Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Vince Gill and Amy Grant: Singing couple talk life, love, politics before big shows
Contemporary Christian and pop music singer Amy Grant and her Country Music Hall of Fame husband Vince Gill like to schedule their tours at the same time so they can relax together when they’re back home in Nashville.
Sometimes their separate agents end up booking them in the same cities and venues, Grant said. Which is why both will soon be appearing in Bakersfield’s Fox Theater just a few days apart.
And it will be ladies first, as Grant performs for the San Joaquin Community Hospital Foundation’s 2008 Gala fundraiser Saturday, and Gill shines on the same stage Oct. 23 as part of his Vince Gill Acoustic Tour.
AMY
San Joaquin Hospital Foundation director Mimi Audelo is especially excited about Grant’s visit.
“She is a good fit for our organization,” Audelo said, adding that Grant would be “good for the community.”
As, no doubt, will be the hospital’s long-awaited burn center scheduled to open in December, which will benefit directly from the fundraiser’s proceeds, Audelo said.
“I’m thrilled,” is how Grant, during a phone interview, described her feeling about helping to raise funds for the center, which will include a five-bed intensive care unit and an outpatient office.
“I know that people are losing their jobs” in today’s troubled economy, she said, “but many people aren’t and I know those are the people who are buying tickets.”
Grant’s concert Saturday will be part of her “Lead Me On” 20th Anniversary Celebration Tour, which is named for her 1988 platinum album. “It’s truly a one-time opportunity for me to do my old songs,” the five-time Grammy winner said, particularly those from her first 10 years as a recording artist, 1978 to 1988.
That first decade was a purer, more innocent time for her and it was reflected in her music, Grant said. “The message got diluted when I went after pop radio. You can just tell I wrote these songs when no one was looking.”
Her feeling behind her upcoming concert’s theme is, “Let’s look back and remind ourselves of who we were before we lived so much life, before we were impassioned and made so many mistakes. And with the gift of looking back, let’s move ahead.”
But the audience can also expect two or three of Grant’s new songs and some encores as well. “I am wide open to anyone shouting out a song,” she said.
She might even do a new one she just wrote called “Find,” Grant said.
“What would they find if they uncovered all of my tracks?...Secrets and so much more,” the song says.
“We will find what we’re looking for in each other,” Grant said. “We’ll find the good, we’ll find the bad, because it’s present in all of us.”
The song sometimes makes her think of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, for whom Grant has felt a lot of compassion — Christian female role model to Christian female role model — since Palin was suddenly thrust into the national spotlight following her nomination.
“I don’t remember ever being so compelled to pray for somebody,” Grant said about Palin, although she says she makes it a point to pray for national leaders in general. “I wake up in the morning and just pray for all of them.”
VINCE
“I’m probably not as devoted to prayer as my wife is,” said Grant’s 19-Grammy-winning husband. “I have more of a common-sense approach to life than Amy does, based more on hoping that people do the right thing.
“In my view, what’s going on in our country,” Gill said, referring to the financial chaos happening during this election year, “is that we need to look at ourselves for the answers to the problems rather than pointing the finger at Washington. I think the mirror would be a good place to look. People want more stuff than they can afford,” he said, but “none of the politicians would be crazy enough to say anything like that” because it would cost them votes.
“I wish everybody would embrace everybody and say, ‘Let’s do what’s best for everybody instead of what’s best for me,’” Gill said.
Such casual, good-spirited honesty, combined with an unexpected sense of humor, makes Gill popular with his fans. They’ll get to see this very informal side of him during his concert on Oct. 23, which he described as “the opposite of show business.”
“It’s an acoustic show,” he said. “Me and three musicians, we sit down and there’s no set list.
There’s no plan. It winds down to what people want to hear. It’s very informal. I talk a lot of how the songs were made. We’ll do some new songs.”
And, yes, he too will take requests from the audience — “As long as I know how to play the song,” he quipped.
His tour is taking Gill to 42 cities in four months. There are a few two-week respites for going back to Nashville between strings of shows, but “it’s no fun” being away from home and his and Amy’s kids, Gill said.
He’s excited about coming to Bakersfield, however.
“It’s one of my favorite places to play,” he said, because some of his biggest country music heroes, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, come from here.
“Bakersfield has a real honored place in my heart for this kind of music. I think some of the best country music came out of Bakersfield. I was as drawn to Buck and Merle as any other artist that came along.”
Christian Music News Source
Sometimes their separate agents end up booking them in the same cities and venues, Grant said. Which is why both will soon be appearing in Bakersfield’s Fox Theater just a few days apart.
And it will be ladies first, as Grant performs for the San Joaquin Community Hospital Foundation’s 2008 Gala fundraiser Saturday, and Gill shines on the same stage Oct. 23 as part of his Vince Gill Acoustic Tour.
AMY
San Joaquin Hospital Foundation director Mimi Audelo is especially excited about Grant’s visit.
“She is a good fit for our organization,” Audelo said, adding that Grant would be “good for the community.”
As, no doubt, will be the hospital’s long-awaited burn center scheduled to open in December, which will benefit directly from the fundraiser’s proceeds, Audelo said.
“I’m thrilled,” is how Grant, during a phone interview, described her feeling about helping to raise funds for the center, which will include a five-bed intensive care unit and an outpatient office.
“I know that people are losing their jobs” in today’s troubled economy, she said, “but many people aren’t and I know those are the people who are buying tickets.”
Grant’s concert Saturday will be part of her “Lead Me On” 20th Anniversary Celebration Tour, which is named for her 1988 platinum album. “It’s truly a one-time opportunity for me to do my old songs,” the five-time Grammy winner said, particularly those from her first 10 years as a recording artist, 1978 to 1988.
That first decade was a purer, more innocent time for her and it was reflected in her music, Grant said. “The message got diluted when I went after pop radio. You can just tell I wrote these songs when no one was looking.”
Her feeling behind her upcoming concert’s theme is, “Let’s look back and remind ourselves of who we were before we lived so much life, before we were impassioned and made so many mistakes. And with the gift of looking back, let’s move ahead.”
But the audience can also expect two or three of Grant’s new songs and some encores as well. “I am wide open to anyone shouting out a song,” she said.
She might even do a new one she just wrote called “Find,” Grant said.
“What would they find if they uncovered all of my tracks?...Secrets and so much more,” the song says.
“We will find what we’re looking for in each other,” Grant said. “We’ll find the good, we’ll find the bad, because it’s present in all of us.”
The song sometimes makes her think of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, for whom Grant has felt a lot of compassion — Christian female role model to Christian female role model — since Palin was suddenly thrust into the national spotlight following her nomination.
“I don’t remember ever being so compelled to pray for somebody,” Grant said about Palin, although she says she makes it a point to pray for national leaders in general. “I wake up in the morning and just pray for all of them.”
VINCE
“I’m probably not as devoted to prayer as my wife is,” said Grant’s 19-Grammy-winning husband. “I have more of a common-sense approach to life than Amy does, based more on hoping that people do the right thing.
“In my view, what’s going on in our country,” Gill said, referring to the financial chaos happening during this election year, “is that we need to look at ourselves for the answers to the problems rather than pointing the finger at Washington. I think the mirror would be a good place to look. People want more stuff than they can afford,” he said, but “none of the politicians would be crazy enough to say anything like that” because it would cost them votes.
“I wish everybody would embrace everybody and say, ‘Let’s do what’s best for everybody instead of what’s best for me,’” Gill said.
Such casual, good-spirited honesty, combined with an unexpected sense of humor, makes Gill popular with his fans. They’ll get to see this very informal side of him during his concert on Oct. 23, which he described as “the opposite of show business.”
“It’s an acoustic show,” he said. “Me and three musicians, we sit down and there’s no set list.
There’s no plan. It winds down to what people want to hear. It’s very informal. I talk a lot of how the songs were made. We’ll do some new songs.”
