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.


Source