Husband, wife bring holiday show to Point
Don't be surprised if you happen to see Grammy Award-winning, multiplatinum-selling artists Amy Grant and her husband, Vince Gill, walking around West Point or Bear Mountain State Park this week.
"For this tour, we thought, 'Let's go find some special places to play,'" Grant says via phone. "I've never been to West Point, but I know it's beautiful. One of my daughter's friends has a sister who lives in the area, so, of course we'll be working, but hopefully I'll be able to walk around the neighborhood and explore."
They'll bring their "Christmas With Amy & Vince" tour to Eisenhower Hall Saturday.
Grant started out (and still continues) performing contemporary Christian and gospel music, but she eventually crossed over to pop music in the early '90s and had huge success with the hits "Baby Baby," "Every Heartbeat" and "That's What Love Is For." Gill, a country musician, is known for the hits "Feels Like Love" and "What You Give Away."
Go! reporter Sandy Tomcho spoke with Grant about the album and the tour.
Tell me about "The Christmas Collection." You picked songs you already recorded and there are a few new ones on it, right?
It's a rather large collection with 18 songs. Fourteen are from previous recordings, and I've done four new songs. Two of those are original and two are classics that we just recorded.
How do you pick which ones are your favorites when you're compiling an album like this?
It's easy with computers, because you can pull up all the music, and there were some songs that I felt had to be on there, on the collection, but others I chose more because they were like glue connecting the songs. I feel like Christmas records tend to be records that people put on and leave on because maybe no other time is somebody conscious about having music on in their home or in their car, but at Christmastime, it's more of a tradition.
Did you have help picking?
My computer just happens to be very near the kitchen, and there's no doors on my office, and so, this summer, when I was picking the songs, of course I had my children home, and we had an 18-year-old friend of my daughter's living with us, and then we had an exchange student from France for three weeks, trying to have an normal American experience, which, I'm not sure it was normal, but (laughs) ... So, everybody's in the kitchen all the time and they were constantly walking behind me going, "No, no, no. Not that song. You've gotta put such-and-such on there." (laughs) I was sitting at the computer, and the peanut gallery was there. It was really enjoyable.
Vince and your daughter also appear on two songs, right?
He's not singing, he's playing, and it's a song we wrote together called "Baby, It's Christmas." It's a really romantic, kind of swanky song about romance on Christmas Eve, which I've never had. (laughs) There's too many kids. I'm always exhausted. The other new song is called "I Need a Silent Night," and our 7-year-old is speaking on that, and it's one of my favorite things on the record, her little voice, because you know it won't be that way long.
What kind of show can people expect?
The great thing about this amazing group of musicians we're bringing with us is that we could do anything, but it seems a waste to not do Christmas music. Vince and I have both recorded a lot of Christmas music, but because we haven't done our first show yet, I'm not sure how the evening's going to play out, but we'll be onstage together, and hopefully the whole evening will have a very conversational, sitting-around-the-living-room kind of feel.
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Vince Gill, Amy Grant give back to GRPS program
GRAND RAPIDS -- Local fans of Amy Grant and Vince Gill will have the opportunity to support music and art education at Grand Rapids Public Schools when the duo comes to town this month.
The Grammy-winning husband-and-wife team will perform a Christmas concert Dec. 18 in Van Andel Arena. Prior to the show, a limited number of VIP ticket-holders will be able to see the stars up close in a pre-show performance featuring area students.
A portion of the VIP ticket price will be donated to Grand Rapids Public Schools Arts Advocates, a nonprofit organization that helps fund arts and music programs at the city's schools.
The group's treasurer, John Hartel, said Grant and Gill are making similar charitable donations at each of the tour's 15 stops this holiday season.
"At all of their tour locations, these artists have said they want to give some portion of the money back to a local arts entity," Hartel said. "It's a pleasant surprise, that's for sure."
About 250 $180 VIP tickets will be available for the 5 p.m. preshow. Hartel said ticket-holders will see performances by City High School's Concert Band and Jazz Band, and food and drinks will be available.
A performance and a meet-and-greet with the stars also is expected before the main concert begins at 7:30 p.m. (Tickets to the VIP pre-show include admission to the main concert).
