Amy Grant Songs

Christian music news: Amy Grant - Life's Gonna Change

2009-11-25T00:35:00.000-08:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant

2009-11-18T00:35:00.000-08:00

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Christian music news: Young Fresh Fellows- Amy Grant

2009-11-11T00:34:00.000-08:00

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Christian music news: EWomen Amy Grant Promo

2009-11-04T00:31:00.000-08:00

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Christian music news: faith Amy Grant The Christmas Hymn

2009-10-28T00:30:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant "I love a lonely day"

2009-10-21T00:29:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Turn Turn Turn by Amy Grant Tampa, FL May 11, 2009

2009-10-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant - Carry You

2009-10-07T00:26:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant - Carry You

2009-09-30T00:24:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant Tampa Bay Performing Arts 2009

2009-09-23T00:23:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant Performs "Unafraid" Live

2009-09-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Baby Baby - Amy Grant

2009-09-09T02:33:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Big Yellow Taxi - Amy Grant

2009-09-02T02:31:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Stay For Awhile - Amy Grant

2009-08-26T02:30:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Take A Little Time - Amy Grant

2009-08-19T02:29:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: YFF - "Amy Grant" (12/14)

2009-08-12T02:27:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant - Saved by love (acoustic promo)

2009-08-05T02:25:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: House Of Love - Amy Grant & Vince Gill

2009-07-29T02:22:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Luck One - Amy Grant

2009-07-22T02:19:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant - El Shaddai - Concert Live

2009-07-15T01:46:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Love Of Another Kind by Amy Grant Tampa, FL May 11, 2009

2009-07-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant - Carry You

2009-06-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant Tampa Bay Performing Arts 2009

2009-06-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Behind the Scenes With Amy Grant

2009-06-10T21:56:00.000-07:00

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Christian music news: Amy Grant Performs "Unafraid" Live

2009-06-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

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Simple Things Amy Grant

2009-05-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

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Amy Grant ties-in with Philosophy skin care product

2009-05-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

GRAMMY Award winning Amy Grant will release her first new, non-Christmas music in five years with the release of 'She Colors My Day EP'. The project is being released on iTunes and is a tie-up with the skin care product Philosophy. The EP will contain the title track, "a fun pop-song about a mother's love for her daughter," and "Unafraid", a tribute to Amy's own mother. 'She Colors My Day' will also feature Grant's hits "Baby Baby" and "Oh, How The Years Go By". A music video for "She Colors My Day" will have an exclusive Amazon.com debut on 12th May.

Amy Grant and songwriters Cristina Carlino (Philosophy founder and creator) and Stuart Mathis are donating all artist and publishing royalties generated by the sale of the song "She Colors My Day" to the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's' Cancer Research Fund. Alongside Grant's EP, Philosophy is partnering with online photo and artwork company Snapfish to create personalised books for Mother's Day. For each book that is created, Snapfish will donate 50 per cent of the net proceeds to the "She Colors My Day" project, a Philosophy non-profit initiative to assist in raising funds to create a cure for breast cancer. Philosophy is also releasing a bubble bath in honour of the charity.

Christian Music News Source

AMY GRANT TO RELEASE NEW 4 SONG EP TITLED SHE COLORS MY DAY ON MAY 5 IN CELEBRATION OF MOTHER’S DAY

2009-05-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

Nashville, Tenn. Apr. 28, 2009… GRAMMY ® Award Winning Singer/Songwriter, philanthropist and mother, Amy Grant will release her first new, non-Christmas music in five years with the release of She Colors My Day EP exclusively on iTunes ® the week of May 5 and in partnership with the skin care brand philosophy.

Grant will debut two new songs for Mother’s Day: “She Colors My Day”, a fun pop-song about a mother’s love for her daughter, and the beautiful soul-stirring “Unafraid” which is a tribute to Amy’s own mother. Available May 5 with a debut exclusively on iTunes ®, the 4-song EP also includes classic Grant hits “Baby Baby” and “Oh, How The Years Go By”. The colorful music video for “She Colors My Day” will have an exclusive Amazon.com debut on May 12.

“I’m so glad to be releasing some new music,” says Grant. “I’ve been working on a lot of new material and two of the new songs seemed to fit perfectly for a special Mother’s Day release. ‘Unafraid’ is motherhood from every angle --- partner, parent, caregiver -- a perspective that every 40-something mom knows all too well. And ‘She Colors My Day’ makes me smile thinking of how my own daughters brighten up my life.”

Amy Grant and songwriters Cristina Carlino (philosophy founder and creator) & Stuart Mathis are donating all artist and publishing royalties generated by the sale of the song “She Colors My Day” to the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s’ Cancer Research Fund.

Alongside Grant’s EP, philosophy is partnering with online photo and artwork company Snapfish to create personalized books for Mother’s Day. For each book that is created, Snapfish will donate 50 percent of the net proceeds to the “She Colors My Day” project, a philosophy non-profit initiative to assist in raising funds to create a cure for breast cancer. philosophy is also releasing a bubble bath in honor of the charity.

about philosophy
philosophy is a lifestyle brand that celebrates feeling well and living joyously and wants to inspire its customers to live a better life by being better to themselves. Long before the “doctor” skincare brands of today, there was philosophy. Born from biomedic, the acclaimed medical company that pioneered some of today’s most popular in-office treatments such as the micropeel. philosophy skincare has long been recommended by dermatologists and plastic surgeons around the country. philosophy is an international skincare and cosmetic company founded in 1996 and headquartered in phoenix, arizona. For more information please visit our website at www.philosophy.com.

about Amy Grant
Amy Grant’s career spans over 25 years and stretches from her roots in gospel into an iconic pop star, songwriter, television personality, and philanthropist. Grant has sold more than 30 million albums and won six Grammys ® in multiple categories, beginning with the platinum selling Age to Age in 1982. She also has six #1 hits, including “Baby, Baby,” and “Every Heartbeat” and is one of only two Christian artists to be awarded a star on the legendary Walk of Fame in Hollywood. Grant released her first live recording in 25 years with Time Again...Amy Grant Live in September 2006, and then announced her first ever label shift to EMI Music Group where her entire music catalog was re-mastered and released via a GREATEST HITS CD and made available for the first time digitally. Last fall she released her first new Christmas music in 9 years, THE CHRISTMAS COLLECTION, which in addition to four new songs, features tracks that were hand-picked by Grant to include the best songs from her previous albums that result in a classic Christmas album reminiscent of the Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, etc. albums of old. For more information, visit www.amygrant.com.

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AMY GRANT AND VINCE GILL ANNOUNCE JUNE MUSICAL EVENT, LAUNCHING CHALLENGE AMERICA, HONORING WOUNDED WARRIORS AT THE JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PER

2009-05-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 28, 2009) - Amy Grant and Vince Gill recently announced plans to host an evening of music at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on Monday, June 8, 2009, at 8 p.m., honoring wounded warriors and launching the nationwide Challenge America initiative. Challenge America will work with communities across America to support the development of recreational and occupational programs for returning injured military and their families.

Special musical guests slated to join Grant and Gill at the Monday night Kennedy Center launch event include Michael McDonald, Alison Krauss, Darius Rucker, Melinda Doolittle and Mac McAnally with NY Times bestselling author Stephen Mansfield. Tickets go on sale Saturday, May 2, and are priced at $50, $75 and $95 for general admission and $500 for Gold Circle Seating to include a post-show reception. Tickets are available at the Kennedy Center Box Office, via InstantCharge by calling (202) 467-4600, and online at www.kennedy-center.org.

"I'm excited about getting to play on stage with all of these talented folks and to share what we believe in so deeply. We want to make an impact on the individuals who have given to us in unimaginable ways. Challenge America is our way of honoring the men and women who truly are heroes," explains Vince Gill.

Challenge America is an outgrowth of Challenge Aspen, a non-profit organization that has provided adaptive recreation for people with disabilities since 1995. Since 2000, Amy Grant and Vince Gill have served Challenge Aspen in various capacities, hosting golf tournaments, providing entertainment during fundraisers, and volunteering, raising more than $3.5 million. The Kennedy Center concert event to launch Challenge America is a natural progression for Grant and Gill and for Challenge Aspen.

"Amy and Vince have been among our most ardent supporters," said Houston Cowan, CEO and Co-Founder of Challenge Aspen and Founder of Challenge America. "What we hear from wounded warriors is their simple desire to find a new normal life---a job they can be proud of, a home, and recreational opportunities with their families in their own communities. We are delighted that Amy and Vince are hosting an event of this magnitude to launch our organization to help provide access to these opportunities," explains Cowan.

"Every person in every community across the country has the opportunity to welcome home our wounded heroes with open arms," explains Amy Grant. "Vince and I want this event at The Kennedy Center to be a special night for launching Challenge America, and to inspire us all to find ways in our own communities to serve the ones who have served us," she adds.

Established in 1995, Challenge Aspen (http://www.challengeaspen.org) has provided adaptive recreational, cultural and competitive opportunities to thousands of individuals with disabilities from around the world. Based in Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado, Challenge Aspen is an internationally established charitable organization.

Challenge America (http://www.challengeamerica.com) is an outgrowth of Challenge Aspen that will be launched on June 8, 2009. The organization will work with new and existing organizations for the development of recreational and occupational programs for injured military and their families.

Vince Gill has sold more than 26 million albums and earned 18 CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year in 1993 and 1994. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry, with 20 Grammy® Awards to date (more than any male country music artist) and was inducted into the prestigious Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007.

Amy Grant has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. She is best known for her Grammy® Award winning contemporary Christian and pop music, and recently received acclaim as a New York Times Best Selling author for Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far. Grant is a six-time Grammy® Award winner, 26-time Gospel Music Association Dove Award winner, and a member of the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame.

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AMY GRANT TO RELEASE NEW 4 SONG EP TITLED SHE COLORS MY DAY ON MAY 5 IN CELEBRATION OF MOTHER’S DAY

2009-05-06T05:33:00.000-07:00

Amy's Long and Winding Road

2009-04-29T04:07:00.000-07:00

IT'S FRIDAY AFTERNOON, and Amy Grant's ten-year-old son, Matt, bursts home from school, itching to play drums with a drummer friend who's come over to give him a lesson. "Hey, Mom, is it alright?" Matt eagerly asks Amy, who's sitting on the flowered couch in their great room, strumming a guitar and smiling for TCW's photographer. "Sure, Matt, go ahead," Amy, grinning, replies.

Before long, the sound of drumrolls reverberates through the rambling, sixty-year-old farmhouse Amy, thirty-seven, shares with husband Gary Chapman, Matt, eight-year-old Millie, and five-year-old Sarah. "Today's his first real lesson," Amy explains. "He's loud and fast, but he's catching on!" Amy's delight in Matt's experimentation is an emotion this fellow mom instantly recognizes.

During the time I spent with Amy at Riverstone Farm, her sprawling 250-acre spread outside Nashville, it was obvious she's someone who treasures family and friends. Snapshots and framed portraits—Sarah among wildflowers, Gary on his Harley, assorted nieces and nephews—adorn walls, furniture, even her refrigerator. Millie's prescription bottle sits on a kitchen windowsill; kids' stickers plaster a computer monitor. I'm reminded of the common bond we share as busy wives and moms.

Source

Wild Adventures Spotlights Vince Gill and Amy Grant Tonight

2009-04-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

Apr. 18--VALDOSTA -- Taking the Wild Adventures stage tonight, Vince Gill will reportedly perform his hits alone. Amy Grant will then perform her hits alone. By the show's end, reportedly, the husband and wife singers will perform a few songs together.

