The Spirit in the Sky

Jeff Crosby's writing is spacious, inviting readers to recover from their own lives the times music helped them over rough spots, propelled them toward greater insights, led them toward joy. At another level, Crosby, by his own admission, is a spiritual seeker who struggles with doubt and ambiguity while also chafing at the certainties of religious dogma. Over and over he tells us how music has instead helped him to embrace mystery, to be a quester and questioner, to—in Van Morrison's words—be 'a soul in wonder', a 'dweller on the threshold'. Crosby helps us understand that thresholds are the leading edges of spiritual growth and are surrounded by the vibrations of music that both challenge and comfort us. -- Dr. Richard R. Guzman * author of Voices and Freedoms: A History of Jazz *

The Spirit in the Sky has been a welcome read for me! At 12 years old, Cat Stevens’ song “The Wind” called me in ways my Lutheran missionary roots had not. George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun” awakened an inner Joy I could neither contain nor explain. Within a song, the wild and beautiful Sacred had said “Yes” before I had words to claim it. In this book, Jeff Crosby tells his own story of spiritual awakening through the music of 17 artists whose songs speak to his soul. His deep love for these songs is evident, and in turn invites us to recall the power of great art in our own paths into the mystic. The curated playlists at the end of each chapter highlight each artist’s well-known songs as well as the hidden gems that had me reaching for my guitar.
In this time of crowded airwaves and the devaluation of silence, Crosby offers us an invitation to listen again, to recall the songs that have written us into psalms of courage, that set free the Sacred spark within. That we might rise to embody, as poet Wendell Berry puts it, “A place for love to kiss the ground.”

-- Peter Mayer * singer-songwriter; lead guitarist for Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band *
Jeff Crosby and I came to know each other through our mutual love of Jimmy Webb songs, though I later learned he’d been drawn to my songs from his music store experience years before, and how they raised questions not usually found in Christian music of the time. As a kid who was made very aware of the sacred-profane musical divide, was encouraged at Bible camp to break his rock ‘n’ roll records, and whose father said he “never really liked music,” I admit I’ve been envious of Crosby’s wide open music background and knowledge. I even asked him once to put together a playlist to help me break through my own somewhat myopic view of that world. Through this book, he’s greatly expanded that playlist, and made it even more significant by sharing personal reflections on why this “Group of 17” are in his hall of fame. I can only imagine that any of them would be honored to have helped a seeker with such an obvious love of music and hunger for the divine to hit his stride on the journey to the biggest Graceland of all. -- Doug Howell * Singer, Songwriter, Pianist, and Recording Artist, “Jimmy and Me: The Songs of Jimmy Webb” *
Why do we so treasure the music of our favorite artists? Isn’t it because of the way that these artists celebrate our experiences in this beautiful and broken world? Isn’t it about the way they ask honest questions about what it means to be human, how we can make sense of our lives and loves, and whether we can somehow make a connection with something (or someone) who can help us transcend the pain and triviality of our everyday existence? Jeff Crosby explores these issues in his latest book, which, if you’re like me, offers a fresh engagement with some longtime favorites and an introduction to some whom you didn’t know much about, but now you want to dig into. What a fascinating and delightful book! -- Terry Glaspey * award-winning author of 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know *
I suppose it should be unsurprising that faith cultures have so often struggled with popular music. Music has always been not demonic but daemonic, occupying the thin space between immanence and transcendence. And with popular music of the past century that mysticism has scaled, and mysticism at scale can be scary as hell. But we need such mysticism to connect us to the divine, to ourselves, to one another, to the very earth. Jeff Crosby has lived in the liminal space of mystical music and musical mysticism for pretty much his whole life. This book is the fruit of that forest. Gentle in tone, generous in spirit, Crosby provides a playlist of the music of the spheres. I’m picking up what he’s laying down here. -- David A. Zimmerman * author of Deliver Us from Me-Ville, book publisher, vinyl record collector *
Noel Paul Stookey of the folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary once told me, “I think all music is the musician’s longing for the Divine, whether he or she is even aware of it.” That felt right deep in my soul both then and now. Why do we hunger for beauty, truth, goodness and grace? Not some, but allof us. That’s because they point to our heart’s home – the loving heart of God who calls to us through all of life, including popular music. That’s my experience. And I know it’s others’ experience, as well, including Jeff Crosby’s. May reading The Spirit in the Sky: The Power of Music in Our Search for Graceland open your eyes and heart to that experience. -- J. Brent Bill * author of Sacred Compass and Holy Silence *