Grant and Gill, touring with a 12-piece band, both have best-selling Christmas albums under their belts. In September, Grant released her fourth holiday recording, "The Christmas Collection," which includes songs from earlier Christmas releases plus four new tracks.
The duo's VIP concert donation will help the GRPS Arts Advocates "significantly," Hartel said. The nonprofit's annual Arts Jam -- a benefit concert and auction -- typically raises $15,000 to $20,000 for GRPS students.
Arts Advocates uses the money to help fund students' private music lessons, summer arts camp costs and instrument payments.
It also gives music and art teachers money for extra supplies not covered by a school's budget.
Hartel said proceeds from the VIP show could end up doubling the Arts Advocates' available funds for the year.
"That would really be great -- we'd have some extra money for teachers, we could put a few more kids in summer camps -- there's no shortage of need," Hartel said.
"I think everyone needs a creative outlet, and we need to expose kids to the arts so they know what's out there. We want to make sure the kids don't lose that."
Christian Music News Source
The Grammy-winning husband-and-wife team will perform a Christmas concert Dec. 18 in Van Andel Arena. Prior to the show, a limited number of VIP ticket-holders will be able to see the stars up close in a pre-show performance featuring area students.
A portion of the VIP ticket price will be donated to Grand Rapids Public Schools Arts Advocates, a nonprofit organization that helps fund arts and music programs at the city's schools.
The group's treasurer, John Hartel, said Grant and Gill are making similar charitable donations at each of the tour's 15 stops this holiday season.
"At all of their tour locations, these artists have said they want to give some portion of the money back to a local arts entity," Hartel said. "It's a pleasant surprise, that's for sure."
About 250 $180 VIP tickets will be available for the 5 p.m. preshow. Hartel said ticket-holders will see performances by City High School's Concert Band and Jazz Band, and food and drinks will be available.
A performance and a meet-and-greet with the stars also is expected before the main concert begins at 7:30 p.m. (Tickets to the VIP pre-show include admission to the main concert).
Grant and Gill, touring with a 12-piece band, both have best-selling Christmas albums under their belts. In September, Grant released her fourth holiday recording, "The Christmas Collection," which includes songs from earlier Christmas releases plus four new tracks.
The duo's VIP concert donation will help the GRPS Arts Advocates "significantly," Hartel said. The nonprofit's annual Arts Jam -- a benefit concert and auction -- typically raises $15,000 to $20,000 for GRPS students.
Arts Advocates uses the money to help fund students' private music lessons, summer arts camp costs and instrument payments.
It also gives music and art teachers money for extra supplies not covered by a school's budget.
Hartel said proceeds from the VIP show could end up doubling the Arts Advocates' available funds for the year.
"That would really be great -- we'd have some extra money for teachers, we could put a few more kids in summer camps -- there's no shortage of need," Hartel said.
"I think everyone needs a creative outlet, and we need to expose kids to the arts so they know what's out there. We want to make sure the kids don't lose that."
Christian Music News Source
Christmas with Amy Grant and Vince Gill
Grammy Award-winning husband and wife perform here Friday
t was her first full day back home after a 20-state concert tour, but Amy Grant was still very much in motion.
“I’m throwing some food in the oven real fast,” she said at the beginning of a recent 9 a.m. telephone interview from her Nashville home. “I’m taking breakfast to my mom and dad.”
Grant has a somewhat deep, unaffected down home sort of Southern voice that is instantly appealing. She’s also obviously smart, but you feel at home with her right away, notwithstanding the fact that she’s been one of the most successful female singer-songwriters over the course of the last 15 to 20 years.
Her first breakthrough came as a contemporary Christian singer-songwriter, and then she was launched into the mainstream big time when her 1991 album “Heart In Motion” became a best-seller and the single “Baby Baby” (which includes the line “Ever since the time you put my heart in motion”) became a number one pop hit.
Marriage in 2000 to country star Vince Gill (albeit a tad controversial at the time in some Christian circles, since both had just exited previous marriages) could be said to have extended musical influences even further. Both are Grammy Award winners. In any event, the husband-wife team has taken to doing an annual Christmas tour, so Grant’s respite from touring was going to be a brief one.
