Alienated Troubadour of Reconciliation
An Interview with John Michael Talbot
Steve Rabey
July 1, 1999
In the 1960s, a spiritually inquisitive John Michael Talbot left high school to travel the country with his older brother Terry and the other members of Mason Proffit, a ground-breaking country rock band that performed at packed concerts and festivals with artists including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin. Over the course of six albums, the band delivered a message of counterculture idealism through songs dealing with issues such as pacifism, racial reconciliation, and the environment. A musical superstar before he was sixteen years old, Talbot drifted through Native American religious traditions, Buddhism, and Hinduism before converting to Christianity while sitting in a Holiday Inn room one night.
Since then, Talbot has remained an artistic Christian enigma, producing first folk-rock albums with heavy-laden but rich evangelical tones and numerous sacred, liturgical albums upon his conversion to Roman Catholicism, more specifically to the Order of Saint Francis of Assisi. More recently, Talbot has stirred controversy by accessing ideas in Hinduism and Buddhism in his attempts to drive home the heart of the Christian gospel to both believers and especially nonbelievers. Always, at the core of this impassioned life have been Talbot's artistic and spiritual temperaments, which guarantee he will remain both conciliatory and self-alienating. RQ spoke to Talbot about his life, in and out of the church, as an artist.
RQ: In 1979, you released the classic album, The Lord's Supper. Curiously, you say you were inspired by evangelical culture guru Francis Schaeffer, though Schaeffer was clearly opposed to the Roman Catholicism you had just embraced.JMT: Schaeffer helped inspire me to study church history. In ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 20,006 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
| 
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
