Father Thomas Joseph White is a Founder and member of the Hillbilly Thomists. When asked by EWTN Vatican what a Hillbilly Thomist is, he explained, “The Hillbilly Thomists are 8 Dominican priests from the East Coast of the United States, the province of Saint Joseph. And really, we were all in a formation house together in Washington, DC, and some of them were professional musicians before they entered religious life. So we started playing folk music and bluegrass music together. And eventually in 2017, we recorded a first album to try to make money for the studentate for priestly formation, and that album went into the Billboard Charts which we were very surprised by. So we started playing more concerts and recording for fun.”
On Saturday, November 25th, four members of the Hillbilly Thomists took the stage for their first international concert, venturing beyond the borders of the United States. Drawing a crowd of more than 600 attendees, the event unfolded in the historical Aula Magna of the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome in a captivating blend of beauty and bluegrass.
Father Peter Gautsch another Founder and member of the Hillbilly Thomists filled us in on the wisdom of the Hillbilly Thomists, “Father Thomas Joseph especially, the rector of this esteemed institution tends to find clever ways to insert even some kind of specific points of Thomistic philosophy and theology in his lyrics, so he has one song called The Power and The Glory where he refers to some of the finer points of to Thomistic metaphysics, the real distinction between essence and existence, and participation. He likes to say that we’re trying to bring together two venerable traditions, the venerable tradition on the one hand of American bluegrass and folk music, and on the other hand, the venerable tradition of Mystic philosophy and theology.”
In addition to the friars’ harmonized voices, the eight band members also play a variety of acoustic instruments like the dobro, dulcimer, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, and steel guitar. What started as a joyful celebration of life has now transformed into something with a greater purpose.
Father Gautsch explains, “It didn’t begin from a sort of desire to reach tons of people or anything. It was because we enjoyed playing music together. It was a way to kind of take a break from study but the more we realized that people liked listening to it, we began to see that it could be a real Apostolic opportunity. You know, the Dominican order is the order of preachers. And so we are very aware that a lot of people who are listening to our music, they might be very engaged with their faith. But we hear from people too who are not so engaged with their faith or who are still kind of searching for the truth and maybe haven’t yet found it in Christ and in his Church. So it’s a great joy to hear from people who listen to our music and it makes them think about some of these higher things, and hopefully begins to at least give them some hope to cling to and some, you know, begin to think about coming to faith. So, I would say it’s a part of our Apostolic mission of preaching.”
Father Peter Gautsch describes the band’s music not only as a creative way of preaching but as something deeply Dominican, since it was known that Saint Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, loved music and would sing loudly as he was traveling on foot. Their music, the lead singer described, although playful and lighthearted, ultimately aims at setting the minds of their listener on what’s above, on the higher things.
Father Thomas Joseph White says, “I think the music does disarm people because it shows them another side of the Catholic priesthood, or it suggests another way of thinking about Catholic culture. It introduces religious ideas in a slightly more playful or somewhat musically serious, but poetic way. And I think it provides Catholic families with something to listen to that all the family can enjoy, that is kind of appreciable at every level. We have a lot of homeschool parents who like music and a lot of children who like the music. But we also find it does open doors to conversation with non-Christians. We have a pretty big fan base of people who write us who kind of discover the Catholic Church in a new way through listening to the band.”
Father Peter Gautsch thinks, “it’s part of our human nature to love beautiful things and to desire to have our intellects delight in beautiful things. If our music can be an occasion for that for people, then that’s a great, great joy for us.
A student from Christendom college present at the concert said, “I didn’t know what to expect. But it was amazing. They were great. I also just loved the references. They were great songs, but we got the whole existence. And that’s what we’re learning in philosophy. So it was great to have great songs, but we could actually follow them and understand them.”
When asked if it was his first bluegrass concert, Father Michael Baggot, LC, an alumnus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas – Angelicum, responded, “I have to say it was and I hope it’s not my last.”
This article was edited by Jacob Stein.