And, yes, he too will take requests from the audience — “As long as I know how to play the song,” he quipped.
His tour is taking Gill to 42 cities in four months. There are a few two-week respites for going back to Nashville between strings of shows, but “it’s no fun” being away from home and his and Amy’s kids, Gill said.
He’s excited about coming to Bakersfield, however.
“It’s one of my favorite places to play,” he said, because some of his biggest country music heroes, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, come from here.
“Bakersfield has a real honored place in my heart for this kind of music. I think some of the best country music came out of Bakersfield. I was as drawn to Buck and Merle as any other artist that came along.”
Christian Music News Source
Amy Grant Launches 20th Anniversary 'Lead Me On' Tour
Earlier this summer EMI Christian Music Group commemorated the multi-platinum selling “Lead Me On,” one of the most popular, treasured albums in Amy Grant’s spectacular 30 year history, with a 20th Anniversary two disc set.
This week, in support of these songs and season of life for so many who loved this project, Grant is launching the “Lead Me On” 20th Anniversary Celebration Tour” in Phoenix tonight, October 16th. About kicking off the tour, Grant had this to say:
“I am so excited to get this tour started – so much so that it’s even hard to express.
Being able to re-engage audiences with these songs, with so many old friends on stage is a dream come true.
As we’ve rehearsed, we’ve all felt the passion and inspiration these songs come flooding back, and we can’t wait to share that.”
• Featuring six of the original band members from the first “Lead Me On Tour,” Grant will make her way through 20 U.S. cities (see dates below).
• Following such, and in support of the newly released “The Christmas Collection,” Grant and husband Vince Gill will embark on a 15-date Christmas With Amy & Vince Tour starting Dec. 4, in Manchester, NH (also see dates below).
www.amygrant.com
Amy Grant has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and she has achieved unparalleled success as a crossover Contemporary Christian artist. In the U.S. alone, Grant’s achievements include nine platinum and platinum-plus albums and nine gold albums, six Grammy Awards and 21 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. She is well-known as the pioneering Christian singer whose success on mainstream radio opened doors for other Christian artists. Grant’s impact was recently celebrated with a star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame, making her the only artist with roots in Contemporary Christian music other than Andrae Crouch to receive such an honor.
LEAD ME ON Reunion Tour (Dates subject to change)
Date City/State/Venue
Oct 16 Phoenix, AZ Celebrity Theatre
Oct 17 Irvine, CA Mariners Church
Oct 18 Bakersfield, CA Bakersfield Fox Theater
Oct 19 Visalia, CA Visalia Fox Theater
Oct 22 Escondido, CA CA Center for the Arts
Oct 23 Morgan Hill, CA ARTTEC Amph at Ann Sobrato PAC
Oct 24 Modesto, CA Gallo Center for the Arts
Oct 25 Wendover, NV Peppermill Concert Hall
Oct 27 Portland, OR Rolling Hills Community Church
Oct 28 Redmond, WA Overlake Christian Church -
Oct 29 Spokane, WA INB Performing Arts Center
Nov 01 Prior Lake, MN Mystic Lake Casino Hotel
Nov 11 Las Vegas, NV The Orleans Arena
Nov 13 The Woodlands, TX Fellowship of the Woodlands
Nov 14 Ft. Worth, TX Will Rogers Auditorium
Nov 15 Branson, MO The Mansion
Nov 16 Wichita, KS Central Christian Church
Nov 18 Greeneville, TN Niswonger Performing Arts Center
Nov 20 Hershey, PA Hershey Theatre
Nov 21 Morristown, NJ Community Theatre
Nov 22 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre
Christmas With Amy & Vince tour (all dates subject to change):
Dec. 4 Manchester, NH/Verizon Wireless Arena
Dec. 5 Augusta, ME/Augusta Civic Center
Dec. 6 West Point, NY/Eisenhower Hall Theatre
Dec. 7 Mashantucket, CT/MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods
Dec. 10 Baltimore, MD/Lyric Opera House
Dec. 11 Albany, NY/Times Union Center
Dec. 12 Worcester, MA/DCU Center
Dec. 13 Elmira, NY/First Arena
Dec. 15 Atlanta, GA/Fox Theatre
Dec. 16 Charlotte, NC/Ovens Auditorium
Dec. 18 Grand Rapids, MI/Van Andel Arena
Dec. 19 St. Louis, MO/Scottrade Center
Dec. 20 Bloomington, IL/US Cellular Colliseum
Dec. 22 & 23 Nashville, TN/Ryman Auditorium
Christian Music News Source
This week, in support of these songs and season of life for so many who loved this project, Grant is launching the “Lead Me On” 20th Anniversary Celebration Tour” in Phoenix tonight, October 16th. About kicking off the tour, Grant had this to say:
“I am so excited to get this tour started – so much so that it’s even hard to express.
Being able to re-engage audiences with these songs, with so many old friends on stage is a dream come true.
As we’ve rehearsed, we’ve all felt the passion and inspiration these songs come flooding back, and we can’t wait to share that.”
• Featuring six of the original band members from the first “Lead Me On Tour,” Grant will make her way through 20 U.S. cities (see dates below).
• Following such, and in support of the newly released “The Christmas Collection,” Grant and husband Vince Gill will embark on a 15-date Christmas With Amy & Vince Tour starting Dec. 4, in Manchester, NH (also see dates below).
www.amygrant.com
Amy Grant has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and she has achieved unparalleled success as a crossover Contemporary Christian artist. In the U.S. alone, Grant’s achievements include nine platinum and platinum-plus albums and nine gold albums, six Grammy Awards and 21 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. She is well-known as the pioneering Christian singer whose success on mainstream radio opened doors for other Christian artists. Grant’s impact was recently celebrated with a star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame, making her the only artist with roots in Contemporary Christian music other than Andrae Crouch to receive such an honor.
LEAD ME ON Reunion Tour (Dates subject to change)
Date City/State/Venue
Oct 16 Phoenix, AZ Celebrity Theatre
Oct 17 Irvine, CA Mariners Church
Oct 18 Bakersfield, CA Bakersfield Fox Theater
Oct 19 Visalia, CA Visalia Fox Theater
Oct 22 Escondido, CA CA Center for the Arts
Oct 23 Morgan Hill, CA ARTTEC Amph at Ann Sobrato PAC
Oct 24 Modesto, CA Gallo Center for the Arts
Oct 25 Wendover, NV Peppermill Concert Hall
Oct 27 Portland, OR Rolling Hills Community Church
Oct 28 Redmond, WA Overlake Christian Church -
Oct 29 Spokane, WA INB Performing Arts Center
Nov 01 Prior Lake, MN Mystic Lake Casino Hotel
Nov 11 Las Vegas, NV The Orleans Arena
Nov 13 The Woodlands, TX Fellowship of the Woodlands
Nov 14 Ft. Worth, TX Will Rogers Auditorium
Nov 15 Branson, MO The Mansion
Nov 16 Wichita, KS Central Christian Church
Nov 18 Greeneville, TN Niswonger Performing Arts Center
Nov 20 Hershey, PA Hershey Theatre
Nov 21 Morristown, NJ Community Theatre
Nov 22 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre
Christmas With Amy & Vince tour (all dates subject to change):
Dec. 4 Manchester, NH/Verizon Wireless Arena
Dec. 5 Augusta, ME/Augusta Civic Center
Dec. 6 West Point, NY/Eisenhower Hall Theatre
Dec. 7 Mashantucket, CT/MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods
Dec. 10 Baltimore, MD/Lyric Opera House
Dec. 11 Albany, NY/Times Union Center
Dec. 12 Worcester, MA/DCU Center
Dec. 13 Elmira, NY/First Arena
Dec. 15 Atlanta, GA/Fox Theatre
Dec. 16 Charlotte, NC/Ovens Auditorium
Dec. 18 Grand Rapids, MI/Van Andel Arena
Dec. 19 St. Louis, MO/Scottrade Center
Dec. 20 Bloomington, IL/US Cellular Colliseum
Dec. 22 & 23 Nashville, TN/Ryman Auditorium
Christian Music News Source
Amy Grant to perform at the Gallo Center
Amy Grant is feeling a bit retrospective.