Gill has performed previously at Wild Adventures. Last time around, his wife visited the park with him, but Grant did not perform.

Though not available for interviews this go-round, Gill told The Valdosta Daily Times in a past interview that he enjoys his stardom, but it is his marriage to Amy Grant that is his life.

"We're crazy for each other," he said in 2005. "It is a great blessing to find that companionship.

"We started with a very real and healthy respect for each other as musicians and as we got to know each other as people that respect has only grown through the years. Amy and I both have 25- to 30-year careers behind us, too. So, we feel no pressure to be on the road all of the time or record as we would have earlier in our careers."

One of Gill's first professional gigs, back as a teen in the 1970s, was opening for KISS with his Oklahoma-based bluegrass band Mountain Smoke. KISS fans booed Vince Gill off the stage.

He has worked in music for decades with several bands, including Pure Prairie League, but his big breaks came at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s. Vince Gill's stardom came with hits like "Cinderella," "When I Call Your Name," "Pocket Full of Gold," "Take Your Memory," "I Still Believe in You," "Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away," "The Heart Won't Lie," "No Future in the Past," "One More Last Chance," "Tryin' To Get Over You," "Whenever You Come Around," "What The Cowgirls Do," "When Love Finds You," "Which Bridge To Cross (Which Bridge To Burn)," "You'd Better Think Twice," "Worlds Apart," "Pretty Little Adriana," "A Little More Love," "You and You Alone," "If You Ever Have Forever in Mind," etc.

"I never planned on being a star," Gill said. "I dreamed of being a working musician. I wanted to be a great session musician. I wanted to work with some of the greatest stars and musicians, but I didn't dream of being a star. That's just been something extra."

Grant started as a contemporary Christian singer and became the first contemporary Christian artist to make platinum with "Age to Age." She switched to pop and had several Top 10 hits, including "Baby, Baby," "Every Heartbeat," and "That's What Love Is For."

Gill and Grant are the second Wild Adventures concert this year.

--SHOWTIME

Vince Gill and Amy Grant perform.

When: Show starts at 8 p.m. today.

Where: Wild Adventures, Old Clyattville Road.

Admission: Concert is included in the park's regular admission or as part of Passport.

More information: www.wildadventures.com

Christian Music News Source

Simply Complicated III

2009-04-22T03:58:00.000-07:00

In stories I've read, it seems like you've been seeking forgiveness for your divorce. Does it seem that Christians have been slow to extend grace and forgiveness?

Grant: That depends who you're talking to. I just did an interview with a Christian radio station, and he asked, "How have you found people to be?" He was anticipating that my personal experience was that people have been very judgmental. But my experience is that people who have been through painful, difficult times are filled with compassion. And those compassionate people were the first to say, "Keep putting one foot in front of the other. God's merciful in Plan B. Don't give up. It was never about your goodness in the first place." Those were the people who filled the horizon of my world. Those were the people who said, "Hey let's just say a prayer right now," and they would lead me through the most merciful prayer that reminded me of God's love. I have not had one face-to-face lambasting from anybody.

Everybody's entitled to think whatever they want and to express that, but my personal day-to-day experience does not come into contact with any of those people. I'm not surrounded by "yes men"—far from it. But I think people are a lot braver to say things from their own soapbox. From a distance, it's easy to be judgmental and grandiose about your opinions. But none of us, face-to-face with a wounded human being, often chooses to be cruel. Do I think I've been the emotional piñata at a few parties? Maybe, but they were never parties that I was invited to.

On your new CD, the song "Eye to Eye" includes the line, "I'd like to figure out a way to leave a troubled past behind." Have you figured that out yet?

Grant: From a songwriting standpoint, I'd give an A to "Eye to Eye." But it was a group effort; Keith Thomas and I wrote the song together. So, don't read it as entirely autobiographical. The line you quoted, part of it is true, and part of it is poetic license.

"Happy," the opening song on Simple Things, begins with a line that includes the words "behind your eyes." Your last pop album was called Behind the Eyes. That's no coincidence, right?

Grant: It was just a coincidence. The decision to start the album with "Happy" was not my choice.

What was your first choice?

Grant: I wanted to start with "Out in the Open," because that was the first song written for the album. I wrote it in 1999, when I finally started being creative again, when I felt the first real experiences of forgiveness and moving past shame to something better. As for the sequencing of songs on the album, I have a circle of people I work with, and we all have an equal vote. Even though I wanted to start with "Out in the Open," I got voted down! (Laughs.)

There's a nice mix of good old-fashioned love songs and songs of faith. How do you decide the mix?

Grant: I want to hear both types of songs. I am a music lover. For me, the backdrop of half the experiences of life includes music. It never crosses my mind, This is what people want to hear. My thinking is, This is a song I wrote thinking about my niece. Or, This is an idea that came to me when I looked at Vince across the table the other night. Every one of those songs, even the two I didn't write, was so life appropriate, though not necessarily autobiographical.

What's it like working with Vince on your records?

Grant: We didn't work together much on this one, but it's always the easiest thing in the world. I'm a huge fan of his, and I think he's an incredible talent. On this record, he played mandolin on one song, and sang a duet and a background part. It was very different with Legacy (Word, 2002), when he was a producer, directing me. When he produced Legacy, he was very encouraging, very nurturing.

Do your kids dig your music?

Grant: None of them have listened to the new record. The only one I asked to listen to it was Millie, who's 13. I put it up in her room about four months ago and said, "Would you listen to this, and tell me your three least favorite songs?"

That's an interesting way to ask!

Grant: That's what I'm always curious about. But she never did listen! But we were in the car yesterday with a couple of my teenage nieces, and they have really connected with this record.

So, what are your kids listening to?

Grant: Matt (15) has diverse tastes. He loves Radiohead and Coldplay. He likes Incubus, but their language gets a little bit rough. He likes some harder stuff, like Linkin Park. Millie is more into soundtrack stuff. Sarah (10) leans more toward Dixie Chicks and Jo Dee Messina and country. Corinna is actually the only one who listens to my stuff, and it's because she's only 2! I put her to sleep every night to Legacy.

But around my house, the release of Simple Things is no big deal. The much bigger news around my house is that Sarah, who's entering fifth grade, is getting contact lenses. That's the big news bulletin in our home. But that's real life!

Source

Simply Complicated II

2009-04-15T03:50:00.000-07:00

ChristianityToday.com interviewed Grant on the day before Simple Things released. Here's what she had to say:

This is your first pop album in six years. Some are calling it a comeback. Would you agree?

Grant: That depends on how well it does! (Laughs).

Even though it's titled Simple Things, your life has been anything but simple for the last few years. Why didn't you call it Complicated Things?

Grant: Because that's not how I feel. The hard times are several years behind me now. This is probably the most peaceful stretch of life I've known as an adult.

You've decided to focus on the simple things that bring you peace?

Grant: A good friend once described me to somebody by saying, "She's actually a very simple person." I wondered if I should have been insulted. I said, "Look, I'm highly educated. I've traveled the world. I work hard." But then I got to thinking, It's true. I'm a simple person. Some people tend to live from trauma to trauma, and that energizes them. I have a hectic schedule, but my mind seeks simplicity—like being in nature, a long bike ride, or sitting on the back porch. My son Matt, who's almost 16, is just a whirling dervish of energy. One plan is ending, and he's always making five more plans. But if I wake up and have a great cup of coffee first thing in the morning, I have pegged the Thrill Meter for the day. I'm not looking for the Next Big Thing.

Many Christian media kind of backed away from Amy Grant stories after your divorce. Many Christian radio stations and bookstores stopped carrying your music. And many of your fans were disappointed in what had happened in your personal life. Do you understand why people felt that way, and do you think it was fair?

Grant: I would rather not comment on any of that. Anybody who's ever gone through a hard time—any outsider's perception, no matter how much information they're given, they have no idea what the person's life is like. It's two different worlds. But my energy was focused on trying to find my way out of a deep, dark wood, and getting good help that I trusted, and being involved with the people I was responsible for and responsible to. Beyond that extended family/friends/church base, there was no energy to consider who was putting the ban on me. If somebody made that choice, I totally respect that. But I had no interest in trying to justify anything to anybody.

You didn't feel like you had to do any kind of damage control?

Grant: With so much public perception, that's like trying to put out a grass fire. And whenever I thought I was being dealt with unjustly, I would think, Some day, this is all going to play out in heaven, and everybody will see the full picture, and it won't even matter. That was always my thought process, just doing the things I felt I needed to do, and letting other people do what they felt they needed to do.

Source

MORE ARTISTS AND SPEAKERS ADDED TO GMA MUSIC WEEK 2009

2009-04-15T02:36:00.000-07:00

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – April 3, 2009 – Charlie Peacock, Amy Grant, Natalie Grant, Dan Haseltine, Barbara Mandrell and Rush of Fools are among the additional artists lining up to be a part of GMA Music Week April 18 to 22 in Nashville. They join a growing list of artists, speakers and industry leaders that are scheduled to participate in the five-day convention.

In addition, GMA previously announced that Brandon Heath, Jars of Clay, Mandisa, Bart Millard, Francesca Battistelli, Point of Grace, Diamond Rio, Group 1 Crew, Meredith Andrews, BarlowGirl, Remedy Drive, Mark Schultz and more will be a part of GMA Music Week 2009. And, previously announced speakers taking part in GMA Music Week 2009 include Louie Giglio, authors Gabe Lyons (unChristian, Baker Books) and William P. Young (The Shack, Windblown Media), and financial experts Michael Q. Pink and Bethany and Scott Palmer.

The Christian and gospel music community gathers every April in Music City for GMA Music Week. Artists, radio, retail, managers, agents, promoters, record companies, publishers, media, marketing and public relations professionals and others join together for artist performances, educational seminars, spiritual enrichment, and unparalleled networking opportunities. With all music genres represented including pop, rock, praise & worship, black gospel, R&B, hip hop, southern gospel, country, and more, GMA Music Week is the must-attend convention of the year for anyone doing business in or with the Gospel music community.

All the confirmed details are available at www.gospelmusic.org. A discounted registration rate of $299 for GMA Members is still available until April 10. Registration for GMA Music Week 2009 is now available online at http://www.gospelmusic.org/events/summaryDetail.aspx?aid=9&pid=33.

Here are some of the new highlights for GMA Music Week:

* Saturday night Indie Artist Showcase with hands on and practical instruction from live music producer Tom Jackson and guest teaching artist Rush Of Fools.

* Sunday Songwriter Showcase and Worship. The annual celebration of the year’s best songs is performed in an acoustic setting by the songwriters who wrote the hits. Hosted by Natalie Grant and Matthew West, the songwriter event will feature Chris Sligh, Sam Mizell, Tony Wood, Ian Eskelin, Francesca Battistelli, Ernie Haase, Wayne Haun, Joel Lindsey, Jason Ingram, Don Chaffer, Mike Weaver, Ben Fielding, Rueben Morgan and Ronny Hinson. The evening will end with a time of worship led by Brenton Brown and Laura Story. The Sunday night event is sponsored by BMI and ministry partner Compassion International.

* Monday “Fish Bowl” Forum with Steve Moore, Sr. V.P. of AEG Live! The forum is one of the many opportunities during GMA Music Week for participants to listen to a candid and informative discussion on a variety of subjects. This Monday morning forum will be a discussion of live touring and will include a number of industry leaders from TicketMaster, CAA, WAY-FM and others.

