Granting Wishes II

How did you catch NBC's eye for Three Wishes?

Grant: This happened in a very interesting way. My manager was in the hospital over Christmas for a month and was very sick. She only answered two e-mails during that entire time, and one was to NBC because she heard they were looking for a host for a new reality show. She had read the premise of the show and said, "Oh my goodness, this is right up Amy's alley!" I don't watch much TV and I'm not a big fan of reality shows, so she didn't tell me that she sent this. She answered the e-mail, saying she felt I would be great for this job. She sent them a press kit, including the very best video work I've ever done-like if I was on Oprah and made Oprah laugh. She tailor made this to really make me look fabulous-without telling me.

She got a call back from NBC, and then she called me and said, "I sent in your resume without asking you because I think you'd be great for this job. And they've called back and want you to come for an interview." I went to NBC and said, "I'm not a big TV watcher, but I love the idea of your show. Somebody's going to make a great host and whoever that host is will have a front row seat to some pretty amazing things. I'm throwing my hat in the ring and you pick whoever you want." That was about as emotional as the meeting was. Then she called back and said, "They want you to do it."

How did your previous TV appearances prepare you for the program?

Grant: We filmed the first show and it was kind of long hours, but my mom called and asked how it was going. I said, "I feel like so many extraneous things in my life prepared me to do this TV show. None of it feels like work." It all feels like stuff I've done in other parts of my life-meeting with children, talking to people, going to hospitals. I think about all the houses I've built with Habitat for Humanity, and how many kids I've already met with Make-A-Wish Foundation. Now they're just doing it with a TV show to try and encourage people to get involved with their next door neighbor and be a better part of their community, and I think, "Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm following a bread crumb trail." It really felt like a gift to me at this point in life.

What's the basic premise of the show?

Grant: Each episode so far is based in a small town. Basically we're there for a week. The first day of the week we set up a wish tent and we invite people to come and bring their wishes. I get on the radio that morning, I go up and down the main street. We pick small towns just because it's possible to show up and actually have a presence. If we were going to show up in Chicago, people would go, "Oh great, a bigger traffic jam. Please leave." We solicit wishes and choose the ones we're going to grant. Fortunately I'm not part of that process because it would just be way too much emotional pressure.

The first day is a long day. I bet we saw 500 people that stood in line waiting to say, "My name is so and so and my wish is X, Y, Z." I knew we were onto something really special. I find myself getting a lump in my throat, because I realize most of us want the capacity to give back to people who've meant something to us. That sort of feeling prevails with the entire week. It's not Extreme Makeover: Home Edition; you're not redoing the world. But it's people talking to each other. Every week we'll pick these three wishes and then filming the process of granting those wishes.

Are there talks of continuing Three Wishes for another season?

Grant: Right now, I think they've ordered nine shows so that's as far as I'm looking down the road.

What advice would you give those hoping to have their wish granted on the program?

Grant: It sure doesn't hurt if you've got five minutes on your hands to log on and wish for something. It needs to be connected to a small town, but most of us have small town roots somewhere. That's just the way they've angled this show right now and there's no magic formula. Like with any reality show, the magic is what happens once you get there.

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Granting Wishes

Amy Grant never seems to slow down. After releasing a CD and DVD last year comprising her Greatest Hits 1986-2004, the singer hit the studio for her twentieth album, Rock of Ages … Hymns & Faith. The follow-up to 2002's Legacy … Hymns & Faith (which recently reached gold certification) features production by husband Vince Gill and frequent collaborator Brown Bannister. But now Grant has another trick up her sleeve-in the television department. This fall she'll host NBC's Three Wishes, a reality show in which a team of experts helps make contestants' hopes and dreams come true. We recently caught up with Grant via phone between the show's tour stops.

Why another hymns record so soon?

Amy Grant: Well, there's just a timelessness to a hymns record. It doesn't matter if someone discovers it next week or five years from now or twenty years from now. For any other kind of music, you're basically trying to get things on the radio. I felt like [2003's pop album] Simple Things was a great creative effort, but I didn't feel like all the pieces were firing at the same time to make it do well. What I don't want to have to worry about right now is any kind of radio success. I thought, if it doesn't seem like there's an open window for what I'm doing in the radio world, I'd rather do this pet project that I started with Legacy and invest my time and energy there. I think those records are beautiful; I think the hymns are beautiful.