Last Thursday, the “Christmas With Amy & Vince” tour kicked off in Manchester, N.H., and it comes to the DCU Center in Worcester with a concert beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday. This isn’t Grant’s first visit to Worcester or the DCU Center.
“I’ve been there many times over the years. It’s great to be coming back,” she said.
The tour will end Dec. 23 back home in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium.
The couple will be backed by a 12-piece band that features a horn section and two harmony singers, one of whom is Gill’s daughter from a previous marriage, Jenny.
Meanwhile, Grant, 48, has released several popular Christmas albums.
The show will include holiday classics, as well as some original holiday tunes written by Grant and Gill.
“Christmas is not about reinventing the wheel,” Grant said. “It’s about singing, but singing with great arrangements. Maybe this show is unique in that we have some original Christmas music, but it’s music that’s been out for some time.”
A lot of preparation has gone into this production, Grant added. “Sometimes, when you do the most work you get the most out of it. It’s like anything, if you teach a class there’s something about the anticipation, the preparation. The person who does the most preparation gets the most out of it.”
For a Christmas show, “People are looking for an ‘Aha!’ moment. This was the feeling I was looking for. We work so hard to put on a musically satisfying evening. If you can just get in you’ll be glad you did it because we do all the work — the set design, lighting, arrangements that have to be written. Although for all the preparation there’s a lot of spontaneity because of his (Gill’s) musicianship.”
Does the show get Grant in the Christmas spirit?
“Absolutely. I think it’s just nice to have. There’s something about sharing a stage at Christmas time.”
Grant is originally from Augusta, Ga., and has said she was one of a group of “hippie Christians” who began writing songs at their church.
Her songs soon got attention, and Grant’s first album, “Amy Grant,” came out when she was still a teenager.
“The only reason I ended up on stage is because I wrote songs. I love song writing,” she said.
Auditioning for a recording contract, “The response from the record company was, ‘She’s not that good, but she’s amazingly sincere.’ They sent me a contract. I would not have survived ‘American Idol.’ ”
Grant was perhaps only half joking.
“I learned my craft in the process of doing music,” she said.
Her album “Age to Age” became the first “contemporary Christian” music album to be certified platinum. More recent albums have shown gospel and bluegrass interests.
Contemporary Christian … pop … gospel … Christmas music … country …
What does Grant think of all these labels?
“They all sound boring to me,” she said candidly and decisively. Then she told an anecdote.
“I was seated on a plane next to a woman flying to Minneapolis … She asked me, ‘What do you do?’ I said, ‘I’m a songwriter.’ ”
The woman didn’t know who Amy Grant was. Grant was flying to Minneapolis to give a concert. “As it turned out, I invited her to the show. She had no preconceived idea.”
Afterward, Grant talked to her again. “She said, ‘This is so much fun.’ And that’s the way I like it. All of us tend to be very dismissive about something when we think we know what it is.”
Grant was still in the kitchen, and coffee was ready. “This is perfect,” she said after taking a sip.
Was “Heart in Motion” her biggest break?
“It’s the biggest-selling record I’ve ever done. I can’t say I feel it’s the best songwriting,” Grant said, again with typical honesty. “It was a blast to do. But from a songwriting perspective, pop songs are mostly about the production. For a songwriter the most satisfying songs are the ones that really take you somewhere. But that record — I feel it exposed me to a much broader audience. It was sort of exciting. Sort of exhausting, too.”
After the Christmas tour, Grant will probably have some time to relax, but again not for long. She said she’s heading to the recording studio. Indeed, she feels her best songwriting is still ahead of her.
But here’s the secret when it comes to being in perpetual motion as far as music is concerned:
It’s fun.
“You sure can lift your emotional level if you expose yourself to music,” Grant said. “With any task, if I’ll put music on, suddenly you’ve got a jump in your step.
“Yesterday my daughter and I were cleaning out our cars in the driveway. She was listening to music. She was just bounding around.” Soon Grant was, too.