* Tuesday Worship Breakfast will feature Selah, Pocket Full of Rocks, and Sonicflood providing worship music with speaker and Glory Revealed author David Nasser.

* Wednesday GMA Community Gathering & Artist Symposium will first featuring a session moderated by freelance music writer Deborah Evans Price and including Amy Grant, Dan Haseltine, Stephen Petree (formerly of Shiny Toy Guns), Cedric Dent (Take 6) and Marty Roe (Diamond Rio) discussing how artists of faith can make a connection in several music genres and the challenges of rewards of living out their faith in mainstream entertainment environments, and using their platforms to impact culture for Christ. Beloved and respected artist/songwriter/producer/author Charlie Peacock will be the final keynote of GMA Music Week.

The 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards (www.doveawards.com) will take place April 23, 2009 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn. Tickets to the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards are on sale now at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 615-242-0303.

About GMA:
Founded in 1964, the Gospel Music Association serves as the face and voice for the gospel/Christian music community and is dedicated to exposing, promoting and celebrating the gospel through music of all styles including pop, rock, praise & worship, black gospel, R&B, hip hop, southern gospel, country, and more. The GMA community consists of 3,000 members including agents, artists, church leaders, managers, promoters, radio personnel, record company executives, retailers, songwriters and other industry visionaries. The GMA produces the GMA Dove Awards, GMA Music Week and the GMA Academy. For more information, please visit www.gospelmusic.org.

Christian Music News Source

Simply Complicated

2009-04-08T03:41:00.000-07:00

With the release of Simple Things, Amy Grant is making a comeback of sorts. But recent years have been anything but simple for Grant, who went through a very public divorce and remarriage. Just how complicated have things been? We asked, and here's what she had to say …

With last week's release of Simple Things (Word), her first pop album in six years, one might say Amy Grant is back.

Not that she ever left us, of course. Since her last pop album, 1997's contemplative Behind the Eyes, Grant has given us more warm yuletide fare (1999's A Christmas to Remember) and a marvelous collection of hymns (2002's Legacy).

For a few of those years, Grant laid relatively low while her personal life took center stage—much of it in the tabloids. In the late '90s, she had a much publicized friendship—and rumored romance—with country musician Vince Gill, who had divorced in 1997. Then came Grant's 1999 divorce from singer/songwriter Gary Chapman, her husband of 16 years and the father of their three children. A year later, the Grant-Gill romance rumors were confirmed as they walked down the aisle. And a year after that, Grant and Gill had a baby girl, Corinna.

In the wake of Grant's divorce, many Christian media—including Christianity Today International—avoided doing Amy Grant stories. Many Christian radio stations and bookstores refused to play her music or sell her records. Disillusioned fans turned their backs on her. It was open season on Amy Grant, and many Christians picked up their weapons. Some of the barbs were cruel, some merely speculative.

In early 2000, Christianity Today magazine questioned Grant's high visibility less than a year after her divorce ("Take a Little Time Out," February 7, 2000). The article noted that "neither Grant nor the Christian marketing industry, in promoting her concerts and albums, has missed a beat." That story noted Grant ads in two other CTI magazines, Today's Christian Woman and, irony of ironies, Marriage Partnership. The article concluded: "Whether Amy Grant and Vince Gill have found happiness amid the pain of others is a matter between them and their families, their church communities, and the Lord. But her dressing up and our propelling her public ministry, without taking time for serious reflection, violates what should be the Christian conviction about the sanctity of marriage."

Grant was aware of the backlash in the Christian community, but says she was mostly unfazed by it. She says all of her emotional energy was spent recovering from the pain of a broken marriage, investing in her new marriage and, soon thereafter, a new baby.

Over the next couple of years, Grant became more open about her regrets concerning her divorce. In May 2002, CCM magazine asked Grant what she would say to those who felt betrayed, confused or angry because of her divorce and remarriage. Grant replied, "The first thing I would say is, 'I'm sorry.' I did the best I could, and in some arenas, my best was not good enough. I've made some bad choices." And in a press release accompanying Simple Things (Word), released on August 19, Grant said she's had to "grapple with the shame that you feel when you've been through a divorce."

Simple Things is Grant's 18th CD. The multiple Grammy and Dove award winner has sold over 22 million albums; 1991's Heart in Motion, seen by some as the best contemporary Christian album of all time, sold more than 5 million copies.

Source

Steely Dan, Juan Gabriel, Marco-Antonio Solis, Amy Grant & Michael W. Smith Added to Pacific Amphitheatre Summer Concert Series

2009-04-08T00:14:00.000-07:00

COSTA MESA, Calif., May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Tickets for performances by Steely Dan, Juan Gabriel, Marco-Antonio Solis, Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith at the Pacific Amphitheatre will go on sale Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18. The Pacific Amphitheatre Summer Concert Series will feature 21 shows during the Orange County Fair July 11 - Aug. 3 (closed Mondays).

The pioneering, critically acclaimed and Grammy-winning Steely Dan kick off their first concert tour in three years on July 23. Led by longtime creative partners Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the band has carved one of the most distinctive paths in contemporary music, sporting a highly distinctive, signature sound. On June 10, they're scheduled to release a new album, "Everything Must Go." Concert tickets go on sale Sunday, May 18, at 12 pm.

Performing at the Pacific Amphitheatre on July 12, Juan Gabriel is an enormously successful artist with an equally enormous following. He's sold upwards of 30 million albums and routinely sells out major concert venues throughout the world. Gabriel was the recipient of the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year award in 1995, and was inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame the following year. Tickets go on sale Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m.

Marco-Antonio Solis who performs July 19, has been a major presence on the Latin American music scene for many years, but then again he had an early start. Solis formed his first band when he was 12, and was a mere teenager when he started his next band, Los Bukis, which proved to be a powerful, successful, influential and enduring group, which Solis led for some 20 years. While still guiding Los Bukis, he also launched a solo career, turning out a string of best-selling albums, including "Quiereme," "Inalcanzable," "Por Amor a Mi Pueblo," as well as the more recent "Trozos de Mi Alma." Solis tickets go on sale Saturday, May 17, at 10 a.m.

When Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith perform at the Pacific Amphitheatre on July 20, it will be a significant evening, as it will mark their first concert together in four years. Grant has racked up five Grammys, including one for Best Female Gospel Performance, three Doves (Gospel music's most prestigious award) and scored huge hits with both "Baby Baby," as well as "Next Time I Fall." Smith, who has won Grammy and Dove awards himself, has also sold more than eight million records and enjoyed 25 Number One hits. Tickets for the Grant-Smith show go on sale Saturday, May 17, at 10 a.m.

Tickets will be available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/ , by phone at (714) 740-2000 or (213) 480-3232, and at the Orange County Fair box office. Concert ticket prices include Fair admission. Gates open 90 minutes before show time. Concertgoers are encouraged to arrive early to avoid traffic and parking delays. The remaining concerts to be performed at the newly reopened Pacific Amphitheatre will be announced in the coming weeks.

The 111th annual Orange County Fair, themed "Red, Ripe and Rockin'," is July 11 - Aug. 3 at the Orange County Fair & Exposition Center. The Fair will be closed on Mondays (July 14, 21 and 28).

Conveniently located off the 405 and 55 freeways at 88 Fair Drive in the heart of Costa Mesa, the 160-acre Orange County Fair & Exposition Center is a popular Southern California destination, hosting over 100 events and shows a year and attracting 4.3 million visitors annually. It is the home of the annual Orange County Fair, Youth Expo and Centennial Farm. Orange County Fair & Exposition Center

CONTACT: Pam Highwart or Ruby Lau, both of Orange County Fair &Exposition Center, +1-714-708-1543

Web site: http://www.ocfair.com/

Christian Music News Source

MORE ARTISTS AND SPEAKERS ADDED TO GMA MUSIC WEEK 2009

2009-04-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

Reminiscing with Amy III

2009-04-01T03:20:00.000-07:00

It's funny you say that because you're currently on a major Christmas tour with costume changes!

Grant: It is a very beautiful and lush show that actually does have three costume changes. But that's more of a specialty show, not my own solo, non-seasonal show. The response [to the Christmas show] has been great. It's basically a three-hour evening between myself, my husband, and comedian Henry Cho. We work music into his comedy, laughing at family dysfunction and celebrating faith by reading the Christmas story from Luke.

I've also heard about your commitment to sending the show, via satellite, to our troops overseas.

Grant: We did a show in San Antonio that was really amazing. The military helped us do a satellite to Baghdad where during intermission we had eight families seated in the front row and one by one they were able to communicate with their loved ones using the cameras to see each other. It was so emotional and nobody moved even though it was the intermission. As long as we had the link, we figured we might as well have them talk face to face!

How does your family traditionally celebrate Christmas?

Grant: This year all the children are coming out on the last two shows of the Christmas tour once they are out of school. That's become one of our newer traditions, as it is a time to go shopping for one another. We have days off before the performances, so we're always running to a mall together, then getting back and watching Christmas movies on the bus. Come Christmas Eve, we usually go to my mom and dad's. Everybody brings one gift and then we play that game when we all steal it from each other. Some are really cool, others are useful and some are a bit out there. Last year my 13-year-old nephew got 100 pounds of dog food, and Vince wound up with a talking scale because he's the biggest in the family. Christmas Day we'll keep the fire going and all be together as a family again.

What's coming up for you in the new year?

Grant: We're actually a few sessions away from finishing a second hymns record that will come out in April. I loved doing the first, but this one really has a great spirit to it that will be different. Then we'll clean the slate and I'm going to write some new songs, so we'll just have to wait and see what comes of all that!

Source

Granting Wishes II

2009-03-25T02:59:00.000-07:00

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.

Source

Granting Wishes

2009-03-18T02:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Source

Lead Me On … Again III

2009-03-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

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

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

2009-03-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

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

2009-03-04T02:36:00.000-08:00

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.

Source

CompassionArt brings Christian music's elite together for charity

2009-02-25T21:58:00.000-08:00

Apparently, many of Martin Smith's transatlantic phone calls come with a built-in feeling-out period.

"Aren't you supposed to ask my favorite color?" laughs the front man and songwriter for Delirious?, the British outfit long at the forefront of modern worship music's explosion over the past decade. "What about my cat's name?"

But small talk is more than a little counterintuitive when considering the scope of the endeavor Smith's had his hands in for the past two-plus years: the multiwriter, multiartist, multigenre charity project CompassionArt.

Christian music fans started hearing rumblings about the idea this time last year. A dozen big-name songwriters from across the globe were getting together to craft songs for charity. The first publicly available fruit appeared at last year's Dove Awards as the song "So Great" was debuted on the broadcast. The 15-song album and accompanying book were released in November in the United Kingdom and make their way onto stateside store shelves on Tuesday.

But the idea started percolating in Smith's psyche long before that, as he traveled around the world with his band, witnessing crushing poverty up close while constantly wondering what he could do to help alleviate it.

As detailed in the diary-drawn chapter written by Smith and wife Anna in the book The Art of Compassion, Smith's experiences with evangelist Joyce Meyer in front of 400,000 in India, combined with burgeoning success as a songwriting partner to artists such as Michael W. Smith, Matt Redman and Darlene Zschech, led him to wonder what could happen if he got a bunch of his songwriting friends together in the same place at the same time. Especially with a bigger purpose in mind: to create songs, and essentially give the proceeds away, including the writers' publishing royalties.
'The team thing'

To Martin Smith's astonishment, those friends said "yes," with virtually no hesitation.