Or, more accurately, her music is retrospective, thanks to her 20th anniversary "Lead Me On" celebration tour. The tour coincides with a special anniversary rerelease of the 1988 "Lead Me On" album, which remains one of the most popular and influential Christian records to date.
The 20-city tour reunites Grant with most of the band members from her sold-out "Lead Me On" tour from two decades ago. The new CD includes the original album and a bonus disc with new, acoustic recordings of three tracks, as well as four previously unreleased live performances from the original 1989 tour.
The singer/songwriter has sold some 30 million albums and won six Grammy Awards over the years while moving among the musical worlds of Christian, pop and country.
Grant spoke with The Bee last week on lunch break while rehearsing for the start of the new tour. In between bites of homemade taco soup, Grant spoke about the tour, her crossover career and finding time on tour for her famous husband.
Q: Why did you want celebrate "Lead Me On" in this way?
A: EMI Records asked me and asked if I had any kind of bonus material to include. But I hadn't thought about it for over a decade. When we made the original recording, we paid to have two nights multi-track recorded. And then I had just put them in the vault. I had never even heard them.
So earlier this year, we located the tapes, which was a minor miracle. The equipment was outdated, so we had to bake the tapes in a 200-degree oven overnight to get the moisture out. But when the engineer heard the music, he said, "I didn't know you back then, but this is one of the best live bands I've heard in my life."
Q: The tour reunites you with original band members. How is it working with them again?
A: It's been unbelievable. We had three weeks of rehearsal. It has been so easy. We sang through them (the old songs) one time and went OK. I guess it was like an old football team that won the state championship and got back together. It was such a joy to see all of these people.
Q: What can people expect to hear on this tour?
A: Basically, nothing recorded after 1988 will appear, which is interesting. I've made music for 30 years. ... So as far as picking songs goes, it's so easy to just have 10 years of material to deal with. I'm doing songs I haven't performed live in 25 years.
Then, if all goes well and everyone stays to the end and we get an encore, my plan is to go out and sing songs that I have yet to record. What is interesting about the whole concept of this tour is that when you look back to remind yourself of who you are and where you came from, hopefully it inspires you to look ahead.
To blow the dust off these old songs has been loads of fun. I joked with my husband that in my own way, I'm having my Dara Torres moment. Twenty years later, I'm trying to scream out these songs.
Q: You've been very successful as a crossover artist. Why do you think you were able to connect with those varied audiences?
A: I'm not sure. I think the consistent element of my music is that I write most of it, at least the lyrics. That has allowed me to go between genres with a certain amount of integrity. It's the same person talking about different things. The highest compliment I can receive is someone saying, "When I heard that song, you said what I feel."
Crowds come and go; a lot of talented performers can't sell tickets. I've played my share of shows where we didn't sell enough seats and when we went home we said, "OK, there was a big hole there." That's just the bell curve of what is popular. But songwriting doesn't require a big budget and you can share it anywhere anytime.
We were rehearsing right by the river in Nashville and a friend of mine invited me to go to a meeting for the homeless under the Jefferson Bridge. They serve a hot meal and have music and have a mission of hope. So I left work and went.
I went from planning this big-guns musical production seen in theaters and nice places to singing with my guitar under the Jefferson Street Bridge for homeless people. And, you know what, it was just as exciting ... We had a little pulled-together band. That is the glorious thing about music is that it brings people together. It highlights everything that we have in common.
Q: You'll be in Modesto the same night your husband is just down the road in Turlock. Did you coordinate that?
A: Well, it's not coordinated because we probably won't actually see each other. We have to tear down and get on the bus. We call ourselves the two ships passing in the night. The last two weekends ago, we were both in Iowa. I told the crowd it was so weird because my husband was 110 miles away. Someone shouted out a truck stop we could meet at.
Christian Music News Source
Or, more accurately, her music is retrospective, thanks to her 20th anniversary "Lead Me On" celebration tour. The tour coincides with a special anniversary rerelease of the 1988 "Lead Me On" album, which remains one of the most popular and influential Christian records to date.
The 20-city tour reunites Grant with most of the band members from her sold-out "Lead Me On" tour from two decades ago. The new CD includes the original album and a bonus disc with new, acoustic recordings of three tracks, as well as four previously unreleased live performances from the original 1989 tour.
The singer/songwriter has sold some 30 million albums and won six Grammy Awards over the years while moving among the musical worlds of Christian, pop and country.
Grant spoke with The Bee last week on lunch break while rehearsing for the start of the new tour. In between bites of homemade taco soup, Grant spoke about the tour, her crossover career and finding time on tour for her famous husband.
Q: Why did you want celebrate "Lead Me On" in this way?
A: EMI Records asked me and asked if I had any kind of bonus material to include. But I hadn't thought about it for over a decade. When we made the original recording, we paid to have two nights multi-track recorded. And then I had just put them in the vault. I had never even heard them.
So earlier this year, we located the tapes, which was a minor miracle. The equipment was outdated, so we had to bake the tapes in a 200-degree oven overnight to get the moisture out. But when the engineer heard the music, he said, "I didn't know you back then, but this is one of the best live bands I've heard in my life."
Q: The tour reunites you with original band members. How is it working with them again?
A: It's been unbelievable. We had three weeks of rehearsal. It has been so easy. We sang through them (the old songs) one time and went OK. I guess it was like an old football team that won the state championship and got back together. It was such a joy to see all of these people.
Q: What can people expect to hear on this tour?
A: Basically, nothing recorded after 1988 will appear, which is interesting. I've made music for 30 years. ... So as far as picking songs goes, it's so easy to just have 10 years of material to deal with. I'm doing songs I haven't performed live in 25 years.
Then, if all goes well and everyone stays to the end and we get an encore, my plan is to go out and sing songs that I have yet to record. What is interesting about the whole concept of this tour is that when you look back to remind yourself of who you are and where you came from, hopefully it inspires you to look ahead.
To blow the dust off these old songs has been loads of fun. I joked with my husband that in my own way, I'm having my Dara Torres moment. Twenty years later, I'm trying to scream out these songs.
Q: You've been very successful as a crossover artist. Why do you think you were able to connect with those varied audiences?
A: I'm not sure. I think the consistent element of my music is that I write most of it, at least the lyrics. That has allowed me to go between genres with a certain amount of integrity. It's the same person talking about different things. The highest compliment I can receive is someone saying, "When I heard that song, you said what I feel."
Crowds come and go; a lot of talented performers can't sell tickets. I've played my share of shows where we didn't sell enough seats and when we went home we said, "OK, there was a big hole there." That's just the bell curve of what is popular. But songwriting doesn't require a big budget and you can share it anywhere anytime.
We were rehearsing right by the river in Nashville and a friend of mine invited me to go to a meeting for the homeless under the Jefferson Bridge. They serve a hot meal and have music and have a mission of hope. So I left work and went.
I went from planning this big-guns musical production seen in theaters and nice places to singing with my guitar under the Jefferson Street Bridge for homeless people. And, you know what, it was just as exciting ... We had a little pulled-together band. That is the glorious thing about music is that it brings people together. It highlights everything that we have in common.
Q: You'll be in Modesto the same night your husband is just down the road in Turlock. Did you coordinate that?
A: Well, it's not coordinated because we probably won't actually see each other. We have to tear down and get on the bus. We call ourselves the two ships passing in the night. The last two weekends ago, we were both in Iowa. I told the crowd it was so weird because my husband was 110 miles away. Someone shouted out a truck stop we could meet at.