Christian Music News Source
t was her first full day back home after a 20-state concert tour, but Amy Grant was still very much in motion.
“I’m throwing some food in the oven real fast,” she said at the beginning of a recent 9 a.m. telephone interview from her Nashville home. “I’m taking breakfast to my mom and dad.”
Grant has a somewhat deep, unaffected down home sort of Southern voice that is instantly appealing. She’s also obviously smart, but you feel at home with her right away, notwithstanding the fact that she’s been one of the most successful female singer-songwriters over the course of the last 15 to 20 years.
Her first breakthrough came as a contemporary Christian singer-songwriter, and then she was launched into the mainstream big time when her 1991 album “Heart In Motion” became a best-seller and the single “Baby Baby” (which includes the line “Ever since the time you put my heart in motion”) became a number one pop hit.
Marriage in 2000 to country star Vince Gill (albeit a tad controversial at the time in some Christian circles, since both had just exited previous marriages) could be said to have extended musical influences even further. Both are Grammy Award winners. In any event, the husband-wife team has taken to doing an annual Christmas tour, so Grant’s respite from touring was going to be a brief one.
Last Thursday, the “Christmas With Amy & Vince” tour kicked off in Manchester, N.H., and it comes to the DCU Center in Worcester with a concert beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday. This isn’t Grant’s first visit to Worcester or the DCU Center.
“I’ve been there many times over the years. It’s great to be coming back,” she said.
The tour will end Dec. 23 back home in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium.
The couple will be backed by a 12-piece band that features a horn section and two harmony singers, one of whom is Gill’s daughter from a previous marriage, Jenny.
Meanwhile, Grant, 48, has released several popular Christmas albums.
The show will include holiday classics, as well as some original holiday tunes written by Grant and Gill.
“Christmas is not about reinventing the wheel,” Grant said. “It’s about singing, but singing with great arrangements. Maybe this show is unique in that we have some original Christmas music, but it’s music that’s been out for some time.”
A lot of preparation has gone into this production, Grant added. “Sometimes, when you do the most work you get the most out of it. It’s like anything, if you teach a class there’s something about the anticipation, the preparation. The person who does the most preparation gets the most out of it.”
For a Christmas show, “People are looking for an ‘Aha!’ moment. This was the feeling I was looking for. We work so hard to put on a musically satisfying evening. If you can just get in you’ll be glad you did it because we do all the work — the set design, lighting, arrangements that have to be written. Although for all the preparation there’s a lot of spontaneity because of his (Gill’s) musicianship.”
Does the show get Grant in the Christmas spirit?
“Absolutely. I think it’s just nice to have. There’s something about sharing a stage at Christmas time.”
Grant is originally from Augusta, Ga., and has said she was one of a group of “hippie Christians” who began writing songs at their church.
Her songs soon got attention, and Grant’s first album, “Amy Grant,” came out when she was still a teenager.
“The only reason I ended up on stage is because I wrote songs. I love song writing,” she said.
Auditioning for a recording contract, “The response from the record company was, ‘She’s not that good, but she’s amazingly sincere.’ They sent me a contract. I would not have survived ‘American Idol.’ ”
Grant was perhaps only half joking.
“I learned my craft in the process of doing music,” she said.
Her album “Age to Age” became the first “contemporary Christian” music album to be certified platinum. More recent albums have shown gospel and bluegrass interests.
Contemporary Christian … pop … gospel … Christmas music … country …
What does Grant think of all these labels?
“They all sound boring to me,” she said candidly and decisively. Then she told an anecdote.
“I was seated on a plane next to a woman flying to Minneapolis … She asked me, ‘What do you do?’ I said, ‘I’m a songwriter.’ ”
The woman didn’t know who Amy Grant was. Grant was flying to Minneapolis to give a concert. “As it turned out, I invited her to the show. She had no preconceived idea.”
Afterward, Grant talked to her again. “She said, ‘This is so much fun.’ And that’s the way I like it. All of us tend to be very dismissive about something when we think we know what it is.”
Grant was still in the kitchen, and coffee was ready. “This is perfect,” she said after taking a sip.
Was “Heart in Motion” her biggest break?
