Mullins Battles Glitches
by Ruth Stultz
The Asbury Collegian, April 26,1996
Rich Mullins and the Ragamuffin Band played whirling melodies on mandolin, accordion, bass and various guitars as they set up at 5:00 Saturday. The band started playing promptly at 5:15 with "The Creed." They soon realized that the keyboard was malfunctioning and wrestled with its pedals and cords throughout the concert. The band did not let technical difficulties daunt them, however, and strummed out a concert full of good humor and skillful improvisation, playing familiar songs like "Brothers Keeper," "Awesome God," and "Step by Step."
"This is a song I wrote in Amsterdam, a city where everything is legal," Mullins told us about "Hold Me Jesus." Mullins, almost 40, was surprised by how much the city's opportunities still tempted him. "Now I'm looking forward to 80," he shared, his wise tortoise smile spreading across his face.
Most of us associate "Sing Your Praise to the Lord" with Amy Grant and the 80's, but this was one of Mullins' first produced songs. He played it Saturday, including for us a Psalm-based verse that Grant omitted. Mullins pounded the song's rippling mini-symphonies out of his faulty keyboard so majestically that we all excused the glitches.
The band also had fun with "If I Stand." Mullins announced it with the disclaimer, "I've never played this on guitar before." Since this is one of my favorite songs in the world, I was gazing up into the sunset clouds behind the stage as they sang. Suddenly, I noticed that the boys up on stage were laughing to each other; even Mullins grinned above his blue T-Shirt as he sang. So I gave up being hyper-spiritual and watched them enjoy each other's company. Mullins ended the inspirational chorus with "If I weep, let it be as a man, who is longing for..." He drew out the notes. "His Piano!"
The Ichthus concert may be one of Mullins' last for a time, although he hinted that a "Best of" album was in the works. Mullins hopes to teach music on a Native American reservation for the next year, and maybe longer, if all goes well.
"I get kind of tired of white, evangelical, middle-class perspectives on God," Mullins told an interviewer after the concert. "I think God gets bored with heroism." Mullins concert was not heroic, but it was full of good humor, simple lyrics and praise for God.
Used with permission from Ruth Stultz Lowell.