"I actually got a call from Martin in the middle of 2006 telling me about the idea," says Israel Houghton, the Houston-based artist/worship leader known for his soulful, cross-genre musical style. "When he said he wanted to get together in the Scottish highlands for a week to write and then give it all away, I'm like, 'Tell me where to be.' "

Houghton wasn't the only one to respond to Martin Smith's call, as the roster of writers who descended on Loch Tay in central Scotland in January 2008 grew to include Redman, Zschech, Michael W. Smith, Paul Baloche, Steven Curtis Chapman, Stu Garrard from Delirious?, Tim Hughes, Graham Kendrick, Andy Park and Chris Tomlin.

The week that followed, say some of the project's principals, creatively exceeded what any of them could have imagined going in.

"I think what's been really mind-blowing about this whole project is the team thing," says Martin Smith. "The concept that 'two is better than one,' and in this case '12 is better than two.' Then to take that even further, you have other artists singing on the project, so you've got a team of almost 20 people.

"The idea of even getting four or five people of that caliber in the same space for a week would be enough, but I think that was just kind of a mini miracle. We put that week aside and everybody said, 'I'm in.' Everybody paid for their own flight to get there."

Once everyone arrived, though, Smith says, the real weight of the project kicked in — in a good way.

"I'm looking around the room, thinking 'I can't quite believe this is actually happening.' Then we're sitting there thinking, 'Oh my gosh, now we've actually got to come out with something. We've actually got to write some songs. Anybody got any?' " Smith laughs.

"Then we began the process and the more people got relaxed, the more music started coming out of people. I think it was just staggering to be in that mix and see what was going on."

And even for an artist as experienced and decorated as Michael W. Smith, the CompassionArt writing sessions had a profound effect, effectively changing the way he approaches music-making, he says.

"I promise when I say this, it was one of the most amazing times of my career," says the singer, who was recently announced as one of the newest members of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. "In all the things I've done, and I've traveled all over and been with presidents and won awards, this one is very much at the top of what I'll remember the rest of my life. Because it was life changing for all of us.

"The temperature and the vibe of what we were in the middle of . . . we'd sort of find ourselves overcome with having little meltdowns every day over how unprecedented what we were doing was," he continues. "I think it was because we knew that none of what we were doing was going to benefit us at all in terms of (finances). So we found ourselves kind of being changed, like a picture perfect of the body of Christ.

"But here you found us all falling in love with each other, doing something together and no one person took credit for any of the songs," Smith says of the project, for which all of the songwriters received equal credit. "We were all the 'writers' whether we wrote a note on them or not, and everything will be relinquished. There was something awesome about that, plus we all got along. It was sort of a love fest for five days."

It's a tall order, getting a dozen relative strangers together in a room for five days, each with their different skill sets and methods of working, and expecting them to come up with anything cohesive. But the overarching purpose of the CompassionArt project, embodied in the album's subtitle, "Creating Freedom From Poverty," drove the songwriters' desire to create.

"We discovered that we had something very real on our hands. The first couple of days was just sort of that awkward dance that comes with meeting new people," Houghton says. "Day one, you say 'I have this idea.' Day two, it turns into 'What if we . . . ?' And by day three, it's everybody's thing. Everybody lost individual ownership and bought into corporate ownership in about 48 hours time."

That intent toward "corporate ownership," Houghton says, meant that creative rules were essentially absent — the group would just focusing on writing, whether that meant pop songs, worship songs, soul music, folk music or otherwise.

"(We'd) just bring it all and see where it ends up," he says. "By day three, Martin pulls me and (Michael W. Smith) aside and says, 'I think we have a record here. Would you guys help make that happen?'

"And I say, 'Sure, on one condition. That we do it at Abbey Road.' And what's amazing is that we rang up studios in London and Abbey Road was the only one available in that time period."
Making it work

If there's a pilgrimage destination for lovers of popular music, it might be the studios located at No. 3 Abbey Road in the city of Westminster, England. Almost every note The Beatles recorded in a studio were captured in this building, a fact not lost on Houghton as they prepared for recording sessions over a three-day span in February 2008.

"It only crossed my mind, maybe, two or three hundred times," he says, laughing at the memory. "Anybody who listened to Beatles records when they were young hopes to record at Abbey Road someday. To actually do it, you think 'Did this just happen?'

"When they say the ghosts are in there, they're not kidding. You just tap into some tones and vibes and you sit at the 'Lady Madonna' piano, and you realize this is the real thing."

The project's architects started shaping their songs within those music-friendly confines, ranging from driving rockers such as "We Won't Stay Silent" to the springy funk of "Shout Praise," from the bluesy stomp of "Fill My Cup" to the haunting honorific of "Highly Favoured," meshed with the hopeful energy provided by the Watoto Children's Choir on the project's bookends, opener "Come To the Water" and closer "There Is Always a Song."

All told, 12 of the CompassionArt songs were given form in that marathon recording session, with an additional three recorded in Nashville with guest artists such as Kirk Franklin, Amy Grant, Joel Houston, Leeland Mooring, Christy Nockels, tobyMac and CeCe Winans adding their talents to the mix, all waiving fees and royalties to contribute to the growing list of causes the charity project was compiling.

The original dozen songwriters arranged to distribute the proceeds from the project equally in two areas: one half to a set of projects they agreed on collectively, and the other half to individual causes close to their hearts.

With the influx of modern worship music making its way into churches, hymn books and services around the world, much of it generated by this very same set of songwriters, the potential for millions of dollars in proceeds exists across the lifetime of the songs' copyrights. It was a fact not lost on the songwriters' and guest vocalists' publishers and managers, not to mention Christian Copyright Licensing International, the global body charged with monitoring copyrights within the church system.

At virtually any point, one spoke in the complicated wheel of the music business could have sprung and derailed the entire project. But, as Martin Smith points out, when presented with the vision of what a project like this could accomplish, even the most fiscally minded music exec got on board.

"We all know that if you get a song into the 'church system,' which is a blessing and a curse to the church; it's wonderful and it can be distracting," Smith says. "If two or three of these become (like) 'Amazing Grace' and are still being sung in a hundred years' time, what an amazing result that could be. Not just financially, but in terms of leaving the church songs that came out of this retreat, together with this spirit of wanting to give everything away."

Hurdles, however, still remain.

While they've created a record and a book, and hope to play shows and produce a live DVD, "If we don't end up giving any money away, it will actually end up being really tragic," Smith says. "It would just become a glorified record company project.

"We're very mindful of that. I don't know the answer of how we can get around that unless people start giving serious cash to us to help us on our way, because the costs of running everything are more than what we're going to receive certainly in the first two years. It's a balancing act, but I do believe God's in it ultimately. What more can I say? I think he's asked us to do this, and he's going to make it work.

"There's your headline: 'He's ordered it, he's got to pay for it.' "

Christian Music News Source

Chart success

2009-02-25T02:48:00.000-08:00

Upon its release, "Baby Baby" was Amy Grant's biggest hit since her 1986 duet with Peter Cetera, "The Next Time I Fall." In the United States, "Baby Baby" was Grant's second number one hit on the pop charts and her first as a solo artist, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts for two and three weeks, respectively. The single reached the Top Ten in seven countries, in addition to reaching #11 in Switzerland. In Britain, "Baby Baby" was the singer's first (and only) Top Five hit in that country, reaching #2. In the end, "Baby Baby" proved to be Grant's biggest hit and one of the most successful singles of 1991.

Source

Lead Me On … Again II

2009-02-25T02:30:00.000-08:00

Looking back on the project, what over-arching message were you hoping to deliver?

Grant: Every album is just a collection of songs. I've never started a record saying, "What's the theme going to be?" It becomes what it is at the sum of its parts, and I felt those elements were honesty, imperfection, hope, and grit.

What are the songs you've received the most feedback on?

Grant: Well, I can tell you the songs I haven't gotten comments on and those are only two: "Sure Enough" and "If You Have To Go Away," both of which were just sort of funny and cheerful. But every other one has been talked about, like "Say Once More," with countless people telling me they've played it at their wedding. "Faithless Heart" has also brought in a lot of comments, and while I always favor a song speaking for itself, I chose to show some of the dark sides and honest sides of Christianity, which I think makes the good news better.

In 1988 you had already branched out to the mainstream by collaborating with Peter Cetera, but had yet to record the major crossover album Heart In Motion. What would you say the secular barometer was for Lead Me On?

Grant: I'm not really sure, though I think my credibility as a songwriter went up. I know one of most important relationships in work settings was with David Anderle—he was the head of A&R at A&M Records who had produced Judy Collins and was a real encouragement to Sting. He had been a creative backbone of the company for a long time, so when I walked in, I asked him, "What was your first experience with Christianity?" He said, "I'm Jewish and my first recollection of anything Christian was seeing anti- Semitism with a man-sized cross being burned in my front yard." There was something about making this record side-by-side with a man who'd seen the ugly side of Christian convictions and I was just affected by that. I had no agenda with him, but I loved his input and wanted him to be proud, which meant I didn't want any clichés. We still keep in touch to this day.

Do you feel like the remastering has brought new luster to this project?

Grant: I feel like we were able to rediscover the clarity of the original recording. I don't know what exactly happens to masters [over time], but they get dull sounding. They lose their sparkle and their definition. When I signed with EMI, part of their investment with me and my catalogue was to go back and blow dust off the old songs.

How did you come up with the bonus material for the double disc re-release?

Grant: EMI came to me with the idea and asked if I'd be willing do some bonus tracks, since it would benefit from something new on it. Well, I hadn't thought about them in years, but back in the summer of 1989, I paid to have two concerts recorded as multi-track recordings—I had never done anything with them. Back then, I was very aware of the musicianship of those I was touring with, all of whom were individually good and had such synergy together. I went to the label and said, "I don't even know if these old tapes are still playable, but have I got bonus for you!" We had to [take great care in transferring the audio], but then I got the call from the engineer who said they worked. Sure enough, I was transported back twenty years. It electrified something inside me and reignited a passion. It was like it turned back the clock spiritually, emotionally, and even physically like a jolt of lightening. This all happened as I was getting ready to go on spring break with my kids, but I was like a crazy woman trying to track down the band members without a tour in place!

Source

Oprah Winfrey /Amy Grant & Vince Gill/ Mosaic

2009-02-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

Christian Music News Source

Lead Me On … Again

2009-02-18T02:23:00.000-08:00

Amy Grant's Lead Me On is now twenty years old, but it's not an out-of-date relic. In fact, the ambitious Christian rock collection has since become one of the genre's most celebrated projects, introducing the singer/songwriter to wider audiences on its subsequent arena tour. Fans of the album the first time around are no doubt experiencing déjà vu these days, starting with a twentieth anniversary re-release (featuring a remastered version of the original album, plus bonus tracks that include recordings from the 1989 tour), followed by a concert celebration that reunites Grant with many of original musicians from the classic album and tour. The month after that, Grant is teaming up with hubby Vince Gill for a Christmas tour in support of her newly released holiday best-of, The Christmas Collection (Sparrow).

Did you ever anticipate Lead Me On would have this lasting an impact twenty years down the road?

Amy Grant: Oh, no! I don't think I would've ever presumed to think that. I didn't work any harder on that record than any other. Life felt pretty magical at that time and was a little simpler then because I was just starting my family. [As you get older], life kind of gets layered up with every child and their commitments, so you have a little more head space for creativity [when you're just starting a family].