“It’s the biggest-selling record I’ve ever done. I can’t say I feel it’s the best songwriting,” Grant said, again with typical honesty. “It was a blast to do. But from a songwriting perspective, pop songs are mostly about the production. For a songwriter the most satisfying songs are the ones that really take you somewhere. But that record — I feel it exposed me to a much broader audience. It was sort of exciting. Sort of exhausting, too.”
After the Christmas tour, Grant will probably have some time to relax, but again not for long. She said she’s heading to the recording studio. Indeed, she feels her best songwriting is still ahead of her.
But here’s the secret when it comes to being in perpetual motion as far as music is concerned:
It’s fun.
“You sure can lift your emotional level if you expose yourself to music,” Grant said. “With any task, if I’ll put music on, suddenly you’ve got a jump in your step.
“Yesterday my daughter and I were cleaning out our cars in the driveway. She was listening to music. She was just bounding around.” Soon Grant was, too.
Christian Music News Source
Amy Grant, Vince Gill bring country Christmas spirit to Van Andel Arena
GRAND RAPIDS -- Local fans of Amy Grant and Vince Gill will have the opportunity to support music and art education at Grand Rapids Public Schools when the duo comes to town this month.
The Grammy-winning husband-and-wife team will perform a Christmas concert Dec. 18 in Van Andel Arena. Prior to the show, a limited number of VIP ticket-holders will be able to see the stars up close in a pre-show performance featuring area students.
A portion of the VIP ticket price will be donated to Grand Rapids Public Schools Arts Advocates, a nonprofit organization that helps fund arts and music programs at the city's schools.
The group's treasurer, John Hartel, said Grant and Gill are making similar charitable donations at each of the tour's 15 stops this holiday season.
"At all of their tour locations, these artists have said they want to give some portion of the money back to a local arts entity," Hartel said. "It's a pleasant surprise, that's for sure."
About 250 $180 VIP tickets will be available for the 5 p.m. preshow. Hartel said ticket-holders will see performances by City High School's Concert Band and Jazz Band, and food and drinks will be available.
A performance and a meet-and-greet with the stars also is expected before the main concert begins at 7:30 p.m. (Tickets to the VIP pre-show include admission to the main concert).
Grant and Gill, touring with a 12-piece band, both have best-selling Christmas albums under their belts. In September, Grant released her fourth holiday recording, "The Christmas Collection," which includes songs from earlier Christmas releases plus four new tracks.
The duo's VIP concert donation will help the GRPS Arts Advocates "significantly," Hartel said. The nonprofit's annual Arts Jam -- a benefit concert and auction -- typically raises $15,000 to $20,000 for GRPS students.
Arts Advocates uses the money to help fund students' private music lessons, summer arts camp costs and instrument payments.
It also gives music and art teachers money for extra supplies not covered by a school's budget.
Hartel said proceeds from the VIP show could end up doubling the Arts Advocates' available funds for the year.
"That would really be great -- we'd have some extra money for teachers, we could put a few more kids in summer camps -- there's no shortage of need," Hartel said.
"I think everyone needs a creative outlet, and we need to expose kids to the arts so they know what's out there. We want to make sure the kids don't lose that."
Christian Music News Source
The Grammy-winning husband-and-wife team will perform a Christmas concert Dec. 18 in Van Andel Arena. Prior to the show, a limited number of VIP ticket-holders will be able to see the stars up close in a pre-show performance featuring area students.
A portion of the VIP ticket price will be donated to Grand Rapids Public Schools Arts Advocates, a nonprofit organization that helps fund arts and music programs at the city's schools.
The group's treasurer, John Hartel, said Grant and Gill are making similar charitable donations at each of the tour's 15 stops this holiday season.
"At all of their tour locations, these artists have said they want to give some portion of the money back to a local arts entity," Hartel said. "It's a pleasant surprise, that's for sure."
About 250 $180 VIP tickets will be available for the 5 p.m. preshow. Hartel said ticket-holders will see performances by City High School's Concert Band and Jazz Band, and food and drinks will be available.
A performance and a meet-and-greet with the stars also is expected before the main concert begins at 7:30 p.m. (Tickets to the VIP pre-show include admission to the main concert).
