This Friday January 28, the Bryce Jordan Center will host a plethora of Christian Rock bands in all their glory — corny lyricism and painfully unsubtle undertones included.

Ten Christian artists will perform as part of Winter Jam 2011. The show starts at 7 p.m. with a “$10 suggested donation at the door, no ticket required!” according to the event page on the BJC website.

One of the better known bands playing is Winter Jam founder and host NewSong. You may be familiar with their song-turned-book-turned-TV movie Christmas Shoes, which gets some radio play around the holidays every year. You may also be familiar with this Patton Oswalt sketch about the song, which has added to its notoriety. That’s right, the band Patton Oswalt made fun of will be at the BJC on Friday.

Although the show is primarily Christian Rock, it will also feature Christian rapper KJ-52 (pronounced KJ Five Two, not fifty-two) and speaker Tony Nolan. If you know who either of these people are, props to you.

Another band that will be playing at the show is Red, a hard rock group much in the same style as Breaking Benjamin. Although Red identifies as a Christian band, its lyrics aren’t necessarily inherently religious. A few songs suggest the band’s spiritual underpinnings, but the lyrics are written with the kind of subtlety that doesn’t shove their beliefs in your face, unlike most of the other artists on this tour.

As you might have guessed, I’ve never been a big fan of Christian Rock. And I find the idea of Christian Rap a little oxymoronic (aren’t rap lyrics supposed to be profane, shallow and misogynistic?). But if this is your cup of tea, by all means do not allow me to dissuade you from attending and enjoying this concert.

Admittedly, with the exception of Red (who I’ve heard through a friend who is a fan), I’ve never heard of any of the artists on this tour. After educating myself on their music via YouTube, I can’t say my opinion of Christian Rock has changed any. But for those of you who can’t get enough of it, the BJC is the place to be on Friday.