Why do you think the album has held up so well?

Grant: Sonically, aside from a little more echo than I would prefer, the songs were so honest from a production standpoint. I felt Brown [Bannister] was always trying to shy away from gimmicks or synthesized sounds, trying to capture very honest songs in the most organic and timeless way possible.

Looking back on the project, what over-arching message were you hoping to deliver?

Grant: Every album is just a collection of songs. I've never started a record saying, "What's the theme going to be?" It becomes what it is at the sum of its parts, and I felt those elements were honesty, imperfection, hope, and grit.

Source

Amy Grant, Say Once More

2009-02-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

Another great song from Amy, one of the best love songs ever recorded

Christian Music News Source

Amy Grant - First Love

2009-02-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

From the album 'Never Alone'

Christian Music News Source

Amy Grant, Vince Gill carry their holiday joy to Grand Rapids on tour Thursday

2009-01-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

GRAND RAPIDS -- Amy Grant was just 22 when she recorded her first Yuletide musical collection, 1983's "A Christmas Album." Today, 26 Christmases later, her view of the holiday has changed.

"That first Christmas record I made was more innocent -- certainly the person making it was more innocent," she said in a phone interview conducted on the road, touring with her husband, country superstar Vince Gill, for their joint seasonal show swinging through Grand Rapids on Thursday night.

CHRISTMAS WITH AMY GRANT AND VINCE GILL

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Van Andel Arena, 130 W. Fulton St.

Tickets: $77, $52, $42 and $26.50 at the arena and DeVos Place box offices, Ticketmaster outlets, 456-3333, ticketmaster.com

More info: vanandelarena.com

Special event: A limited number of VIP tickets is available for $180 (available at Ticketmaster). A portion of the ticket price will be donated to Grand Rapids Public Schools Arts Advocates. VIP tickets include access to a preshow performance featuring children helped by Arts Advocates and an appearance by Grant and Gill.

"As the baby of the family, I felt I had stepped into a (Christmas) environment created by other people," she said. "I now know, with growing and grown children, that most of us negotiate the holidays. Nothing happens without someone planning it."

It's just another piece of her Christmas "mosaic," (her 2007 New York Times Bestseller is called "Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far"), a montage of impressions, emotions and traditions that have shaped her sense of the season.

Christian Music News Source

Amy Grant - Sleigh Ride

2009-01-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

Christian Music News Source

JB Amy Grant BabyBaby 0645 010409

2009-01-14T09:18:00.000-08:00

Christian Music News Source

Amy Grant - El Shaddai (Live)

2009-01-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

Christian Music News Source

Amy Grant and Vince Gill perform at Eisenhower Hall on Saturday

2008-12-24T10:17:00.000-08:00

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

Vince Gill, Amy Grant give back to GRPS program

2008-12-24T10:16:00.000-08:00

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

Christmas with Amy Grant and Vince Gill

2008-12-24T10:14:00.001-08:00

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

Amy Grant, Vince Gill bring country Christmas spirit to Van Andel Arena

2008-12-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

Amy Grant performs cut from first decade of career

2008-12-03T15:37:00.001-08:00

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

Amy Grant rocks! (Keep it to yourself, okay?)

2008-12-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

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

Agenda: Amy Grant

2008-11-26T15:43:00.000-08:00

Vocalist Amy Grant made her name with a string of melodic pop songs before veering into contemporary gospel territory. The Georgia native has

deep Cowtown ties — Will Rogers Auditorium was the site of Grant’s inaugural paid performance in 1978, and she recorded a concert at Bass

Hall that became 2006’s Time Again .Amy Grant Live. She will return to Will Rogers at 8 p.m. for a gig blending gospel and pop. $29.75-$49.75.

Chrisian Music News Source

Amy Grant has been guided by faith all her life, without becoming that ‘preachy Church Lady'

2008-11-11T08:56:00.000-08:00

Amy Grant has been guided by faith all her life, without becoming that ‘preachy Church Lady'

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 has a daughter, Corrina, 7.

We caught up with Grant last 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

Amy Grant aims for timeless holiday moods on 'Christmas Collection'

2008-11-11T08:50:00.000-08:00

Amy Grant has become a familiar voice during Christmastime.

She's sold more than 6 million Christmas albums, her Christmas tour has become part of many families' Christmas traditions and "Tennessee Christmas" has become a new Christmas favorite.

Amy Grant has become a familiar voice during Christmastime.

She's sold more than 6 million Christmas albums, her Christmas tour has become part of many families' Christmas traditions and "Tennessee Christmas" has become a new Christmas favorite.

Christian Music News Source

Amy Grant - Lead Me On Modesto, CA

2008-11-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

Gallo Center for the Arts - Downtown Modesto, CA 10-24-2008

Christian Music News Source

Amy Grant El Shadday

2008-10-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Christian Music News Source

Vince Gill and Amy Grant: Singing couple talk life, love, politics before big shows

2008-10-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

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

Amy Grant Launches 20th Anniversary 'Lead Me On' Tour

2008-10-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

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

Amy Grant to perform at the Gallo Center

2008-10-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

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

Risky show pays off for Amy Grant

2008-10-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

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

Amy Grant has been guided by faith all her life, without becoming that ‘preachy Church Lady’

2008-10-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

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

Amy Grant in Concert 13

2008-10-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

"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

Tickets Still Available For Sunday’s Amy Grant Concert and Family Y Fundraiser

2008-10-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

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

Vince Gill, Amy Grant coming to Coliseum for Christmas show

2008-10-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

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

Vince Gill & Amy Grant coming to U.S. Cellular Coliseum

2008-10-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

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

Amy Grant, Vince Gill Launch 15-Date Christmas Tour Dec. 4

2008-10-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

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

6 Questions With Amy Grant

2008-10-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

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

10/16: Amy Grant

2008-10-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

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

Vince Gill, Amy Grant announced holiday tour

2008-09-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 26, 2008 – Vince Gill and Amy Grant will embark on a 16-date Christmas With Amy & Vince Tour Dec. 4, in Manchester, N.H. 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 joked. "So Amy and I are pitching in. Besides, these holiday tours have become our favorites."

"Christmas audiences are special," said Grant. "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 2 harmony singers, including Gill's daughter, Jenny. "Some of our earlier Christmas tours were with a symphony orchestra," Gill said. "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. Grant will tape on Nov. 11 an NBC-TV special, Holiday Celebration On Ice. It co-stars Michael W. Smith and skating champions and will air Nov. 30.

Dates are:
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

Review: Amy Grant relaxes Orpheum audience

2008-09-24T00:58:00.000-07:00

The Orpheum Theatre became Amy Grant's living room Friday night.

Drawing in the crowd with a laid-back approach to hits, misses and some that weren't even fully written, she seemed like an old friend, reminiscing about the past and hoping for the future.

Indeed, Friday's concert -- done to benefit Girls Inc. -- was her first in months. It had a few rocky moments (even she admitted as much) but so much heart the audience couldn't help but love her. Grant, in fact, preceded just about every song with a story -- some funny, most telling, all touching. She didn't shy away from her past, either. She talked about first husband Gary Chapman and admitted his father was the inspiration for many good lines -- including "threaten me with heaven."

She said daughter Millie was the inspiration behind "Baby Baby" and told how she planted fruit trees on a family farm that never seemed to bear fruit while she lived there. When she revisited in recent years, those trees were blooming. The song that resulted, "Better Not to Know," captured Grant's current state of mind.

Indeed, Friday's performance was ripe with new songs -- including one that she had worked on earlier in the day. When it came to the second verse of "Find What They're Looking For," she simply vamped and said it would have something to do with her children. That laid-back approach said plenty about Grant's current state of mind. If she hasn't thought of a title for the next CD, she might think about "Revelations." At 47, she's deeper than ever and filled with introspection.

Interestingly, some of the old stuff had falsetto parts that now sound a bit like a yodel. Grant still hits the notes (in a self-critique, said the audience would probably say she was a "little rusty") but there's a soulfulness that wasn't present before. Even "Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet" had a different resonance.

Grant joked with the audience -- even offering someone in the front row some of her potato chips -- and forgot to plug in her guitar so often the crowd took to reminding her.

Like husband Vince Gill, she's the kind of person who makes those around her feel comfortable immediately. She started the show with an acoustic number (how many performers do that?) and wasn't afraid to start over a couple of times when she didn't get the chords right.

She offered up a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" and sounded like Bonnie Raitt often enough to suggest where her career is headed.

Still, nothing beat those contemporary Christian numbers that made her a star. When Grant performed them, it felt like she was home and we were invited in with her.

Christian Music News Source

Amy Grant - A Christmas To Remember

2008-09-20T23:57:00.000-07:00

By charlie bear "Music Maven" (Big Sky Country)
Amy's third Christmas CD (the 4th if you count the "Animals Christmas" collaboration with Art Garfunkel) is by far the weakest of the batch.
There's little of the festive frolic or energy of the earlier releases and in fact Amy's vocal performance sounds just plain tired and melancholy on many of these songs.
The project starts off with a pretty good bang with the title song and then it's all downhill from there.
>The bonus track of "Merry Christmas Darling" is not on this version but it's no great loss. Amy's take on the Carpenters classic contains little of the sparkle or passion of the original.

By James Donovan "movie lover" (Plainfield, Vermont USA)
To me, Christmas isn't Christmas without an Amy Grant CD being played. I wait impatiently for the holiday season to roll around so I can dig her holidays CDs out and play them incessantly. My favorite of hers is the now classic "Home For Christmas" which should be in every Christmas lover's CD collection. I place this offering, her third, right behind that one and before her first one, "The Christmas Album."(Which hasn't aged well). Heresy, you say? Not really. Granted, she doesn't really offer much here as a songwriter, but she still has an amazing gift for making a song her own. Her voice and delivery bring out so much emotion and is well suited to this, for the most part, well-chosen collection. There really isn't a bad track here, though as a few people have noted, the addition of "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Mr. Santa" stand out in a less than flattering way. They're not terrible, but they don't really belong here among such serious and thematic songs; they're more suited to a children's album. The best songs on the album are surprisingly the more melancoly and reflective ones, such as "Till The Season Comes Round Again" and "Christmas Lullaby (I Will Lead You Home)", which is my favorite off the album and never fails to tear me up! Her use of choir and strings on "Silent Night" give it an almost ethereal feeling and "Welcome To Our World" is simply stunning. If there's a downside to this album, it's simply that it's too short, clocking in just shy of 40 minutes. I highly recommend this often overlooked album by one of the best vocalists around. Merry Christmas!!...

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Amy Grant - Behind The Eyes

2008-09-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

When Behind the Eyes came out in 1997, Amy Grant had been recording for 20 years. And it was obvious that she still had a lot left to say. In contrast to the high-tech slickness that characterized some of her previous A&M efforts, the earthy Eyes finds Grant playing a lot of jangly acoustic guitar and bringing a folk appeal to her pop-rock. Most of the writing is excellent, and Grant offers some of the most meaningful, insightful songs of her career. "Nobody Home" describes the economic hardship that has ravaged a small town, while the country-influenced "Curious Thing" examines the ways in which a person's life can change radically. "Turn This World Around," "Takes a Little Time" and "Somewhere Down the Road" offer a message of hope and optimism without being Pollyanna-ish -- Grant acknowledges that life is hard and difficult, but insists that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Both musically and lyrically, Behind the Eyes is one of Grant's best albums ever. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

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Amy Grant - House of Love

2008-09-20T23:40:00.000-07:00

By Josh Andrews (El Paso, TX USA)
This is the third Amy Grant CD that I own (the other two is her 1991 release Heart In Motion and her 1992 Christmas release Home For Christmas). With the ingredient of Pop, House Of Love produces simple, yet irresistible Pop songs.

