Ok look, I get it, I missed another Music Monday post last week. I’ve got all kinds of great excuses as to why I missed last week: we had Covid, it was a holiday weekend, etc. It was a weird week last week where hardly anything got done around here, including the Music Monday Post. So, here I am, tail between my legs again, actually writing at a normal time! Let’s not waste another minute…

Now that you’ve read the title, you’re probably ready to revoke my credentials as a commentator on culture/music…I get it. TobyMac is not usually mentioned in the company of Led Zeppelin or U2. Noted. However, in this stage of life, having kids and wanting them to listen to music that will leave them with at worst, a neutral influence, I find my little guy loves TobyMac. And guess what? SO DO I!

I grew up a Christian in a family of non-Christians. I was swimming in good music all the time, whether it was Buddy Holly, or Hank Williams Jr, there was no shortage of music and none of it was cheesy or lame. Christian music in the 80’s and 90’s only had two reputable bands, in my opinion: The Altar Boys & The Seventy-Sevens. If you tried to give me your Petra tapes, I immediately pushed you out of my way and ran for the hills. Get that crap out of here! DC Talk (TobyMac’s first act), Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenaline, Newsboys, etc…all weak stuff that was pretty cheesy.

I couldn’t handle it. I was by no means, a CCM guy. I was (and still am) a Tooth & Nail guy, through and through. But as I’ve discussed with some of my Tooth & Nail family members, once you have kids, CCM starts to look pretty good! So, I open up the Pandora app and start a station for the band MercyMe, CCM royalty. On that station, you hear a lot of TobyMac. I started to notice that anytime a TobyMac song came on, my son danced like crazy. I also noticed that whenever a TobyMac song came on, I would start to move a little. His music is CONTAGIOUS! Dang!

Enter, 2015’s This Is Not A Test. This whole album is good; no weak links, so crap-songs, it’s all good. My favorite tracks are, “Like a Match” and “Backseat Driver”. Both of those songs hit so hard you can’t help but sing along. My wife probably hates this album because of how often I walk around singing, “Like a Match”, but ya know what? She’ll survive! It’s a fun track and the little man loves it. One of the things this album showcases the most, is, the young talent TobyMac is working to promote. He has folks such as Hollyn, NF, and Capital Kings, we well as his old mates from DC Talk. The collaborations are excellent!

I’m going to keep this one brief since I don’t have to spend a lot of time going into the negatives here. It’s nice that there are none! If you want a great album to listen to that’s fun, well produced, and family-friendly, this is it!