catch CCM Soundcheck on all the major podcast platforms.