The highlights of House of Love are:

"Lucky One" - A semi-upbeat, yet beautiful ballad. (5/5)

"Say You'll Be Mine" - A more upbeat, beautiful, fun love ballad. (5/5)

"House Of Love" - A beautiful duet between Amy and husband Vince Gill. (5/5)

"Whatever It Takes" - A beautiful ballad of devotion, but softer and more serious than "Say You'll Be Mine" and "Lucky One". (5/5)

"Big Yellow Taxi" - Not a favorite of mine, but it's a nice, fun cover of the original song. (4/5)

Even though this may seem to be a Pop album, "Children of the World" shows that she hasn't departed from her Christian roots.

I recommend House of Love to any fan of Amy Grant or any lover of fun, beautiful ballads, and social awareness songs. I wish Amy would release more Pop albums.. she does a good job of not going overboard and her songs are nice to listen to at any time in any mood.

By Tim Drake "Author and Journalist" (Saint Joseph, Minnesota)
Listening to this album by Grant you can't help but wonder if she wasn't singing quite a bit about her troubled relationship with husband Gary Chapman. (The two divorced in 1999).

Still, it's a solid album with a couple of great songs, a beautiful pro-life melody, and the pop hits that listeners have come to expect from Amy.

I could listen to the guitar on "Big Yellow Taxi" over and over and never tire of it. It's my favorite song on the album.

In "Children of the World" Amy gets some help from a children's choir. The refrain carries a hopeful message. It's nice to see that Amy hasn't departed from Christian themes altogether.

"For the children of the world Every single little boy and girl Heaven plants a special seed And we must have faith for these Red and yellow, black and white They are precious in the Father's eyes Like the Father may we see That they have a destiny And give them the light of love to lead" ....

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Amy Grant - Home For Christmas

2008-09-20T23:33:00.000-07:00

Amy Grant's Home for Christmas showcases her mellifluent vocal chops in a variety of settings and succeeds mightily. There's a sophisticated touch of Streisand in Grant's clear and bright timbre, but there's also a young tenderness and innocence there, as well, that captures peoples' hearts. Grant puts a batch of standards, more recent works by Carly Simon and David Foster, and her own songs through big but tasty orchestral swells, rock & roll reveries, acoustic pieces, and mild pop surroundings. Most surprising are Grant's two contributions (cowritten with Chris Eaton and Robert Marshal, respectively,) "Breath of Heaven/Mary's Song" and the powerful and humbling "Emmanuel, God with Us." Exquisitely produced and arranged, Home for Christmas is a highly rewarding mainstream Christmas masterpiece without flaw or pretense. --Martin Keller

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Amy Grant - Heart In Motion

2008-09-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

Heart in Motion is the 1991 album that broke Amy Grant into the mainstream pop-music charts, yielding five top 20 singles and two No. 1 hits ("Baby Baby" and "Every Heartbeat"). But while the release is filled with upbeat beboppin' singles, it also displays a more serious side and a depth of songwriting ability from Christian music's first lady. The urgent "Ask Me" introduces you to a sexually abused girl who miraculously grips tightly to her faith while struggling through a difficult history, while "I Will Remember You" and "How Can We See That Far" are haunting ballads dripping with echo-laden guitars. Indeed, Grant showcases a wide variety of sounds and flavors on this, her multiplatinum introduction to the secular music world. --Michael Lyttle

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You have to admire Amy Grant. She has always resisted the temptation to exactly fulfill the expectations of a Christian music market which tends to prefer the safe, the jargonistic, and the predictable. Rather, she has continually pushed the boundaries of Christian artistry outward. In that regard her 12th album, Heart in Motion, does not disappoint.

Lets get right to the first question: Is this a Christian album? The immediate answer is no, it is not a contemporary gospel album. But if you ask if the lyrics express Christian values and whether its clear from listening to the album that Amy Grant believes in Jesus Christ (rather than in a capitalized pronoun), the answer is clearly yes.

There is no question, however, that this album was made with the mainstream pop market in mind. The first six cuts in particular sport memorable hooks and polished, radio-ready production. Brown Bannister, who produced all of Grants previous albums, is back again on four of the songs, but big time L.A. producer Michael Omartian was brought in for five others and rising star Keith Thomas for two.

In fact, it is the two Thomas productions which lead off the album "Good for Me" and "Baby Baby" (the latter dedicated, Grant says in the liner notes, "to Millie, whose six-week-old face was my inspiration"). These two sings, in which only Jerry McPherson's guitars augment Thomas synths, sound big and bright rather than brittle and mechanized. Next comes the rollicking "Every Heartbeat," produced by Bannister, which features the killer drum/bass duo if Chris McHugh and Tommy Sims with McPherson again on guitar and Charlie Peacock on keyboards, all backed by fun 50's style bgvs. (Peacock, who co-wrote the song with Grant and Wayne Kirkpatrick, also contributed to the horn arrangements.) What follows is the Big Ballad, and Omartian-produced masterpiece called "That's What Love is For" which has "hit" written all over it....

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Amy Grant - Lead Me On

2008-09-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

By Michael Janke (Placentia, CA)
Amy Grant had always been considered a good songwriter and had written much of the material on her previous records. But on Lead Me On Amy absolutely bared her soul. Her songs reflected an honesty and transparency that she'd never shown before and some of the tracks were almost embarrassingly stark and real. Catchy hooks were replaced with real life human struggles, heartaches and joy. This was an Amy Grant the world had never seen before. She was still the princess of Christian music but all of a sudden she had all of the human rough edges and angles that her audience had. It was a striking unveiling.

Opening the record is "1974," a poetic and beautiful retelling of the story of one's salvation. "Lead Me On," which continues the poetic use of imagery, is another in a long line of Amy's songs which have reached classic status. "Shadows" speaks of the struggle between our humanity and the Christ-life inside of us; a theme that is continued in "Faithless Heart." "What About the Love" stands as a powerful reminder that it is our love by which we should be known, lest we discover what it really means "to be crucified and judged, without love."

One of the CD bonus songs was actually one of the album's best tracks: "Wait For the Healing." Containing a unique violin accompaniment, it reflects on the 60's generation that went through so much turbulence. The second bonus track, "If You Have To Go Away," is a sweet mid-tempo love song dealing with both the dreams and realities of a long distance relationship. If you own the Lead Me On cassette you are strongly urged to pick it up in CD format so you don't miss out on these two gems.

It would be easy to touch upon every song on this album. "Saved By Love" is a song that is especially appreciated by many wives and mothers. "Say Once More" is a simple yet gorgeous ballad of love and devotion. Suffice to say, there is not a weak moment on the entire project. In fact, every track truly excels in the best of ways. Popular music is at its most powerful when it is the vehicle for a message that is real, honest, and, at its core, human. Music can challenge, music can change, and music can inspire. And on Lead Me On, Amy's songs did all of that in a way that we had never seen before. Time may have changed the way that some of these songs are understood (though musically it still sounds great). But the core theme of Lead Me On remains: the Christian walk is a daily struggle that is best dealt with in an honest and open manner, as opposed to the unrealistic picture of Christian perfection that ccm too often portrays.

In the end, Lead Me On is pure and unadulterated Amy Grant; a snapshot from a moment in her life that music fans should be thankful to have been given a glimpse of. It embodies everything that Christian music can and should be and if I had to choose one album to represent contemporary Christian music for the historical record this would be it. Lead Me On is the greatest Christian music project of all time, and a must-own for any serious collection....

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Amy Grant - The Collection

2008-09-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

By A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com "Hope is not ... (Glen Ellyn, IL USA)
I'm not a huge fan of Amy Grant's current offerings. What she sang early in her career, while she was still primarily a Christian pop-worship singer, ranks as her best and most powerful work.

The Michael Card cover, "El Shaddai" might be one of the best songs in Christian music in the last 25 years. She carefully places the emotion of each Hebrew name of God into the air, and compells the listener to ask for more. "Thy Word" is a perfect companion song, based on a well-known passage of Psalms.

She picks up the pace with the keyboard-heavy "Emmanuel," again, providing different names of God.

There is more. "Sing Your Praise to the Lord" is upbeat, charged with the vitality of an encouraged faith. In almost the mode of an old gospel tune, she belts, "I Have Decided" with anthem-like power.

"Ageless Medley" recognizes old favorite songs, like "Old Man's Rubble"

The triumphment "Angels" "angels watching over me..." needs a little volume. Crank it up.

"Father's Eyes" is a slower, but passion-packed song. It has not aged well as her other songs. The meaning is strong, and deserves to be remade.

Noticeably missing is her "Create in Me" (a clean heart). Based on Psalm 51, it is one of her stringest, most biblical songs. It should be on her best of collection.

I fully recommend "Collection" by Amy Grant.

By Mr. Wynn (State of Confusion)
An incredible body of work and this is just the first part of her career as a Christian pop artist.

This is a greatest hits compilation that she released in the 1980's. Great songs from the past and new songs she wrote in addition to our favorites are on this CD.

I always take this CD with me when I travel. When I'm in the air and listening to this CD, I feel at peace with where I am. Then when her song, "I'm Gonna Fly" plays, I look out the window and see the clouds and the earth beneath me and I can't help but smile widely and am so tempted to sing out loud. This live version is even better that the previously released version!

The highlight when listening to this CD for the first time was the last track, "Ageless Medley." It is a super-power medley mix (newly recorded) of all her hits in one song! This was more than a medley. It was not a rehashing of songs but a rebirth of the old tunes in a new format. What a great way to wrap up the album! If for anything, this last track is truly worth the investment into this album.

Some tunes are rare live versions that are even better than the studio recordings on previous albums! There are only a couple of live tracks but they so well deserve to be included on this "Collection" package.

I highly recommend this CD to all! It will inspire youa nd lift you higher and make you feel as if you were flying in a musical paradise! ...

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Amy Grant - Unguarded

2008-09-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

Unguarded, Amy Grant's sixth regular studio album (and ninth album overall), marked her big pop move. After 1982's Age to Age and 1984's Straight Ahead went gold despite distribution restricted mainly to Christian bookstores, Grant's management forged a distribution deal with major independent A&M Records for Unguarded, and the album was backed with a promotional campaign and national tour in keeping with a front-line pop act. Grant's producer, Brown Bannister, had been listening carefully to the pop charts throughout her career, and here he seemed determined to give her the kind of sound that would compete successfully on the secular airwaves of the day. For the mid-'80s, that meant synthesizers, programmed drums, and more synthesizers. And Bannister succeeded. It was easy to imagine the tracks on Unguarded being played alongside hits by the Cars, Duran Duran, and Thompson Twins on pop radio. What also made that transition easier was the only lightly spiritual content of the lyrics. In song after song, Grant (who contributed to seven of the ten tunes, mostly writing words) and her collaborators described life as a struggle and suggested encouragement; if you listened carefully, words like "God," "Jesus," "holy," and "pray" might turn up once per song, or might be only implied by context...