Grant and Gill, touring with a 12-piece band, both have best-selling Christmas albums under their belts. In September, Grant released her fourth holiday recording, "The Christmas Collection," which includes songs from earlier Christmas releases plus four new tracks.
The duo's VIP concert donation will help the GRPS Arts Advocates "significantly," Hartel said. The nonprofit's annual Arts Jam -- a benefit concert and auction -- typically raises $15,000 to $20,000 for GRPS students.
Arts Advocates uses the money to help fund students' private music lessons, summer arts camp costs and instrument payments.
It also gives music and art teachers money for extra supplies not covered by a school's budget.
Hartel said proceeds from the VIP show could end up doubling the Arts Advocates' available funds for the year.
"That would really be great -- we'd have some extra money for teachers, we could put a few more kids in summer camps -- there's no shortage of need," Hartel said.
"I think everyone needs a creative outlet, and we need to expose kids to the arts so they know what's out there. We want to make sure the kids don't lose that."
Christian Music News Source
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Amy Grant performs cut from first decade of career
Many veteran recording artists have short memories when it comes to set lists. New songs are normally showcased, with recent material usually complementing the fresh cuts. There might be an old nugget or two thrown in for good measure.
Very few performers focus on tracks solely from their salad days.
Then there's Amy Grant.
With the exception of a few unrecorded tunes that close her show, Grant will only render cuts from the first decade of her career — which was primarily her contemporary Christian days — when she performs Saturday at the Tower Theater.
“I'm not playing anything I recorded after 1988,” Grant said while calling from the airport in Nashville, Tenn. “Music has a way of bringing back forgotten memories, and that's what I'm doing with this tour.
“I just want to remind people who they were before they had responsibilities and no energy after having five children. When people hear songs from another era, they can become that person again.”
Grant will ignore her 1991 pop breakthrough album, which includes such hit singles as “Baby Baby” and “Every Heartbeat.”
“It's all right,” she said. “I'm doing something I have to do. You can't play every song when you go on tour. I'm going way back with this tour.”
It's almost hard to believe that Grant, 47, marked her 30th anniversary in show business in 2007.
“I started early,” she said. “I was in my teens. I knew what I wanted to do.”
Christian Music News Source
Very few performers focus on tracks solely from their salad days.
Then there's Amy Grant.
With the exception of a few unrecorded tunes that close her show, Grant will only render cuts from the first decade of her career — which was primarily her contemporary Christian days — when she performs Saturday at the Tower Theater.
“I'm not playing anything I recorded after 1988,” Grant said while calling from the airport in Nashville, Tenn. “Music has a way of bringing back forgotten memories, and that's what I'm doing with this tour.
“I just want to remind people who they were before they had responsibilities and no energy after having five children. When people hear songs from another era, they can become that person again.”
Grant will ignore her 1991 pop breakthrough album, which includes such hit singles as “Baby Baby” and “Every Heartbeat.”
“It's all right,” she said. “I'm doing something I have to do. You can't play every song when you go on tour. I'm going way back with this tour.”
It's almost hard to believe that Grant, 47, marked her 30th anniversary in show business in 2007.
“I started early,” she said. “I was in my teens. I knew what I wanted to do.”
Christian Music News Source
Amy Grant rocks! (Keep it to yourself, okay?)
I have a confession to make.
On Friday night, your correspondent went to see Amy Grant perform at Morristown's Community Theatre.
Yes, that Amy Grant.
Which leads to a couple more confessions.
Really liked the show.
And yes, a couple of Amy's old CDs are in my collection.
Her current tour celebrates the 1988 "Lead Me On" album that propelled the Christian contemporary singer into the mainstream.
In those days, as a red-blooded young American male, my desires were not purely. . . spiritual. The Young Fresh Fellows' wickedly funny song, "Amy Grant," pretty much sums up the attraction.
But as God is my witness, Amy knows her way around a pop song.
They are so bouncy and infectious, you can imagine the Apostles holding up candles, demanding encores.
Actually, if you didn't know Amy's history and just wandered into a show, you might not even realize you're being proselytized. Jesus hardly ever gets a mention.
