Gospel Lectertn
by Bob Darden
Billboard Magazine December 14, 1991
ICH MULLINS will probably never know crossover pop success. His lyrics have too much of his faith - struggle in them. Mullins will probably never know
Christian radio megasuccess, either. His music is too arresting, too troubling. His points of reference are
Bruce Cockburn and Peter Gabriel, not top 40.
The result is that a superb piece of work like Mullins' latest album for Reunion Records, "The World As Best I Remember It, Volume I," is in danger of
slipping between the musical cracks.
"My music comes both straight from my head and as a result of collaborations in the studio," he says. "I very seldom listen to pop music, so I haven't been in-
doctrinated. And it is an indoctrination process - you just naturally imitate what you hear so you have to be
careful. I'm not really particularly virtuous in that I don't listen. I'm just kind of a musical snob.
"I think I use things like dulcimers, bagpipes, mandolins, and recorders, in part, because as John Hartford once said, 'Style is based in limitation.' I do most
of my writing on the road, writing in a truck. And it is easier to play a lap dulcimer in a truck than a guitar. The Love Of God,' from two albums ago, is a song I wrote while hiking the Appalachian Trail and the only instrument I had was a fife, so that's what I wrote it on."
Lyrically, there is more Old Testament imagery on "The World" than on Mullins' previous releases. He says that's because he has always found it "easier" to
read the Old Testament than the New.
"The Old Testament is more narrative, there's more violence and sex -more good reading material," he says with a laugh.
Still, no matter how many songs off "The World" become standards, Mullins will probably always be known first and foremost as the composer of the instant classic "Awesome God."
"I liked it before it become popular," he says. "It is hard to imagine that people appreciate it so much, partly because I'm a little suspicious by nature and
I'm always thinking people like it because it is popular. Still, the popularity has waned enough now that I have some distance. People are still genuinely moved
by it, so that's good. I'd like to think if I hadn't written that song, I would have liked it anyway."
One common mystery about Mullins' recorded work is the ever -present music credit "Beaker."
"Beaker travels with me, plays guitar, is a fellow friar in the Kid Brothers of St. Frank, and even shares a house with me," Mullins says. "One of the great
things about working with Beaker is that he didn't spend his life in bands or taking piano lessons. He's just now discovering things about music."
Mullins is outspoken in his opinion about Christian artists who perform to accompaniment tracks.
"I think it is highly immoral," he says. "Someone who buys a ticket doesn't say, 'I'm going to hear a concert.' He or she says, 'I'm going to see a concert.' My
thinking is, if they're just wanting to hear the music, then they'll just buy the album and stay home and play it. If they want to see a concert, they'll see and
hear me, Avenue g [Lee and Nicki Lundgren], the Sparks, and Beaker perform live. It's a mixed bag. Sometimes they accompany me, sometimes I accompany them."