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Amy Grant - Straight Ahead

2008-09-20T23:09:00.000-07:00

If you think that Amy Grant's Age to Age is her best album, then you will love this one. Straight Ahead has to be the very best of Amy's earlier works. Even though this CD was made in 1984, it possesses upbeat and catchy songs that will stick with you no matter how old it gets. One of the best songs is "Jehovah" which talks about how if God gives birds in the air everything, how much does He give to us. And possibly the most well-known track is the song "Thy Word," written with Michael W. Smith. It is about God's word being a light for us in this crazy world.

But there is a down-point to Straight Ahead, and that is the song "It's Not A Song." Written by Gary Chapman, this song says that a song is not a song until it tears you apart and that our life is our song. The song isn't a complete loss but it isn't up to par with the rest of the project. The title track is about how there are many different paths in life, and you will be able to see God's light to get you through the darkness and into His heart. If you only buy one of Amy's earlier album's, this one has to be it....

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Amy Grant - A Christmas Album

2008-09-20T22:27:00.003-07:00

Amy Grant's first Christmas album is not only one of the best recordings of her career, it's easily one of the best contemporary Christmas collections available. Grant's Christian beliefs have been incorporated into her music for years, and maybe it's the artistic translation of the depth of her faith that makes these songs so inspiring. "Emmanuel" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" have Grant's vocals soaring, especially on the sustained chorus of the latter. Her country roots show nicely in "Tennessee Christmas," while "Sleigh Ride" is as fun as it is romantic. "Heirlooms" is particularly poignant--maybe not to the point of "hand me a tissue," but it's powerful all the same. A must for fans, and a good holiday addition for those looking for a Christmas record that comes without the cobwebs. --Steve Gdula

While many recording artists secular and religious leave their normal musical style on record store shelves when setting out to record a Christmas album, Amy Grant stays true to herself and her listeners. Since Amy swept up Grammy and Dove Awards this year her fans have eagerly awaited her next release. Although a season LP, A Christmas Album (Myrrh) offers completely new material for Amy....

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Amy Grant - Age To Age

2008-09-20T22:27:00.002-07:00

The transition from juvenile to adult is perilous for anyone, but it is especially difficult for popular artists, and many are unable to grow up without losing their audiences. But a few blossom remarkably. Stevie Wonder's Talking Book and Michael Jackson's Off the Wall are remembered, in a sense, as the first albums for these 21-year-old former child stars because they marked the beginnings of their mature careers, becoming commercial as well as artistic breakthroughs. Amy Grant's Age to Age, also recorded as she turned 21, was another such work. Grant had recorded three studio albums and two live albums previously, and they had contained indications of her abilities (and the abilities of her brain trust of producer Brown Bannister and managers Michael Blanton and Dan Harrell, plus songwriter Gary Chapman, by now Grant's fiancé). But Age to Age marked a quantum leap for her. Over the years of performing and recording, she had developed into an effective singer who could manage both a breathy intimacy in her ballads and an on-the-beat belt (usually much augmented by backup singers) on uptempo material. She, Chapman, and Bannister, meanwhile, had purveyed a lyrical style that might be dubbed "Christian lite," since it emphasized a "personal relationship" with God that often came off as if the singer were addressing an earthly father or even an idealized boyfriend. To these sentiments, Bannister produced musical tracks much in keeping with contemporary pop. On Age to Age, partly recorded at former Chicago manager James William Guercio's Caribou Ranch studio, Bannister turned to the emerging West Coast pop style being developed by David Foster for Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire, among others, a sophisticated pop/rock sound. That upped the ante sonically, but two other elements were brought into the picture that pushed the album beyond previous Grant efforts....

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Amy Grant - In Concert, Volume 2

2008-09-20T22:27:00.001-07:00

In 1981, with only a few albums under her belt, Amy Grant released In Concert, Vol. 1 and 2. The double issue was somewhat premature because she had yet to find her real niche in the music industry and only sparked a few minor hits. (Her big break would come later the same year when she released her massively successful Age to Age). Hearing Grant speak live to the audience, she conveys a tone of shyness; her words are powerful, but somehow we wonder how much power she has inside her to back them up. Most of the songs center on grace and thanks to Christ, though other songs, like the inspirational ballad "I'm Gonna Fly," are ambiguous. The album is mellow and tranquil, reminding us that Grant was never big on personality or range, especially in her earlier days. Her rise to fame came from determinedness and a humble spirit. If it must be said, Grant is the un-Madonna of Christian music and will be around as long as she chooses to be around....

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Amy Grant - Never Alone

2008-09-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

When you stop to think about it, it's difficult to pinpoint what it was that propelled Amy Grant to her unquestioned position as the reigning queen of Christian contemporary music. It wasn't her songwriting ability; Grant has rarely written, save for collaborations with greater talents like Michael W. Smith, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Keith Thomas, or (ex-)husband Gary Chapman. Nor did she achieve fame through any particular accomplishment as a musician, as was the case with her CCM contemporaries Smith, Phil Keaggy and Keith Green. The record jacket for Never Alone pictures her sitting next to an acoustic guitar, but all of the guitars on the record (as on all of her records) are handled by session artists. She is known primarily as a vocalist, but unlike Sandi Patti or Charlie Peacock, she is not a particularly powerful or distinctive singer. Her voice is pleasant, pretty, and appealing, but limited in range and, especially on early records like Never Alone, sometimes thin and breathy. It's tempting to speculate that her friendly Everywoman persona struck a chord with fans (as it undoubtedly did) or that she looked exceptionally attractive in leopard skin jackets and pink lamé pants (which probably helped)...

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Amy Grant - Lead Me On - 20th Anniversary Edition

2008-09-20T00:22:00.000-07:00

Sounds like … '80s styled pop/rock similar to Michael W. Smith and Kathy Troccoli, inspiring the work of Bethany Dillon, Nichole Nordeman, Steven Curtis Chapman, Natalie Grant, and numerous others.

At a glance … twenty years after its release, Lead Me On remains the quintessential Amy Grant album, combining catchy and skillfully crafted pop/rock with surprisingly honest articulations of faith in everyday life.

There are many Christian albums that are beloved by listeners, but few in the genre that are widely acknowledged as true classics. Many favorites become increasingly forgotten with time—certainly within the last 20 years, if not the 40 year history of Christian pop and rock. But the albums of Amy Grant have endured, whether due to her popularity in the '80s and '90s or the timelessness of much of the music, and none have grown in stature quite as much as this one has.

Which is interesting considering that Lead Me On was not Grant's most successful album. Yes, it sold well for a Christian release, but it was not the envisioned mainstream crossover—that fell to 1991's Heart in Motion. But the album netted Grant a Grammy and a pair of Doves awards, plus CCM Magazine eventually named it the No. 1 Christian album. Regardless of chart success and overall sales, something about Lead Me On took root in the annals of Christian music history—enough for Grant's new label home, Sparrow Records, to release a commemorative 20th Anniversary Edition of the project.

Could it be that Lead Me On was too edgy for its time? After all, until this album, Grant was best known for inspirational fare like "Thy Word" and "El Shaddai." Even Unguarded was relatively overt in its spiritual expressions. But Lead Me On was gutsy for its time, as Grant reached deeper lyrically to express what was going on in her own life. In some ways it was an attempt at an album that was grounded in faith, yet accessible to non-Christians, asking hard questions without always giving easy answers. Grant has yet to release an album quite like Lead Me On, balancing pop accessibility (Heart in Motion, House of Love) with introspective lyricism (Behind the Eyes) and clear-cut spirituality (her Hymns of Faith projects).

The anthemic title track remains an indispensible classic in Christian music, and in a sense, it best represents what this album is all about—a real life application of "Thy Word" (inspired by Psalm 119), weathering the trials of life with hope by following God's lead. With that is the poignant album opener "1974," alluding to the point when faith first come alive for Grant as a 14-year-old.

After those mountaintop experiences, the album delves into some of the most open and honest struggles with temptation ever heard in Christian music. "Shadows" is an oft forgotten favorite and a perfect application of Romans 7 without quoting it verbatim. Grant bares her soul even more with "Faithless Heart," a tremendous pop song written with her friend (and then keyboard player) Michael W. Smith about sexual temptation and staying true to marriage. (Yes, cynics still say this song was prophetic of Grant's divorce ten years later—it doesn't lessen its impact or relevance in depicting sinful struggles.) And then there's the darkly toned "What About the Love," which demonstrates how easy it is to fall into the traps of greed, pride, apathy, and legalism.

Lead Me On remains firmly entrenched in '80s pop, and as such, the production hasn't aged well, yet there's still something timeless about it. Songs like the title track and "All Right," expressing faith through all things, have huge gated snare drums and are drenched in reverb. But the reverb was naturally produced, not electronically. Also, the massive drums and cheesy synths are juxtaposed with acoustic elements like piano, fiddle, and mandolin. "Saved by Love" has a tender pop quality that bridges Grant's music to the AC pop heard on Heart in Motion, while "If You Have to Go Away" feels a bit like a country song in pop clothing....

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Amy Grant - Greatest Hits

2008-09-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

Even now as you glance upon this review, some are asking themselves, "Wait a second... didn't Amy Grant already come out with a greatest hits album and fairly recently?" The answer is an emphatic "yes," and more specifically, it was only three years ago since the last hits compilation. But with great label switches come greatest hits projects. It's inevitable.

Since Amy Grant and her catalog of music has migrated from Word Entertainment on over to EMI CMG, the latter is celebrating the aquisition with Greatest Hits, their own take on a compilation of hits from Amy Grant's impressive discography. The pop princess has churned out some truly memorable tunes in both the mainstream and Christian markets, and once again we have a 19-track collection as proof. Where 2004's Greatest Hits 1986 - 2004 offered a slew of goodies along with it, the simply titled Greatest Hits boasts 19 remastered cuts straight from her established catalog - no remixes, no new exclusives. While this allows room for some golden oldies to make the cut, it edges out the feeling that the collection represents Amy's past and present and not only her past. It may be tempting to look at this collection as a representation of one of those champions of music from yesteryear you find in the bargain bin end cap in a music store. There's no hint as to what's to come next from Grant. And with last year's fantastically intimate retrospective Time Again... Amy Grant Live, it seems monotonous to have yet another retrospective hit the shelves.

But how does this collection represent our Amy? Quite well. It does give a wonderful sampling from her career. Although "Simple Things" isn't the strongest choice to kick off the project, it gets right on track with "Takes a Little Time" and the hopelessly catchy "Lucky One." Most of the first half of the disc is loaded with those infectious pop songs that remind you of the iconic Amy Grant: "Baby Baby," "Every Heartbeat," the powerful "Lead Me On," "That's What Love Is For," "Good For Me," and one of the most emotional and heartbreakingly haunting love songs to ever come to mind, "I Will Remember You." And the selection turns to the more spiritual and intimate as well with "Thy Word" and "El Shaddai," an element of Amy's career that was sorely missed on Greatest Hits 1986 - 2004. So if you were to want one compilation of Amy's career highlights, the new Greatest Hits is your pick....

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Amy Grant - Time Again... Amy Grant Live CD/DVD

2008-09-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

Few contemporary Christian artists have impacted the world quite like Amy Grant has. And as this incredible artist approaches her thirtieth anniversary of making music for the masses, she has returned to the city where she had performed her first show ever to record her first live album in twenty five years. Recorded live at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, TX, Grant creates an intimate presence on stage, presenting classics old and new spanning her impressive career.

