What’s This Show All About?

Bringing beauty, truth and joy into a broken world

Why Do the Show?

Catholic Playlist Show

Our first logo/icon

Believe it or not, the Catholic Playlist show got its start in July 2013 and to date we’ve now produced 170 episodes of the flagship contemporary show. A long time ago when building this website I published the About the Show page to inform curious visitors about the Catholic Playlist show. While revisiting the About page recently I noticed you won’t find my motivation to continue producing new shows. Yes, it’s fun to discover new music and the show seems to play an important role in getting music to reach more ears and touch more lives. But is this reason enough to leave home after a long day at my full-time job, go to an empty radio studio at 8pm on a week night to record and produce the show, and finally come home at 1am or 2am or even later with a finished show? The 3-4+ hours to produce each show doesn’t include the time to do the graphics, writing podcast and website posts, social media campaigns and more. There’s nothing glamorous about the work and the donations we get for the show barely covers the cost of the music. So I don’t do it for the fame or the money.

Then I came across this post from Danielle Noonan, a talented singer and songwriter who’s been heard many times in the Catholic Playlist:

“I never in a million years envisioned myself being a wife, mom and full time musician. All of those things separately, yes, but if you know me personally, balancing things can be somewhat of a messy and comical experience…for me. So my most recent question to some of my closest friends is why are we doing this? Why, above all things, are we creatives for the church? I don’t ask because I think it’s not worth it but because deep down there’s nothing else we’d rather do more than create beauty for the church and that’s insane. Let’s be honest. Real talk here…There’s nothing glamorous about being a musician in the church. When I travel, especially alone, it’s well…lonely. Who loves airports, being away from their family, not hanging out with their friends, getting calls your kiddos are sick, or you missed a party or school performance. No one in their right mind wakes up one morning and thinks, “hey, you know what, I really don’t want to hang out with my husband and kiddos today so I’m gonna take the red eye and sleep on a couch.” It’s ridiculous, but as a creative, especially a creative in the church we are fighting for our church. We’re fighting to bring beauty, truth and joy into a world that’s broken and not just for the young church but for everyone. We’re fighting for generations who’ve been shown that what they can produce through their hands holds more value than what is produced within their own hearts. Where’s that gotten us? It’s our job as creatives to not just bring beauty to the church but to bring beauty out of it. We can all be mirrors of God’s beauty, love, and redemption and as a creative, meeting people where they are and sharing our music and testimonies gives all of our hearts a chance to be broken just a little more so we all mirror Him.”

And so I’ve found my reason. It’s to “bring beauty, truth and joy into a world that’s broken” – beauty created by talented creatives like Danielle who need an outlet to share their music and testimonies. That’s why I’ve spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours listening to music and assembling the best playlists I can with the best and newest contemporary Christian music from Catholic artists only. The slogan I’ve used for a long time says it well – “Sharing the joy of the Gospel through the power of music!”

And now a question for you: Why do you enjoy listening to the Catholic Playlist show? What do you get from it?

Use the comments section below to share. Thanks!

Most Popular Show So Far

Catholic Playlist MusicWe don’t have a new show for you this week, but we thought we’d let you know which past episode has proven to be the most popular. It turns out that episode #55, released on September 19, 2014, is our most popular show to date based on the number of podcast plays.

And it is by far the most played episode to date.

So let’s take a closer look at episode #55. The new featured artist that week was Emily Wilson and her song ‘Beautiful and Yours’, along with songs from Chris Bray, Katy Blythe, Out of Darkness, Sarah Hart and Steve Angrisano. But it might be the set of songs from the performers at the Abbey Faith and Music Festival at Daylesford Abbey in Pennsylvania that sets this episode apart. Up first was Kara Klein, then Greg&Lizzy, followed by Audrey Assad and then wrapping up with Matt Maher. That’s a great lineup, and it made for a great show:

Crowdfunding: RoCa


Another Catholic artist crowdfunding opportunity needs your help! The RoCa Band has posted a Kickstarter project to raise the funds needed to record and produce their first full length album.

According to their profile on Kickstarter, “RoCa started in the first days of Nico Cabrera’s and James Roman’s days at college together. Nico was playing piano in the lobby of their dorm room, James asked to join, and Nico said yes. The rest is history. They are two guys who love good music, philosophy, happiness, and sharing their story with those in need. They have seen darkness and tasted pain, but they’ve also seen the sweetest light in the universe.”

We’ve played music from their EP many times on the Catholic Playlist show and we look forward to checking out their first full length album. But that will only be possible if you pledge your support before the deadline of Nov 22, 2014!

Pledge today!

New Article on CatholicMom.com

CatholicMomWhat a pleasant surprise for a Friday morning! Allison Gingras, writer and contributor to CatholicMom.com, published a nice article today about the Catholic Playlist show and the new elements we’ve added to the roster – Song of the Week and Catholic Playlist Worship. It’s true that all of this show production is in my spare, extra time (is there such a thing?). I don’t count it as loss though (except for sleep) because I love doing it but most importantly it helps the many talented artists out there who make great music that deserves to be heard!

Stay tuned to the show and be on the lookout for more fun things on the horizon…

Welcome St Valentine Catholic Radio!

We are very excited to announce that KDJW 1360 AM St Valentine Catholic Radio in Amarillo, TX is now broadcasting the Catholic Playlist! In fact, they are playing BOTH versions of the show:

  • Tuesday, Noon-1pm Central – Catholic Playlist Show
  • Thursday, Noon-1pm Central – Catholic Playlist Worship

Please join us in welcoming the new listeners in the Diocese of Amarillo!

Catholic Playlist now on Universe Catholic Radio

A new online streaming radio station, Universe Catholic Radio, launches June 1st and the Catholic Playlist show is in the program schedule.
Universe Catholic Radio

According to their website, universecatholicradio.com, Universe Catholic Radio (UCR) is the online radio station of the Catholic Universe newspaper, the leading voice of Catholic news and opinion in the UK and Ireland since 1860. Broadcasting 24/7 worldwide into a community of more than one billion Catholics, Universe Catholic Radio (UCR) delivers a unique mix of music, features, talk shows and spiritual inspiration, reflecting the teachings of the Catholic Church, and its place in the modern world.

When the new station officially launches on Sunday, June 1st the Catholic Playlist show will be airing each day at 9am UK time.