Full Circle | Classic Jesus Music

Full Circle is Jerry Bryant's classic Jesus music radio show, and its episodes open with the same promise: a look back at where it all began. The territory is the early sound of what became contemporary Christian music. Songs come from the Imperials' Side to Side album on Dayspring Records and from Russ Taff's second solo album of 1985. Parable, Lenny LeBlanc, the Wall Brothers and the late Keith Green turn up too. Bryant says he goes to his own record shelves for each episode's songs, and that he prays over the choices, asking for God's timing, the right songs and insights worth sharing. It shows in the pacing. What comes out is part liner notes and part pastoral counsel, from someone in no hurry to reach the next track. Credits matter here. In one setup he names the players on a song from a Word Records album, down to who handled the Hammond B3 organ. In another he notes that a title cut from a 1982 Firewind and MCA release was engineered and mixed by the late Jonathan David Brown. A 1981 Bob and Pauline Wilson song earns an audible 'Oh, I love that' for its horn section. Then the history turns into reflection. Episodes usually carry a theme he asks listeners to listen for, and titles such as 'Love Takes Time', 'I Can Be Friends With You' and 'All Things New' name it outright. The reflections are tender and practical. Friendship survives hardship through forgiveness and patience, love takes time to learn after hurt or betrayal, and people who have given up hear that God never left them. Scripture stays close. A prayer song by Parable is set beside Psalm 61:2, the plea to be led to the rock that is higher. He recalls that early Jesus movement music was often just a guitar and a few voices, and that what it carried was honesty. Interviews bring the same affection to the people who made the records. In 'more than words with Chuck Butler, part 2', Butler tells how he asked someone named Tom to help him find a melody on the piano and write it down before it was lost, which is how 'Song for the Church' came about. For a first listen, that interview shows the guest side of the show. 'All Things New' shows the more typical run of records, credits and reflection. The format keeps a radio shape, with breaks, a part two and the occasional request to drop him a line. Full Circle is recorded in the Jesus Solid Rock Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, and it signs off with a familiar benediction: keep your eyes to the sky, and let your light shine.