My mom and dad are both in their 70s, and I feel fortunate that they're still alive and well. My mom came over today to visit her grandkids and just said, "Amy, I play this record all the time, and it's my favorite thing you've ever done." It means more to me right now to make a record that means a great deal to my mom than it does to go headlong pursuing radio. Nobody could've told me at 25 I would say that, but hands down this means more to me right now than having done something else.

What are the similarities and differences between Legacy and Rock of Ages?

Grant: I think Rock of Ages is a little more developed musically. We took longer to do it [and] I feel like the production was bolder. Even though they're both are collections of hymns, I didn't want it to be the exact same experience as Legacy. The record starts with "Anywhere with Jesus," which has kind of a bluesy feel, but instead of just sticking its toe in the water, it goes way in. Then the record ends with "Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go" and that's more of a long saxophone solo. So, just a little more production extremes as opposed to Legacy, which is a little more sparse.

How did you decide what songs to include the second time around?

Grant: I have a lot of songbooks around my house, hymnals, songbooks from the church I grew up in, and a couple of favorite publications I've purchased. I just flip through those and make a list, and then talk with Vince and Brown about the list. I made a master list of about 30 songs-each one was a song I grew up singing-and then we just tried to figure out musical directions to take the songs.

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Lead Me On … Again III

When can we expect your next proper studio CD?

Grant: As soon as Christmas is over, I plan to go into the studio in January and not come out until it's done. All the songs have been written, so it shouldn't take that long!

Speaking of the holidays, how did you choose both the old and new songs to be included on The Christmas Collection?

Grant: The record company actually let me choose the songs. I sat at the computer, loaded in all three earlier records, and picked the ones that had moved me most—the ones that were executed well and married well to each other. I can't say that every one of those standing alone makes the most sense going from heavy production to a stripped down sound to an orchestra to a cappella, but I tried to create a musical journey that felt complete and had all my favorite songs on there.


The label just requested two new songs, but I came up with four, so they said, "Thank you, we'll take all four!" I took two unoriginal songs performed on past Christmas tours but never recorded, one being a Barbra Streisand-styled version of "Jingle Bells" and the other being a song I sang with CeCe Winans on a CBS special years ago "Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep." "Baby It's Christmas" is one of the original songs I wrote with Vince, which is a romantic Christmas Eve song that's kind of on the steamy side, but also a joke because I don't think anyone's really ready for romance after being so exhausted from the holiday experience! And I love the message of "I Need a Silent Night," which speaks for itself and has an appearance by my seven-year-old daughter Corrina.

Can you give us a preview of the Christmas tour?

Grant: Vince and I will be touring for the first time without a symphony, but will have a full band and horn section, the Sapphire Blues Horns. It will be all Christmas material and I'll probably be choosing songs from the 18 on The Christmas Collection. My guess is Vince and I will probably be out together the whole time, though we haven't officially decided yet. It's going to be conversational and a ton of fun with some songs stripped down and others where everybody plays with tons of energy.

How does your family plan to celebrate the holidays in spite of all this traveling?

Grant: We've been traveling a lot this year, but the last two shows are in Nashville, which means we'll be home the week of Christmas. It's awfully nice to get to see all the different lights in different cities, and once our kids are out of school, they've always chosen to live on the bus for a few days to end the Christmas tour with us and do some shopping. That's just the downside of a musician's life—we have to travel to do our job. But we've done a lot at home trying to kind of shore everybody up since we're gone so much this fall and winter.


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Gospel Music Hall of Fame to Open Doors to 5 New Inductees

Michael W. Smith, Dolly Parton, Dr. Bobby Jones, The Dixie Hummingbirds and Lair Goss will be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame on Monday, joining music legends including Elvis Presley, Amy Grant, Andrae Crouch, and Sandi Patty.

Established in 1971, the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame honors and celebrates the past and present economic, cultural, social and spiritual contributions that Christian and gospel music have made not only to Music City, but to the world.

