For Catholics who want to rock
October 28, 2011
Calling all Catholic rock fans.
Musician David Wang has launched a new web site that he hopes will contribute to building an online history of contemporary Christian music.
CatholicRock.org went online in August. It is the brainchild of Wang, leader of the award-winning Canadian Christian rock band Critical Mass and a former music columnist for The Catholic Register. It can be found at www.catholicrock.org and features Wang’s collection of Register columns.
Wang says the site will continue the vision of his columns to put the spotlight on Christian and Catholic musicians. But this time, they will have a multimedia touch.
“I’m hoping it will be a resource for the priests and laity who want to find out how to incorporate music into their daily lives to help them grow in their faith,” he said.
“This is an incredible, exciting change in that, by taking the column online, I can enhance the content without the restrictions of print media. I will provide links to web sites and videos so that you can truly experience the best in Christian music.”
The site will also include interviews with influential Christian artists, including the last interview Rich Mullins had before his untimely death in 1997.
Wang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Waterloo, said inspiration for the web site came from continuing interest in his columns.
“A lot of priests would comment on it and ask me about the column and the bands in it,” he said. “(The columns) were serving the Catholic public.”
Wang is also working on the sister web site of CatholicRock.org. Critical Mass’ web site will be transformed into a catechism site which will “use rock music and rock music videos from the band for teaching purposes,” he said, adding it will look at issues like Confession, the Eucharist and the Pope’s teachings.
Also, Critical Mass is working on a new album marking its 15-year anniversary next year.