Yet the vibe is relentlessly upbeat, so much so that as you're bouncing along with the bass lines, in a sea of dancing fans, you're forced to confront life's most basic assumptions:
Hey! Isn't rock supposed to be the devil's music?
Occasionally strumming a guitar, and backed by a crackerjack eight-piece band that included several members from the 1988 tour (minus her ex-husband, bass player Gary Chapman), Amy reprised many fan favorites during the two hour and twenty minute show, starting with "Father's Eyes."
Others included, naturally, "Lead Me On," and "El Shaddai," "Angels," "Tender Tennessee Christmas," "Stay for Awhile" and "Find Away," delicious cotton candy that no amount of detergent can scrub from my brain.
Keyboard player Chris Eaton showed off his Squeeze-like vocal prowess on a solo ballad, and guitarists Jerry McPherson and Chris Rodriguez added bite to the evening.
During a lengthy encore set Amy threw in a few new numbers, which she jokingly compared to campfire songs as she accompanied herself on guitar. One that stood out was called "Please Don't Make Me Beg."
The crowd got into the act, too, serenading Amy with "Happy Birthday." (The onetime teen recording artist turns 48 on Tuesday.)
Amy, who next embarks on a Christmas tour with husband Vince Gill, closed Friday's show with a rocking version of "Turn, Turn, Turn."
The whole concert was recorded, presumably for an album that will fly off her merch table along with all those $30 t-shirts.
As the Young Fresh Fellows sang so long ago: "She just gets rich 'cause she works for God!"
Must confess, Amy Grant still works for me, too.
Just promise to keep that between us, okay?
Christian Music News Source
On Friday night, your correspondent went to see Amy Grant perform at Morristown's Community Theatre.
Yes, that Amy Grant.
Which leads to a couple more confessions.
Really liked the show.
And yes, a couple of Amy's old CDs are in my collection.
Her current tour celebrates the 1988 "Lead Me On" album that propelled the Christian contemporary singer into the mainstream.
In those days, as a red-blooded young American male, my desires were not purely. . . spiritual. The Young Fresh Fellows' wickedly funny song, "Amy Grant," pretty much sums up the attraction.
But as God is my witness, Amy knows her way around a pop song.
They are so bouncy and infectious, you can imagine the Apostles holding up candles, demanding encores.
Actually, if you didn't know Amy's history and just wandered into a show, you might not even realize you're being proselytized. Jesus hardly ever gets a mention.
Yet the vibe is relentlessly upbeat, so much so that as you're bouncing along with the bass lines, in a sea of dancing fans, you're forced to confront life's most basic assumptions:
Hey! Isn't rock supposed to be the devil's music?
Occasionally strumming a guitar, and backed by a crackerjack eight-piece band that included several members from the 1988 tour (minus her ex-husband, bass player Gary Chapman), Amy reprised many fan favorites during the two hour and twenty minute show, starting with "Father's Eyes."
Others included, naturally, "Lead Me On," and "El Shaddai," "Angels," "Tender Tennessee Christmas," "Stay for Awhile" and "Find Away," delicious cotton candy that no amount of detergent can scrub from my brain.
Keyboard player Chris Eaton showed off his Squeeze-like vocal prowess on a solo ballad, and guitarists Jerry McPherson and Chris Rodriguez added bite to the evening.
During a lengthy encore set Amy threw in a few new numbers, which she jokingly compared to campfire songs as she accompanied herself on guitar. One that stood out was called "Please Don't Make Me Beg."
The crowd got into the act, too, serenading Amy with "Happy Birthday." (The onetime teen recording artist turns 48 on Tuesday.)
Amy, who next embarks on a Christmas tour with husband Vince Gill, closed Friday's show with a rocking version of "Turn, Turn, Turn."
The whole concert was recorded, presumably for an album that will fly off her merch table along with all those $30 t-shirts.
As the Young Fresh Fellows sang so long ago: "She just gets rich 'cause she works for God!"
Must confess, Amy Grant still works for me, too.
Just promise to keep that between us, okay?
Christian Music News Source
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