Christian Music News Source
Risky show pays off for Amy Grant
The concept of Amy Grant’s new show is a risky one. Essentially, she is recreating her 1988 Lead Me On tour, down to regrouping the original band and sticking to the original arrangements. It also means skipping material that she has created in the past two decades, including such crowd-pleasing favorites as “Baby Baby” and “Takes a Little Time.”
“I don’t know if this is a hideous idea,” Grant confessed during the opening night of the tour at the Celebrity Theatre on Thursday. But if the point was to rekindle memories and to leave the crowd feeling energized and uplifted, she achieved all she set out to do.
Grant joked about the nostalgic nature of the evening. “I’m going to be 48 next month,” she announced. “What am I doing?” And while the show did proudly revel in the trappings of the era, with arena-rock guitars, booming drums and even some dreaded audience participation, it also felt remarkably vital.
Much of that was due to the power of Grant’s music. The best of her early material is timeless, including the stirring “El Shaddai” and “Sing Your Praise to the Lord,” a classic written by the late Rich Mullins. The songs from the Lead Me On album are often darker, but equally effective. The self-penned “Shadows” boldly addresses the subject of temptation, while Janis Ian’s “What About the Love” is stark and chilling in Grant’s hands. There’s a reason the disc was named the No. 1 Christian-music album of all time by industry publication CCM Magazine; the material is mostly wonderful.
The arrangements offered by her eight band members were pretty much unchanged from the original tour. “Shadows” boasted a hypnotic keyboard hook that lodges in your brain permanently. The reassuring gospel rocker “All Right” featured some screaming guitar work from Jerry McPherson and Chris Rodriguez; the latter looks like he hasn’t aged a day in 20 years. Keyboardist Chris Eaton, a solo performer in his own right, got a moment in the spotlight with a devotional number called "I Will." It broke the evening's no-new-songs rule, but it was sweetly plaintive.
In recent years, Grant has mellowed into a folksy performer whose shows have an almost Lilith Fair quality. However, she seemed completely revitalized by the night’s theme, singing with a ferocious intensity. During the reggae tinged “Everywhere I Go,” she even swayed her hips like a teenager. “This was about as much as a Church of Christ girl could do,” she cracked. Even better was the cautionary “Wise Up,” which sported a bass-heavy Paisley Park vibe that was completely infectious. Grant flubbed the lyric at one point, but who cared? It was simply fun, and the entire crowd was on its feet.
One of Grant’s gifts is the ability to make people in a big venue feel like they’re in an intimate, one-on-one setting with the singer. She achieved that several times during the night, but particularly on a lovely and understated reading of “Say Once More” that she used during the encore. Even fans who have followed her career for decades probably walked away feeling that they knew her a little better.
Set list: My Father’s Eyes
Love of Another Kind
Wait For the Healing
Shadows
1974
Everywhere I Go
Saved By Love
What About the Love
All Right
El Shaddai
Sing Your Praise to the Lord
All I Ever Have to Be
I Will (Chris Eaton solo)
Lead Me On
Find a Way
Wise Up
Angels
Fight
Encore:
Stay For Awhile
What Would They Think
Say Once More
Second Encore:
Turn! Turn! Turn!
Christian Music News Source
“I don’t know if this is a hideous idea,” Grant confessed during the opening night of the tour at the Celebrity Theatre on Thursday. But if the point was to rekindle memories and to leave the crowd feeling energized and uplifted, she achieved all she set out to do.
Grant joked about the nostalgic nature of the evening. “I’m going to be 48 next month,” she announced. “What am I doing?” And while the show did proudly revel in the trappings of the era, with arena-rock guitars, booming drums and even some dreaded audience participation, it also felt remarkably vital.
Much of that was due to the power of Grant’s music. The best of her early material is timeless, including the stirring “El Shaddai” and “Sing Your Praise to the Lord,” a classic written by the late Rich Mullins. The songs from the Lead Me On album are often darker, but equally effective. The self-penned “Shadows” boldly addresses the subject of temptation, while Janis Ian’s “What About the Love” is stark and chilling in Grant’s hands. There’s a reason the disc was named the No. 1 Christian-music album of all time by industry publication CCM Magazine; the material is mostly wonderful.
The arrangements offered by her eight band members were pretty much unchanged from the original tour. “Shadows” boasted a hypnotic keyboard hook that lodges in your brain permanently. The reassuring gospel rocker “All Right” featured some screaming guitar work from Jerry McPherson and Chris Rodriguez; the latter looks like he hasn’t aged a day in 20 years. Keyboardist Chris Eaton, a solo performer in his own right, got a moment in the spotlight with a devotional number called "I Will." It broke the evening's no-new-songs rule, but it was sweetly plaintive.
In recent years, Grant has mellowed into a folksy performer whose shows have an almost Lilith Fair quality. However, she seemed completely revitalized by the night’s theme, singing with a ferocious intensity. During the reggae tinged “Everywhere I Go,” she even swayed her hips like a teenager. “This was about as much as a Church of Christ girl could do,” she cracked. Even better was the cautionary “Wise Up,” which sported a bass-heavy Paisley Park vibe that was completely infectious. Grant flubbed the lyric at one point, but who cared? It was simply fun, and the entire crowd was on its feet.
One of Grant’s gifts is the ability to make people in a big venue feel like they’re in an intimate, one-on-one setting with the singer. She achieved that several times during the night, but particularly on a lovely and understated reading of “Say Once More” that she used during the encore. Even fans who have followed her career for decades probably walked away feeling that they knew her a little better.
Set list: My Father’s Eyes
Love of Another Kind
Wait For the Healing
Shadows
1974
Everywhere I Go
Saved By Love
What About the Love
All Right
El Shaddai
Sing Your Praise to the Lord
All I Ever Have to Be
I Will (Chris Eaton solo)
Lead Me On
Find a Way
Wise Up
Angels
Fight
Encore:
Stay For Awhile
What Would They Think
Say Once More
Second Encore:
Turn! Turn! Turn!
Christian Music News Source
Amy Grant has been guided by faith all her life, without becoming that ‘preachy Church Lady’
Amy Grant is the best-selling female Christian music artist in the world.
With 30 million albums sold worldwide, nine platinum albums, six Grammy Awards and 26 Dove Awards under her belt, Grant also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But she has said she prefers an evening of hanging out with her family to life in the spotlights, and that her faith is a simple gift that she relies on, both in tough days and good ones.
Married to country star Vince Gill, Grant has three children from her first marriage — Matt, 21, Millie, 19, and Sarah, 16. Gill has a daughter from his first marriage, Jenny, 26. And the couple have a daughter, Corrina, 7.
We caught up with Grant this week at her home near Nashville for a discussion of her faith and family.
Q: You've said that you went to church regularly with your parents. When and how did you make that relationship with Christ your own?
A: It sort of was in two phases. I remember that May evening when I was 12. I knew I was going to walk down the aisle that Sunday evening (to accept Christ). It was very thought out. I just remember how special it was.
Then, two years later, when I was 14, and on through high school, I started going to a different church. My two oldest sisters went to school in Boston and started going to a church that was very active. When they came home, they looked around and got active in a Nashville church on Music Row. It was musical, but people were in blue jeans and barefoot. Street people came. A lot of college kids.
I had so much Bible; I knew it like I knew history and my math facts. But it was in that free-form setting at Belmont Church that I came to know a relationship with Jesus. All the dots were connecting. I prayed a lot as a little kid, but it was a lot of King James speaking — a lot of reverence. I loved it. I loved the old hymns. At my all-girls high school, it was a very intense education; really high standards. I saw a lot of mental, emotional, spiritual need, but it's easy to medicate when you have money — new clothes, a new car. But I wasn't around a lot of physical need.
