I am very thankful because when I was growing up we had an "alternative" Christian music store that I discovered. It was called "The Amplified Version" and it carried just about everything. That's where I discovered Tooth & Nail Records, which in the early 90's (when I was a teenager) featured such bands as Sometime Sunday, MxPx, and Stavesacre.

We also had a local Christian radio station that would have a rock show on Friday nights where some of the "edgier" stuff would be played. This was really cool for me to hear and learn about new bands -- it was a completely different sound than the usual Michael W. Smith and Sandi Patti that they usually played.

I've also been to some really good concerts. Mercy Me led worship for our church's youth camp back in the mid 90's before they exploded in popularity. Those guys would hang out with us in the afternoons and teach their songs to us on guitar. I still have some of the old chord charts they gave me. We also had Third Day for a disciple now weekend before they got really popular. I've seen bands like Whitecross, The Waiting, Newsboys, Steven Curtis Chapman, etc and have been really blessed to have the opportunity.

The point is, there's really good stuff out there to suit your tastes which still has a positive message; don't think that Christian music is all hokey and lame (but I do rock out to Steven Curtis Chapman sometimes).

Now I lead worship for my church's youth group on Wednesday nights; I get a lot of the popular songs from the K-love station. Worshiptogether.com has a lot of good tabs for that.