Live projects are tricky because they tend to possess a short lifespan. There is a wide range to the kinds of quality they can display -- from the in-the-audience feel to the so-polished-you-forget-it's-live. Grant's is perfectly the latter, and to her benefit. The in-concert chatter between songs is preserved as well as the hints of imperfections in her voice due to age and experience, but it all works together wonderfully for this project. The sound for each song is unbelievably crisp, creating new versions of old favorites without having that studio polish. It's intimate without forfeiting quality. This may be one of the most replayable live albums to date.

The song selection is a pleasant surprise as well. While I admit I have never followed Amy Grant's career too closely, I've grown up hearing her songs around everywhere. The selection is a nice mix of old and new, spiritual and romantic, representing all sides of her career. Time Again... Amy Grant Live opens with the anthemic and unforgettable "Lead Me On," before Grant invites everyone to dance to her irresistibly catchy "Good For Me." Grant's voice fluctuates at times between spot-on and a little raspy, but still sounds good from song to song....

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Amy Grant - Rock Of Ages: Hymns & Faith

2008-09-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

Sounds like … classic hymns and a few of Grant's familiar pop hits performed in the pop, folk, and country style of Shawn Colvin, Alison Krauss, and Sara Groves.

At a glance … though the hymn choices are a little more obscure this time, fans of the Legacy album will still enjoy Grant's refreshing mix of church standards and Americana.

In just over 25 years since her self-titled 1977 debut, Amy Grant has sold more than 25 million albums. More than half a million of those can be attributed to the Dove Award winning, recently Gold certified Legacy … Hymns and Faith project from 2002. Citing the hymns as foundational to all she is as an artist and a Christian, Grant has again perused various hymnals to select more of her favorites for her 20th recording, Rock of Ages … Hymns & Faith.

The album teams her again with producers Brown Bannister and husband/guitarist Vince Gill and reflects a more stable period in Grant's life than Legacy, which was recorded on the heels of a pregnancy and marked her return to Christian music after a long absence. Once again, she's contemporized the classics with arrangements that show her growing love of Americana—blending pop, folk, country, blues, and gospel influences. But because Gill didn't grow up in the church, the couple strikes a happy balance between his more adventurous pop/country sensibilities and her more conservative Church of Christ upbringing.

To Gill's credit, he knows how to add musical elements to give an arrangement whatever it needs to be interesting, whether it's playful, soulful, or reverent. As such, we're treated to a nice opening gospel/country rendition of "Anywhere with Jesus" highlighted by some sweet guitar licks from Gill. An atypical 6/8 feel to "I Surrender All" infuses the oft-covered hymn with new life, and the Irish flavor added to "O Master Let Me Walk with Thee" adds much to the enjoyably old-fashioned text and melody. Things become decidedly more reflective with an instrumental arrangement of "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," which leads into the reverent simplicity of "The Lord Is in His Holy Temple." Closing out the album is "O Lover That Will Not Let Me Go," rendered here with soulful horns and a sax solo reminiscent of a late night jazz lounge.

Rock of Ages is indeed more personalized than Legacy with nods to Grant's family and heritage. Fans have waited for years (since "House of Love") for a fresh worthwhile duet between Grant and Gill, and they get it here with "Rock of Ages." Backed by the legendary Fairfield Four gospel quartet, the combination of old and new on this title track make it sound like a Blind Boys of Alabama piece. Also of interest is the fine folk/country take on "Sweet Will of God"—the first verse was recorded by Grant back in 1986 as a Christmas present to her parents, and it does indeed echo her Lead Me On days. Elsewhere, Grant's immediate family participates in a Carter Family Singers styled cover of "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" that's poignant, yet also a bit saccharine.

Listeners may be divided over Grant's interweaving of her past hits among the hymns. A fan favorite is the roots rock medley she performed on tour in 2004, fusing her "Helping Hand" to "Jesus Loves Me" and "They'll Know We Are Christians." In this way, she delivers an arrangement with personality while serving up a thoughtful musical devotion on grace and servitude. Her pop original "Carry You" is a track previously only released on WoW 1998, offering Scripture-inspired comfort written from God's perspective. She also offers yet another cover of "El Shaddai," though it is admittedly a wonderful version with a slightly different song structure and pleasant harmony/guitar from Gill. But do we need another version of it, and should these songs be included on an album primarily defined by classic hymns?....

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Amy Grant - Greatest Hits 1986 - 2004

2008-09-20T00:11:00.000-07:00

Amy Grant has been making music for close to three decades now. Starting out in Christian music and breaking into the mainstream in the 1980's, Amy Grant has made a lasting impression on music with her radio-friendly pop/rock and her girl-next-door persona.

Greatest Hits 1986 - 2004, her follow-up to her 1986 release The Collection, features more of her mainstream pop hits that are more widely recognizable. The project begins with two brand new songs "The Water" and "Come With Me" that showcase Grant's friendly and inviting vocals set to modern contemporary accompaniment. At first listen, they may not sound like they are worthy to be categorized with such hits, but given time they seem to fit right in.

"The Next Time I Fall" takes the listener back to 1986. The duet with Chicago frontman Peter Cetera is a classic 80's love single and is followed by "Saved By Love" and the anthemic "Lead Me On" from her 1988 record Lead Me On. From those two blatantly faith-based songs, we move to the glory days of her pop career with five tracks from her 1991 hit record Heart In Motion. Starting off with "Baby Baby" which hit number one on both the pop and adult contemporary charts, it's easy to see just why these songs were such hits. While extremely dated, these songs were just about as good as it got for pop radio in the early 90's. Unfortunately they were also void of any spirituality but, at the same time, were just harmless love songs. "Every Heartbeat," "That's What Love Is For," "Good For Me," and "I Will Remember You" are wonderful additions....

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Amy Grant - Simple Things

2008-09-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

Sounds like … the classic adult contemporary pop that Grant was known for in the '90s, created with current pop techniques.

At a Glance … though it perhaps lacks some of the depth listeners were hoping for, there is still plenty of emotional resonance to be found on this long overdue and wonderfully produced pop project.

It's been six years since Amy Grant last released an album of all new pop material. Imagine how many artists' careers have come and gone in that time. Which is not to say that the first lady of Christian pop has been idle, with a Christmas album and a hymns project since 1997's Behind the Eyes. There's also been a whirlwind of activity in her private life—a divorce, a marriage, a blending of families, and a new daughter. While those things have been the primary focus of Grant's energy, her music was never far from her mind. And now at last comes Simple Things, her first personal work since her very public divorce—the biggest controversy of her career.

What should one expect musically from an artist who has been so long absent? I assumed she might continue the acoustic pop sounds of Behind the Eyes, or perhaps even gone a little more country due to the influence of husband Vince Gill, a country music veteran. While there's a little of the Behind the Eyes sound here, the album also resembles 1991's Heart in Motion and 1994's House of Love, but more current sounding; synth-driven pop is still a thing of the past. Produced in part by many long-time collaborators (Brown Bannister, Ron Hemby, Wayne Kirkpatrick), primary producer Keith Thomas' influence is most evident; he co-wrote Grant's hit "Baby Baby" and has since produced for young pop artists like Mandy Moore and 98 Degrees.

As such, this is adult contemporary pop with plenty of modern bells and whistles. The title track in particular sounds like something from Mandy Moore, Jump5, or even Britney Spears—with programmed drums, record scratches, clipped electric guitar effects, and an extremely sunny sounding chorus. "Eye to Eye" prominently features a warbly backing vocal (by teen Katy Hudson) reminiscent of R&B pop artists, but also not unlike the synthetic sounds Michael W. Smith once brought to Grant's music. Aside from those two tracks, it's Grant's familiar pop sound with the glossiest treatment that modern recording techniques and a big budget can provide.

It makes sense that thematically this album alternates between the brokenness of Behind the Eyes and the joyfulness of Heart in Motion. Simple Things seems to be a catharsis for Grant, half of it focused on lovey-dovey stuff. The album even picks up where she left off in '97, opening with the line "I want to look behind your eyes" in "Happy," a celebration of marital bliss and true love that runs deeper than the surface. Like Rebecca St. James' "Wait for Me," Grant waxes romantically over the lifelong search for true love in "Looking for You." She sings a sweet duet with Vince on "Beautiful," a power ballad that wasn't written by either of them, but could just as easily be autobiographical with them singing about the joys and pains they've gone through. Grant seems very happy with her family life, and these are the songs that will most likely find their way to mainstream radio....

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Amy Grant - Legacy...Hymns & Faith

2008-09-20T00:05:00.000-07:00

Sounds like … timeless hymns (and a few originals) performed in Amy Grant's style of acoustic country/pop.

At a Glance … as one would expect of an Amy Grant album, this is a thoughtfully produced and skillfully performed recording that's sure to inspire many.

If there's one artist who needs little-if-any introduction here, it's Amy Grant, Christian music's most popular and successful pop artist. In an industry where many hope to sell at least 200,000 copies of a given album, 12 of Amy's albums have gone gold (sold in excess of 500,000). Among those, 9 have gone platinum (selling more than 1 million units). Three of those have gone on to sell more than 2 million — House of Love (1994), Home for Christmas (1992), and Heart in Motion (1991). 2002 marks the 25th anniversary of Amy Grant as a recording artist, so it certainly seems appropriate to call her new album Legacy. However, this isn't a retrospective of Amy's career thus far (a box set will serve that purpose later this year), nor is it a new pop album (which you also can expect within the next year). Instead, Legacy … Hymns & Faith serves as a musical expression of Amy's Christian upbringing — the songs that shaped her faith and her career as a Christian artist.

Legacy was co-produced by Amy, her friend and long-time producer Brown Bannister, and her husband, country artist Vince Gill, who offered a fresh set of ears to the creative process having not grown up listening to church music himself. This is a very Nashville-sounding album, blending together the two musical genres for which the city is best known — country and pop. The trio of producers assembled a team of top-notch studio musicians from the Nashville area to perform on Legacy, and as you would expect, the album sounds great. Rather than creating a simple album of straightforward hymn arrangements, Amy and company did a fine job of adding their own style to the project.

The opening cut, "This Is My Father's World," is acoustic pop with country undertones, highlighted by piano, B-3 organ, and a terrific acoustic guitar solo. It's a bit like Eric Clapton's "Change the World." The guitar work shines throughout album, especially the electric guitar solo in the country interpretation of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." An instrumental acoustic guitar rendition of "Fields of Plenty" sets the stage for Amy's simple and sparse cover of "Be Still My Soul," and rhythmic acoustic guitars propel "Fairest Lord Jesus" beyond its typical lullaby feel. Amy begins "I Need Thee Every Hour" with gentle guitar accompaniment that suits the hymn's intimate plea, only to segue into bluesy southern gospel for "Nothing but the Blood," complete with a Memphis horn section and Vince singing a duet with her.

Not all of Legacy dwells in the country-pop genre. "Softly and Tenderly" is ethereal sounding, blending steel guitars with breathy keyboards and a tribal percussion line that brings to mind the modern worship song "Better Is One Day." Amy also pulls off a short but clever medley of three hymns ("What a Friend We Have in Jesus," "The Old Rugged Cross," and "How Great Thou Art"), seamlessly transitioning from one to another to create a single piece and a unifying message. Celtic fans will enjoy the lively version of "My Jesus I Love Thee," highlighted by whistle, fiddle, and mandolin. The album closes like the end of a grand worship service, with a closing prayer followed by a joyous Irish version of "Marching to Zion," complete with bagpipes....

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