When I went to the (Belmont) youth group, we walked into an apartment. These kids were so welcoming, so inviting. None came from my school. They were so easygoing and open. There were drug problems, a couple of unexpected pregnancies, people whose parents couldn't pay the rent. I loved my school, but I plugged into that youth group.
I began writing songs and asked another friend to do songs with me in a school assembly. We sang and shared stories. After that, I found letters stuffed in my locker, in my books, from a lot of upperclassmen saying, "Can we talk?" More needs than I knew.
Q: Do you have a favorite Bible verse?
A: So many. When I was in college, a group of us used to run, or jog or limp, and for a time, we had to bring a verse and then we had to memorize it while we were jogging. I think that lasted maybe one week. Mine was Hebrews 10:23 — "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
Q: You've gone through a lot of challenges and changes in the past 10 years. How has your faith helped you?
A: For all of us, our faith shapes how we see life. My husband came back a while ago after having lunch with a new friend. This man had opened up about his war experiences (in Vietnam), about the killing and the horrors. This man said, "My faith saved me from the war." That's true. Our faith saves us from ourselves, our circumstances. There have been times of amazing growth and times of feeling stagnant for a lot of reasons.
I think a great thing happens after you turn 40. I have found that my emotional pendulum doesn't swing as wide, and my emotional and spiritual roots feel deeper. I remember looking at my parents' spiritual maturity when I was a kid and wondering, "When am I going to feel like that?" I think it's the hard times, whether they're imposed on us or whether we bring them on ourselves, that brings it.
Q: Are you doing anything different in sharing your faith and beliefs with your youngest daughter, Corrina, than you did with your older three children?
A: Probably. I guess I'd have to ask them. I'm older and probably more relaxed. I would imagine that hopefully at times, I'm a better listener than I was as a young mom.
Q: Now that you're the mom of a couple of young adults, how has your spiritual advice or practices changed? Do you ever want to throttle them for some of the choices they're making?
A: I find I say less the older I get. They're not going to listen anyway, unless they want to hear. When they're children, you're sort of gearing toward them. As adults, I talk to them like I would talk to myself, only I say a lot less. Mostly, I try to be encouraging. Life is the greatest teacher. At this point, it's not going to be mom's words.
One of my kids, I won't say which one, was having a really tough time the other night. We were out on the front porch. You know, you can't fix it. We sat in the rocking chair. I said, "Two things come to mind right now. One was a verse your grandmother used to quote all the time — 'All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.' And then I added, 'You know, all of us are called according to his purpose.' That might not be other people's theology, but it's what I believe — that all of us are called for his purpose.
Second, I heard Bruce Springsteen once say, "Great enlightenment is always preceded by a f---up." I don't talk that way, but it was a quote. It's life. The things in heaven and things on earth are so articulated by Bruce and God. That's the way I've raised my kids — I'm not preachy Church Lady.
Q: What's the best part of being God's daughter?
A: The best part is knowing if I never lifted a finger, it wouldn't change his love for me. That's true of everybody. We just live in such a performance-based world — who looks the best, who serves the best, who tries the hardest, who does the most. I mean I don't want to lay around in bed and eat bon bons. But I'm so thankful that I don't have to work to earn his love.
Christian Music News Source
With 30 million albums sold worldwide, nine platinum albums, six Grammy Awards and 26 Dove Awards under her belt, Grant also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But she has said she prefers an evening of hanging out with her family to life in the spotlights, and that her faith is a simple gift that she relies on, both in tough days and good ones.
Married to country star Vince Gill, Grant has three children from her first marriage — Matt, 21, Millie, 19, and Sarah, 16. Gill has a daughter from his first marriage, Jenny, 26. And the couple have a daughter, Corrina, 7.
We caught up with Grant this week at her home near Nashville for a discussion of her faith and family.
Q: You've said that you went to church regularly with your parents. When and how did you make that relationship with Christ your own?
A: It sort of was in two phases. I remember that May evening when I was 12. I knew I was going to walk down the aisle that Sunday evening (to accept Christ). It was very thought out. I just remember how special it was.
Then, two years later, when I was 14, and on through high school, I started going to a different church. My two oldest sisters went to school in Boston and started going to a church that was very active. When they came home, they looked around and got active in a Nashville church on Music Row. It was musical, but people were in blue jeans and barefoot. Street people came. A lot of college kids.
I had so much Bible; I knew it like I knew history and my math facts. But it was in that free-form setting at Belmont Church that I came to know a relationship with Jesus. All the dots were connecting. I prayed a lot as a little kid, but it was a lot of King James speaking — a lot of reverence. I loved it. I loved the old hymns. At my all-girls high school, it was a very intense education; really high standards. I saw a lot of mental, emotional, spiritual need, but it's easy to medicate when you have money — new clothes, a new car. But I wasn't around a lot of physical need.
When I went to the (Belmont) youth group, we walked into an apartment. These kids were so welcoming, so inviting. None came from my school. They were so easygoing and open. There were drug problems, a couple of unexpected pregnancies, people whose parents couldn't pay the rent. I loved my school, but I plugged into that youth group.
I began writing songs and asked another friend to do songs with me in a school assembly. We sang and shared stories. After that, I found letters stuffed in my locker, in my books, from a lot of upperclassmen saying, "Can we talk?" More needs than I knew.
Q: Do you have a favorite Bible verse?
A: So many. When I was in college, a group of us used to run, or jog or limp, and for a time, we had to bring a verse and then we had to memorize it while we were jogging. I think that lasted maybe one week. Mine was Hebrews 10:23 — "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
Q: You've gone through a lot of challenges and changes in the past 10 years. How has your faith helped you?
A: For all of us, our faith shapes how we see life. My husband came back a while ago after having lunch with a new friend. This man had opened up about his war experiences (in Vietnam), about the killing and the horrors. This man said, "My faith saved me from the war." That's true. Our faith saves us from ourselves, our circumstances. There have been times of amazing growth and times of feeling stagnant for a lot of reasons.
I think a great thing happens after you turn 40. I have found that my emotional pendulum doesn't swing as wide, and my emotional and spiritual roots feel deeper. I remember looking at my parents' spiritual maturity when I was a kid and wondering, "When am I going to feel like that?" I think it's the hard times, whether they're imposed on us or whether we bring them on ourselves, that brings it.
Q: Are you doing anything different in sharing your faith and beliefs with your youngest daughter, Corrina, than you did with your older three children?
A: Probably. I guess I'd have to ask them. I'm older and probably more relaxed. I would imagine that hopefully at times, I'm a better listener than I was as a young mom.
Q: Now that you're the mom of a couple of young adults, how has your spiritual advice or practices changed? Do you ever want to throttle them for some of the choices they're making?
A: I find I say less the older I get. They're not going to listen anyway, unless they want to hear. When they're children, you're sort of gearing toward them. As adults, I talk to them like I would talk to myself, only I say a lot less. Mostly, I try to be encouraging. Life is the greatest teacher. At this point, it's not going to be mom's words.
One of my kids, I won't say which one, was having a really tough time the other night. We were out on the front porch. You know, you can't fix it. We sat in the rocking chair. I said, "Two things come to mind right now. One was a verse your grandmother used to quote all the time — 'All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.' And then I added, 'You know, all of us are called according to his purpose.' That might not be other people's theology, but it's what I believe — that all of us are called for his purpose.
Second, I heard Bruce Springsteen once say, "Great enlightenment is always preceded by a f---up." I don't talk that way, but it was a quote. It's life. The things in heaven and things on earth are so articulated by Bruce and God. That's the way I've raised my kids — I'm not preachy Church Lady.
Q: What's the best part of being God's daughter?
A: The best part is knowing if I never lifted a finger, it wouldn't change his love for me. That's true of everybody. We just live in such a performance-based world — who looks the best, who serves the best, who tries the hardest, who does the most. I mean I don't want to lay around in bed and eat bon bons. But I'm so thankful that I don't have to work to earn his love.
