Centerstage NCRT (January 2001)

Stephen Baird & Scientific Gospel

For those who are searching for a sense of humor in today’s all too serious world, have we got an entertaining evening for you! Join us for Darwin’s Birthday with an evening of Scientific Gospel performed by Dr. Stephen Baird. Showing one night only, Monday, February 12, 2001 at 7:00 p.m.

Following in the tradition of social and political satirists such as Tom Lehrer, Mort Sahl, and the Smothers Brothers, Baird, a practicing medical doctor, has developed a unique brand of musical satire “Scientific Gospel.” Like his predecessors, nothing is sacred to Dr. Baird. His satirizations explore the issues of science vs. religion, creation, evolution, Jerry Falwell’s love of money, Jimmy Swaggert’s sexual preferences, and the pitfalls of the health awareness phenomena.

Baird’s sense of humor attracted the attention of PSB founder and label head, Nick Binkley, at a dinner party a the home of Dr. Francis Crick, a Nobel Prize winner in 1953 for his work on the structure of DNA. “I was impressed by Dr. Baird’s witty and irreverent lyrics. The kooky medical analogies and scientific allusions convinced me that he could gain a following,” explains Binkley.

For Hallelujah! Evolution! Baird’s CD released in 1998, Binkley brought a premier collections of musicians to the project, including guitarist Chris Darrow (James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt); bassist Doug Lunn (Bruce Springsteen, Sting); and drummer Brock Avery (Marshall Crenshaw). “I really felt like a kid in a candy store making this album,” Baird said.

In his attempt to inject levity into such dry subjects as molecular bilogy, cellular immnology and gene functions, Baird began reducing medical and other scientific concepts to song form. He used Christmas carols, gospel and well known hymns, giving birth to “Scientific Gospel.”