What A Terrible Honor Its Been: An Interview with Semler

Growing up steeped in conservative church culture, the first concert I ever went to was for the Christian pop music girl group Point of Grace. My dad, who is named J. C., particularly enjoyed the rapper Carman (who sadly passed away recently!) in part because one of the lyrics in his songs went: “Tell me who’s in the house? J. C.! Jesus Christ is in the house today!” And my mother, of course, loved Amy Grant and dc Talk. In the ‘90s, what Christian family didn’t? And in the entirety of my life, I never knew of a prominent openly LGBTQ Christian musician. I couldn’t imagine that. Until Grace Baldridge, who goes by the stage name Semler, hit number one on the Christian music charts in February on iTunes after releasing an album in that category. She even got a tattoo in honor of the accomplishment.