Christian Music News Source
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Amy Grant in Concert 13
"stay for a while" in concert plus intro to a new song
Irvine, CA 10/17/08
Go see Amy Grant Lead Me on Reunion Tour www.amygrant.com
Christian Music News Source
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Tickets Still Available For Sunday’s Amy Grant Concert and Family Y Fundraiser
Augusta native, Amy Grant will perform at First Tee, Sunday, October 12th. It’s a fundraiser for the Family Y. The event is also an attempt to be inducted into the Guinness Book Of World Records for the world’s largest family picnic. There are tickets still available.
Christian Music News Source
Christian Music News Source
Vince Gill, Amy Grant coming to Coliseum for Christmas show
BLOOMINGTON -- The holiday music scene just got a little merrier with the addition of “Christmas with Vince and Amy” to the U.S. Cellular Coliseum’s December slate. | Interactive graphic: Coliseum attendance, revenues, events
Featuring the husband-wife duo of country singer Vince Gill and former Christian pop queen Amy Grant, the concert is slated for 8 p.m. Dec. 20.
Tickets are priced at $39.50 to $59.50, and go on sale at 10 a.m. Oct. 18 at the Coliseum box office and area Ticketmaster locations.
Also available at that time will be a special $159.50 ticket that includes admission to a pre-show reception attended by Grant and Gill. Also featured will be dinner and drinks, a signed memorabilia raffle and premium floor seating for the concert.
A portion of the reception’s proceeds will go to support Bloomington’s Clare House food pantry.
In addition to Grant and Gill, the concert will feature a 12-piece band that includes a horn section and Gill’s daughter, Jenny, serving as harmony vocalist.
Showcased will be songs from Grant’s recently released album, “The Holiday Collection,” featuring songs from her previous holiday albums, along with four new songs, one of them — “Baby It’s Christmas” — co-penned by Gill.
Christian Music News Source
Featuring the husband-wife duo of country singer Vince Gill and former Christian pop queen Amy Grant, the concert is slated for 8 p.m. Dec. 20.
Tickets are priced at $39.50 to $59.50, and go on sale at 10 a.m. Oct. 18 at the Coliseum box office and area Ticketmaster locations.
Also available at that time will be a special $159.50 ticket that includes admission to a pre-show reception attended by Grant and Gill. Also featured will be dinner and drinks, a signed memorabilia raffle and premium floor seating for the concert.
A portion of the reception’s proceeds will go to support Bloomington’s Clare House food pantry.
In addition to Grant and Gill, the concert will feature a 12-piece band that includes a horn section and Gill’s daughter, Jenny, serving as harmony vocalist.
Showcased will be songs from Grant’s recently released album, “The Holiday Collection,” featuring songs from her previous holiday albums, along with four new songs, one of them — “Baby It’s Christmas” — co-penned by Gill.
Christian Music News Source
Vince Gill & Amy Grant coming to U.S. Cellular Coliseum
U.S. Cellular Coliseum has announced that Vince Gill and Amy Grant will perform a special Christmas show on Saturday, December 20th at 8 p.m. Tickets for 'Christmas with Vince and Amy' will go on sale on Saturday, October 18th. Tickets range from $39.50 to $59.50.
The coliseum will also host an exclusive pre-show reception with Vince Gill and Amy Grant for $159.50, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Clare House of Bloomington.
Christian Music News Source
The coliseum will also host an exclusive pre-show reception with Vince Gill and Amy Grant for $159.50, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Clare House of Bloomington.
Christian Music News Source
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Amy Grant, Vince Gill Launch 15-Date Christmas Tour Dec. 4
Amy Grant and Vince Gill will embark on a 15-date Christmas With Amy & Vince Tour Dec. 4, in Manchester, NH, and bring it home Dec. 22 and 23 with two shows in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium.
“The job of spreading Christmas cheer has simply gotten too big for Santa and Rudolph to do alone,” Gill explains. “So Amy and I are pitching in. Besides, these holiday tours have become our favorites.”
Grant agrees: “Christmas audiences are special. They tend to involve the whole family, and their emotions are a wonderful mix of anticipation and reverence. It’s a thrilling experience for both of us.”
In their two hour program of cherished standards and newer seasonal fare, the Grammy-winning husband-and-wife team will be backed by a 12-piece band that features a horn section and two harmony singers, one of whom is Gill’s daughter, Jenny. “Some of our earlier Christmas tours were with a symphony orchestra,” Gill notes. “This time, though, we wanted to create more of an intimate, living room feel.” Plans are underway to work with local charities in order to give back to these communities.
On Sept. 30, Grant will release her first new Christmas album in nine years. Called The Christmas Collection, it is made up of selections from her three earlier Christmas CDs—plus four new tunes, including “Baby It’s Christmas,” a song Grant and Gill wrote together. Keeping with the festive mood, Grant will tape on Nov. 11 an NBC-TV special, Holiday Celebration On Ice. It co-stars Michael W. Smith and a corps of world-famous skating champions and will air Nov. 30.
One of the most beloved and respected performers in American music, Gill was inducted last year into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He is a long-time member of the Grand Ole Opry and winner of 19 Grammy awards. Gill boasts three best-selling Christmas albums of his own: Let There Be Peace On Earth, Breath Of Heaven and Christmas Collection.
Here are the dates, cities and venues for Christmas With Amy & Vince:
Dec. 4 Manchester, NH/Verizon Wireless Arena
Dec. 5 Augusta, ME/Augusta Civic Center
Dec. 6 West Point, NY/Eisenhower Hall Theatre
Dec. 7 Mashantucket, CT/MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods
Dec. 10 Baltimore, MD/Lyric Opera House
Dec. 11 Albany, NY/Times Union Center
Dec. 12 Worcester, MA/DCU Center
Dec. 13 Elmira, NY/First Arena
Dec. 15 Atlanta, GA/Fox Theatre
Dec. 16 Charlotte, NC/Ovens Auditorium
Dec. 18 Grand Rapids, MI/Van Andel Arena
Dec. 19 St. Louis, MO/Scottrade Center
Dec. 20 Bloomington, IL/US Cellular Colliseum
Dec. 22 & 23 Nashville, TN/Ryman Auditorium
Christian Music News Source
“The job of spreading Christmas cheer has simply gotten too big for Santa and Rudolph to do alone,” Gill explains. “So Amy and I are pitching in. Besides, these holiday tours have become our favorites.”
Grant agrees: “Christmas audiences are special. They tend to involve the whole family, and their emotions are a wonderful mix of anticipation and reverence. It’s a thrilling experience for both of us.”
In their two hour program of cherished standards and newer seasonal fare, the Grammy-winning husband-and-wife team will be backed by a 12-piece band that features a horn section and two harmony singers, one of whom is Gill’s daughter, Jenny. “Some of our earlier Christmas tours were with a symphony orchestra,” Gill notes. “This time, though, we wanted to create more of an intimate, living room feel.” Plans are underway to work with local charities in order to give back to these communities.
On Sept. 30, Grant will release her first new Christmas album in nine years. Called The Christmas Collection, it is made up of selections from her three earlier Christmas CDs—plus four new tunes, including “Baby It’s Christmas,” a song Grant and Gill wrote together. Keeping with the festive mood, Grant will tape on Nov. 11 an NBC-TV special, Holiday Celebration On Ice. It co-stars Michael W. Smith and a corps of world-famous skating champions and will air Nov. 30.
One of the most beloved and respected performers in American music, Gill was inducted last year into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He is a long-time member of the Grand Ole Opry and winner of 19 Grammy awards. Gill boasts three best-selling Christmas albums of his own: Let There Be Peace On Earth, Breath Of Heaven and Christmas Collection.
