What do Catholicism and country music have to do with one another? After all, from Tom T. Hall’s “Me and Jesus” to the Gospel albums of Elvis and Johnny Cash, the voices of country music are overwhelmingly Protestant, and overwhelmingly low-church in their expression.
But a deeper look reveals some surprising connections and overlapping themes: the harsh reality of sin, a desire for confession, a reliance upon grace, and even the tension between being authentic or just trading on aesthetics. Neither country music nor Catholicism is satisfied with a disembodied understanding of God and what He is up to in the world.
Matt Swaim talks with Bo Bonner and Dr. Terrence Sweeney about their experience of the intersection of country music and Catholicism, and why there is more that connects them than many Catholics or country music devotees may realize.
Dr. Terence Sweeney’s article on Country Music, Sin, and Grace
Bo Bonner on Iowa Catholic Radio
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