"This year’s class of GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees have all achieved great professional and personal success in many different areas of the music and entertainment industries,” stated John W. Styll, president and CEO of the Gospel Music Association Foundation (GMAF), “but each shares a common heritage of the Gospel’s powerful impact on their lives.”

This year’s induction ceremony and dinner will be held on Monday at The Richland Country Club in Nashville, starting with a medallion ceremony and reception at 6:30 p.m. The induction ceremony and dinner will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Christian Music News Source

Lead Me On … Again III

What was it like calling them out of the blue to pitch the anniversary tour?

Grant: Well they all have jobs now, [many of them touring with other artists], but I simply asked if there was any chance they'd do a short tour with me in honor of this record. I started by calling [guitarist] Jerry McPherson, who's currently playing with Faith Hill, and he said, "I can't believe this because Faith is taking the fall off!" Then I called [guitarist] Chris Rodriguez, who's been touring with Keith Urban for years, and he said, "I cannot believe you're calling me because I was just talking about you and our days of touring together!" Then he told me Keith was taking the fall off because he and Nicole [Kidman] were having a baby, so he'd be available too.

Person after person kept signing on, except for [percussionist] Terry McMillan, who died and I had spoken at his funeral, and [vocalist] Donna McElroy, who teaches at Berklee [but will still appear on select dates]. Then my older kids' father [and ex-husband] Gary Chapman played bass and sang [on the original tour]—even though we get along really well, I felt like that was a little bit of a stretch for all of us. But we have Mike Brignardello, who was the original bassist on the record, which still helps to bring this all full circle.


That's incredible that nearly everyone was available. What was the chemistry like when you first started rehearsing together?

Grant: The reunion between all these musicians was just unbelievable. When we walked in on the first day, we said, "Let's not kill ourselves and just work on three songs a day," working from 10am to 5pm. But by 11am, we played the first three perfectly just like we had played them every night 20 years ago! So there was tons of laughing, with some tweaking with the background vocals. So far, everyone who's walked in says we sound just like the record!

Is there any footage of your original outing that could be a DVD someday? If not, will this tour be filmed?

Grant: We actually had a film crew [the first time], but it was on film, not video. And we only had a three-camera shoot, and one of them was out of focus the whole time. It was very disorganized. Everything's a possibility right now, but with the economy so bad right now, I'm not sure how much wiggle room we've got for creative things. There's not a plan for a DVD at this time, but I do have a good friend in the DC area who does commercials, and she said, "By any chance would you want me to bring up some hi-definition cameras and get some behind scenes footage?" I'm all for that!

Do you feel like Lead Me On as an album has adapted additional poignancy in light of current events?

Grant: I know hearing them sure has revived my faith and hope. Especially in a season where we're all overwhelmed with rhetoric, it's nice to hear something straightforward and honest. My hope is whoever can swing a concert ticket shows up and we can build them up and create a ripple effect to go and encourage people in their world. We're doing this tour on such a smaller scale then we did twenty years ago. Back then we'd play in one neighborhood to a crowd of 20,000. Now we're going back to the same neighborhood, playing a church that seats 3,600 people. That's just the natural bell curve of the artist draw these days, but the music and creativity have never been about size of audience. It's been about the impact of the song, whether that's sitting in your room singing to yourself or one other person. If we could do it for free, we would, but we're at least trying to keep overhead down. We have two buses pulling a trailer and we're all trying to make ends meet. I do think music is so powerful and it can have such an impact, especially in hard times.

What type of set list should fans expect from this show?

Grant: I'm looking at it right now, actually, and nothing that was recorded after 1988 is going to be played. Part of that is because it's such a unique opportunity to play the old songs—I don't feel like I've ever had that freedom. It's nice to have a rest from the next twenty years and the songs that tend to be expected during every set list. We have pulled some oldie moldies out of the closet, and then depending on the night, if the crowd wants to stick around after the proper set list played, I might ask, "You wanna hear something new?" And if one goes over well, we might do a second.

Do you think you'll ever do this type of anniversary tour behind Heart In Motion, especially because it was your best-selling CD?

Grant: I think not and the reason is because I don't feel like those songs have the same emotional pull. I feel this is a one-time deal.

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