Here are the dates, cities and venues for Christmas With Amy & Vince:
Dec. 4 Manchester, NH/Verizon Wireless Arena
Dec. 5 Augusta, ME/Augusta Civic Center
Dec. 6 West Point, NY/Eisenhower Hall Theatre
Dec. 7 Mashantucket, CT/MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods
Dec. 10 Baltimore, MD/Lyric Opera House
Dec. 11 Albany, NY/Times Union Center
Dec. 12 Worcester, MA/DCU Center
Dec. 13 Elmira, NY/First Arena
Dec. 15 Atlanta, GA/Fox Theatre
Dec. 16 Charlotte, NC/Ovens Auditorium
Dec. 18 Grand Rapids, MI/Van Andel Arena
Dec. 19 St. Louis, MO/Scottrade Center
Dec. 20 Bloomington, IL/US Cellular Colliseum
Dec. 22 & 23 Nashville, TN/Ryman Auditorium
Christian Music News Source
6 Questions With Amy Grant
Few artists, if any, have had a more powerful impact on the Christian music industry than Amy Grant. She burst on the scene as a fresh-faced teen who helped define the contemporary Christian genre before becoming a pop crossover success with such hits as "Baby Baby" and "Every Heartbeat."
After 30 years with Word, the six-time Grammy Award winner signed with EMI Christian Music Group last year, which recently issued a 20th-anniversary edition of her landmark "Lead Me On" album. She'll embark on a reunion tour this fall that features most of the band that accompanied her on the original "Lead Me On" trek. She's also promoting "The Christmas Collection," which hit the streets Sept. 30. And, she and husband Vince Gill will embark on a Christmas tour around the holidays.
Did you have any idea "Lead Me On" would have such lasting significance?
No. When you're recording, you're just hoping someone will listen to it then. I remember just thinking, "I'm not going to be one of those women that's just way past her prime and if I'm still singing when I'm 40, somebody get a hook and come drag me offstage." That's how I felt in my 20s, but then you get to be in your 40s and go, "I've got so much more to say now."
What was going on in your life at that time that is reflected on "Lead Me On"?
I was pregnant with [my first child] Matt and my grandmother had just died. I was wrestling with facing some more adult issues. [Ex-husband] Gary [Chapman] and I had been married five years, which is long enough to have gone through some rough patches. I had just realized that life can't be tied up in a neat bow and I wanted to reflect on that. I think I had done a lot of pompom waving up until that point because of my real love for Jesus and my love of hearing songs that would build people's faith up. I remember back then just going, "You know, life is really messy and there's a lot of heartache." I was more interested in exploring the harder things in life.
What's the reunion tour going to look like?
Seven of the original 10 people from that tour are going back out with me to do 20 anniversary shows. So it's going to be a fun walk down memory lane for all of us because we've all gone on to other lives and other jobs. I'm excited about being back with everybody. That's what has been so amazing—people have wanted to come back and participate.
You've recorded three successful Christmas albums. What will this new project be like?
Signing with EMI, they have brought so much enthusiasm for my catalog. It was their idea to do a "best of" Christmas record and they just asked for two new songs, but I did two new songs and two old songs and they actually liked all four of them. For the other songs, I sat down one night and went through each of those three earlier Christmas records and I picked moments that were favorite moments for me. [I chose] "O Come All Ye Faithful" because it's Phil Keaggy playing guitar. I'm singing. It's really not a good performance; I'm very pitchy, but I love knowing that Phil is playing on this compilation.
What can you tell us about the new original songs?
I wrote "I Need a Silent Night" with Chris Eaton. He and I had not written together for eight years. The verses in that song talk about how crazy Christmas has become and the chorus is sort of our response to that—"It's so commercialized, but I need a silent night."
On "Baby It's Christmas," Vince was kind of messing around with those chords and it just sounded romantic. We wrote that over a cup of coffee one morning. I don't think anybody really thinks about Christmas Eve as being the most romantic time, especially if you have children, because you are exhausted. But if you could have a very romantic Christmas Eve, what would it be like?
Are you writing songs for your next studio album yet?
I've got a dozen songs that I'm ready to record and I hope to be back in the studio and get at least a few of them recorded before I do this tour. There's a song I wrote about Vince and there's a song that a friend and I wrote when she found her birth mom. "Shovel in Hand" I wrote on the airplane flying out to the [Academy of Country Music Awards] in Las Vegas. I was meeting Vince, but I had come from the cemetery watching my son and his friends bury one of their classmates. It's always songs inspired by people in my life.
Christian Music News Source
After 30 years with Word, the six-time Grammy Award winner signed with EMI Christian Music Group last year, which recently issued a 20th-anniversary edition of her landmark "Lead Me On" album. She'll embark on a reunion tour this fall that features most of the band that accompanied her on the original "Lead Me On" trek. She's also promoting "The Christmas Collection," which hit the streets Sept. 30. And, she and husband Vince Gill will embark on a Christmas tour around the holidays.
Did you have any idea "Lead Me On" would have such lasting significance?
No. When you're recording, you're just hoping someone will listen to it then. I remember just thinking, "I'm not going to be one of those women that's just way past her prime and if I'm still singing when I'm 40, somebody get a hook and come drag me offstage." That's how I felt in my 20s, but then you get to be in your 40s and go, "I've got so much more to say now."
What was going on in your life at that time that is reflected on "Lead Me On"?
I was pregnant with [my first child] Matt and my grandmother had just died. I was wrestling with facing some more adult issues. [Ex-husband] Gary [Chapman] and I had been married five years, which is long enough to have gone through some rough patches. I had just realized that life can't be tied up in a neat bow and I wanted to reflect on that. I think I had done a lot of pompom waving up until that point because of my real love for Jesus and my love of hearing songs that would build people's faith up. I remember back then just going, "You know, life is really messy and there's a lot of heartache." I was more interested in exploring the harder things in life.
What's the reunion tour going to look like?
Seven of the original 10 people from that tour are going back out with me to do 20 anniversary shows. So it's going to be a fun walk down memory lane for all of us because we've all gone on to other lives and other jobs. I'm excited about being back with everybody. That's what has been so amazing—people have wanted to come back and participate.
You've recorded three successful Christmas albums. What will this new project be like?
Signing with EMI, they have brought so much enthusiasm for my catalog. It was their idea to do a "best of" Christmas record and they just asked for two new songs, but I did two new songs and two old songs and they actually liked all four of them. For the other songs, I sat down one night and went through each of those three earlier Christmas records and I picked moments that were favorite moments for me. [I chose] "O Come All Ye Faithful" because it's Phil Keaggy playing guitar. I'm singing. It's really not a good performance; I'm very pitchy, but I love knowing that Phil is playing on this compilation.
What can you tell us about the new original songs?
I wrote "I Need a Silent Night" with Chris Eaton. He and I had not written together for eight years. The verses in that song talk about how crazy Christmas has become and the chorus is sort of our response to that—"It's so commercialized, but I need a silent night."
On "Baby It's Christmas," Vince was kind of messing around with those chords and it just sounded romantic. We wrote that over a cup of coffee one morning. I don't think anybody really thinks about Christmas Eve as being the most romantic time, especially if you have children, because you are exhausted. But if you could have a very romantic Christmas Eve, what would it be like?
Are you writing songs for your next studio album yet?
I've got a dozen songs that I'm ready to record and I hope to be back in the studio and get at least a few of them recorded before I do this tour. There's a song I wrote about Vince and there's a song that a friend and I wrote when she found her birth mom. "Shovel in Hand" I wrote on the airplane flying out to the [Academy of Country Music Awards] in Las Vegas. I was meeting Vince, but I had come from the cemetery watching my son and his friends bury one of their classmates. It's always songs inspired by people in my life.
Christian Music News Source
10/16: Amy Grant
The old Doris Day chestnut Sentimental Journey will not be among the tunes Amy Grant sings when she takes the stage at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix on Oct. 16. However, it perfectly sums up Grant's emotional state of mind.
