Multi-instrumentalist, solo artist PJ Bostic is niche of the niche, set to release his fifth prog rock album on 25 April, 2025—an album that even features legendary guitarist, Phil Keaggy.

Prog rock with a message of victory, grace and love in Jesus is not exactly pop music for radio. But yet, after 18 years, Bostic has continued to stick with it.

“There is a crowd out there that loves and appreciates this kind of music and are desperate for some prog that features hope and God’s grace. They may be the few, but they’re also the committed. I continue to receive many messages full of gratitude. They’re hungry for this kind of music and have been overlooked,” says Bostic.

PJ Bostic, AKA Paul Roraback, a fan of artists like Rush, Yes, and Porcupine tree, considers himself one of those “overlooked”. It took a local Christian prog rock band performing at a church in Poulsbo, WA that caused PJ to finally flip the switch toward making music that would have the same impact on others as this local band had on him. He quit his band Paragon, which reunited a year later as a Christian band and with PJ back on the drums. He later moved to Seattle, joined Bloodgood, and co-founded Forefront recording artist, Grammatrain. Later he also recorded and toured with Gideon’s Press, One Bad Pig and, more recently, Trytan.

“While I understand the need for the Church to focus on worship music, and I play in my church worship band as well, there has been an unfortunate neglect of all other types of music outreach that I believe are necessary. Particularly for rock fans. Being a prog rock artist, that puts people like me way down at the bottom of the popularity list. But Jesus left the 99 to go after the one. I think it’s time we, as the Church, think of how our music can not just please the masses but also get those who are overlooked.”

Five albums later, PJ Bostic has achieved notoriety for being one of a handful of “Christian prog guys” who are making tight, passionate rock. But the journey to PJ Bostic has been a long one. Despite being heavily involved in Christian music, and being part of successful bands, Roraback’s story is full of all these bands breaking up.

“Paragon, Bloodgood–both broke up. And then I started Grammatrain. We got signed, had no. 1 singles, toured 150 to 200 shows internationally for four years, and then also broke up. So I started Gideon’s Press and got a significant following in Austin. But that also ended.”

Yet Bostic refused to quit. For some time he hired himself out as a recording or touring drummer and for three years was a drum tech and assistant for Terry Bozzio (Missing Persons, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck). But this was not what he felt called to do, and spending so much time on the road away from his Christian peers had a negative effect on his walk with Christ. Eventually, he left that industry and focused again on making his own music for the Lord.

The only problem was that he was a drummer.

“No one usually cares who the drummer is! Even if I start the band, when it breaks up, it’s not easy for the drummer to continue, because so much revolves around the singer’s style and the songs. I realized that if I was going to do this, I needed to focus on my guitar playing and songwriting, and get to the front of the stage.”

Kurt Cobain was actually an inspiration for this as Bostic realized Cobain’s approach to guitar wasn’t about what was going on with his hands, it was about what was going on in his head. And like any other band if you have a powerful drummer behind your music this can bring conviction and validation. PJ saw this as a fruitful approach and pursued it.

“Cobain was kind of an average guitar player, but a fantastic songwriter and a passionate performer. My plan was to keep my songwriting honest and hope that whatever skills I might be lacking in my guitar playing could be made up for in my drumming. I remember begging God for lyrics and a voice. I wasn’t planning on writing very ambitious music in the beginning, I really intended to keep it simple. In fact I didn't set out with a particular style in mind, I just wrote the music that was in my head, and like most things I do I ended up creating music that was much more complicated than I set out to make! I just couldn’t help myself!”

The fruit of his labor bore: “Bullies at the Border” in 2009, “Three Minute Song” in 2013, “Light Me On” in 2015, “Faith Of Least Resistance” in 2022 and, “Hope In The Winter Stage” coming out in April 2025, all written, performed and produced by PJ Bostic.

“I just took it one record at a time. I slowly acquired the gear, rented other gear, borrowed more gear, picked brains, read articles, watched Youtube videos and paid attention when I was working with engineers like J.R. Taylor who engineered and mixed a project I was producing called The Illustrated Band. My family was also incredibly supportive. They would not let me quit and the appreciative emails and messages started coming in and, really to this day, keep me going!”

But yet, as with most creative people, Roraback has to keep battling with Imposter Syndrome.

“I’ve never felt qualified to be doing this. And it’s even more so now as I’ve gotten older. My body has taken quite a beating to be the best musician I could possibly be. Over the years I’ve often desperately gotten on my face and sought the Lord for confirmation that this is what I need to be doing, but recently I’ve felt like he’s saying, ‘Have I ever told you to stop?’. My honest answer is ‘no.’

“Since I was very young, music was the only thing that brought me tremendous relief and joy. It was an escape from a very difficult home environment. Even my school report card showed this—A’s for music, F’s and D’s for everything else!

“I believe God has given me a gift and a drive to do this kind of music, and I don’t want to be lazy with it. I feel lucky that I get to do this. However limited I might feel, I know that this is important, and so I keep going. To have Phil Keaggy even play on my latest record has been such a privilege and highlight! I’m really looking forward to whatever is coming next!”

Look out for “Hope In The Winter Stage”, launching April 25—available on all streaming platforms, plus vinyl copies are also available. Those in Austin, TX will be able to attend the album launch and an album party at Hope Rock Church. See pjbostic.com for details.

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