Twenty years ago, the singer-songwriter released Lead Me On, a landmark album in the contemporary Christian music industry. To celebrate the anniversary, a deluxe two-disc edition recently appeared in stores.
Now, Grant has reunited with seven musicians from her 1988 touring band to revisit the material. The 20-city tour kicks off with the Phoenix concert.
"I feel like I'm going to this really cool family reunion," Grant says while driving to a business meeting in her Nashville hometown. "We literally get to go back emotionally to a younger, more innocent time. It's really energized all of us."
Surprisingly, the album that inspired the tour isn't the biggest seller in Grant's deep catalog of material. That would be Heart In Motion, her 1991 release that sold more than 5 million copies and turned the singer into a mainstream pop star. Bubbly, effervescent singles such as Baby Baby, Good for Me and Every Heartbeat dominated radio for months.
The bold Lead Me On was an altogether darker and more candid album. Rather than merely focusing on praise and worship, Grant created a disc that dealt with many of the gray areas of life and faith in such songs as Shadows and What About the Love.
The self-penned Faithless Heart is perhaps the disc's most nakedly honest tune. In the song, the narrator discusses the temptations that exist outside her marriage. "It scares me through and through / Cause I've a man at home who needs me to be true" goes the verse.
"I never, ever did that song live, but I am going to on this tour," says Grant, 47. "That one struck a little too close to the bone at the time, but I think if you're going to say something, you might as well be honest."
The honesty paid off: CCM Magazine, which covers the Christian-music industry, named the disc the top Christian album of all time. It also won honors from the Grammys and the Gospel Music Association, which gave it the Dove Award for album of the year.
"I didn't work any harder on that record than I did on any of the others," Grant says. "But the attention to detail in the production, the songs . . . it was like we were creatively fired on all pistons. It was a wonderful experience."
She hopes the experience translates to the live show. With the exception of harmonica player Terry McMillan, who died in 2007, and ex-husband Gary Chapman, she was able to regroup all the musicians from the 1988 tour.
No one hesitated before signing on. Guitarist Chris Rodriguez, who worked with Grant on two world tours, remembers he was hiking at Point Dume in Malibu when a text message arrived on his cellphone.
"I hadn't heard from Amy in ages, and out of the blue I get this message saying that she's doing a reunion tour for Lead Me On and would I be interested," he recalls. "I wrote back three words: 'Yes, yes, yes.' "
He says there is a reason people were quick to get on board.
"Amy's the best," he says. "People who work with her love her. She's generous and thoughtful, but she's not a pushover. She's the kind of person that the band will call on their day off and say, 'Hey, we're going bowling: You wanna come?' Not everyone you get to work with is like that."
Rodriguez tours with both Keith Urban and Kenny Loggins, so he has been doing what he calls "Amy homework" while on the road. In other words, listening to tapes from 1988 and relearning material he used to know by heart.
"Some things I'm very familiar with," he says. "Other things I forgot that we did a certain way. It will be interesting on certain songs to see if we stay true to the original and do it big '80s style, or if we rework them more organically."
With Grant, you imagine she'll opt for the latter. Despite the nostalgic nature of the tour, she seems like a very forward-thinking person. She signed with EMI last year and has written several songs. She plans to go into the studio in January to cut an album.
"I just left a meeting with (label president) Peter York," she says, laughing. "I played him a batch of 15 songs, and he liked four of them. You think that would be horrible, but it's not. It's great having somebody setting such a high bar. It's been a really fun, engaging experience."
Still, that's the future. Up next is a quick visit to the past.
"Going over this music, I remembered a part of myself that was gone," says Grant, who has been married to singer Vince Gill for eight years. "It's been lovely. This isn't a show for people to come to, thinking, 'Can she sing as high as she used to?' Well, I probably can't. But I do hope they are reminded of how they felt at that time in their life."
For her, the past ties into the present.
"Sometimes when you look back in a really constructive way," she says, "it can really re-ignite your fire for the future."
Christian Music News Source
Twenty years ago, the singer-songwriter released Lead Me On, a landmark album in the contemporary Christian music industry. To celebrate the anniversary, a deluxe two-disc edition recently appeared in stores.
Now, Grant has reunited with seven musicians from her 1988 touring band to revisit the material. The 20-city tour kicks off with the Phoenix concert.
"I feel like I'm going to this really cool family reunion," Grant says while driving to a business meeting in her Nashville hometown. "We literally get to go back emotionally to a younger, more innocent time. It's really energized all of us."
Surprisingly, the album that inspired the tour isn't the biggest seller in Grant's deep catalog of material. That would be Heart In Motion, her 1991 release that sold more than 5 million copies and turned the singer into a mainstream pop star. Bubbly, effervescent singles such as Baby Baby, Good for Me and Every Heartbeat dominated radio for months.
The bold Lead Me On was an altogether darker and more candid album. Rather than merely focusing on praise and worship, Grant created a disc that dealt with many of the gray areas of life and faith in such songs as Shadows and What About the Love.
The self-penned Faithless Heart is perhaps the disc's most nakedly honest tune. In the song, the narrator discusses the temptations that exist outside her marriage. "It scares me through and through / Cause I've a man at home who needs me to be true" goes the verse.
"I never, ever did that song live, but I am going to on this tour," says Grant, 47. "That one struck a little too close to the bone at the time, but I think if you're going to say something, you might as well be honest."
The honesty paid off: CCM Magazine, which covers the Christian-music industry, named the disc the top Christian album of all time. It also won honors from the Grammys and the Gospel Music Association, which gave it the Dove Award for album of the year.
"I didn't work any harder on that record than I did on any of the others," Grant says. "But the attention to detail in the production, the songs . . . it was like we were creatively fired on all pistons. It was a wonderful experience."
She hopes the experience translates to the live show. With the exception of harmonica player Terry McMillan, who died in 2007, and ex-husband Gary Chapman, she was able to regroup all the musicians from the 1988 tour.
No one hesitated before signing on. Guitarist Chris Rodriguez, who worked with Grant on two world tours, remembers he was hiking at Point Dume in Malibu when a text message arrived on his cellphone.
"I hadn't heard from Amy in ages, and out of the blue I get this message saying that she's doing a reunion tour for Lead Me On and would I be interested," he recalls. "I wrote back three words: 'Yes, yes, yes.' "
He says there is a reason people were quick to get on board.
"Amy's the best," he says. "People who work with her love her. She's generous and thoughtful, but she's not a pushover. She's the kind of person that the band will call on their day off and say, 'Hey, we're going bowling: You wanna come?' Not everyone you get to work with is like that."
Rodriguez tours with both Keith Urban and Kenny Loggins, so he has been doing what he calls "Amy homework" while on the road. In other words, listening to tapes from 1988 and relearning material he used to know by heart.
"Some things I'm very familiar with," he says. "Other things I forgot that we did a certain way. It will be interesting on certain songs to see if we stay true to the original and do it big '80s style, or if we rework them more organically."
With Grant, you imagine she'll opt for the latter. Despite the nostalgic nature of the tour, she seems like a very forward-thinking person. She signed with EMI last year and has written several songs. She plans to go into the studio in January to cut an album.
"I just left a meeting with (label president) Peter York," she says, laughing. "I played him a batch of 15 songs, and he liked four of them. You think that would be horrible, but it's not. It's great having somebody setting such a high bar. It's been a really fun, engaging experience."
Still, that's the future. Up next is a quick visit to the past.
"Going over this music, I remembered a part of myself that was gone," says Grant, who has been married to singer Vince Gill for eight years. "It's been lovely. This isn't a show for people to come to, thinking, 'Can she sing as high as she used to?' Well, I probably can't. But I do hope they are reminded of how they felt at that time in their life."
For her, the past ties into the present.
"Sometimes when you look back in a really constructive way," she says, "it can really re-ignite your fire for the future."
Christian Music News Source
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
