Amy Grant

Gospel Singer Set For Nov. 18 Show In Greeneville

Sweet voice, girl-next-door looks, daughter of a doctor, wife of a Country Music Hall of Fame member.
Contemporary gospel singer Amy Grant may seem in the midst of a charmed life. She lives among red roses without the thorns and all of that.
Not exactly, not always. When Grant takes the stage of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Greeneville, Tenn. on Nov. 18, she does so while marking the 20th anniversary of the release of her life-reflecting album “Lead Me On.”
“I was pregnant with Matt [her first child],” Grant said via her publicist. “I was recording into my pregnancy and right after he was born, and my grandmother had just died. I was just wrestling with facing some adult issues. I think I had just realized that life can’t be tied up in a neat bow, and I was just wanting to reflect on that.”
Reflect on this. In 30 or so years, Grant has sold more than 25 million albums, won six Grammy Awards and a whopping 23 Dove Awards for gospel music.
Grant changed gospel music. Before Grant, gospel music was relegated to back-of-the-store status. Now, gospel music has infiltrated the ranks of rock and pop and hip-hop, and moved to front row acceptance. She certainly was not alone in leading the gospel charge, but Grant certainly helped open doors to young audiences with bucks to spend.
Now, she’s on the road promoting her fourth Christmas album, “The Christmas Collection.” The album cobbles tracks from her previous three Christmas albums from 1983’s “The Christmas Album,” 1992’s “Home for Christmas” and 1999’s “A Christmas to Remember.”
“I don’t very often listen to my old stuff,” Grant said, “but I sat down one night and I just went through each of those three earlier Christmas records and I picked songs that were favorite moments for me.”
In addition to some of Grant’s “favorite moments,” the album includes four newly recorded tracks. Two of them are classics, the more obvious “Jingle Bells” and “Count Your Blessings,” the latter of which was in the legendary holiday film “White Christmas.”
Yet get this.
“Believe it or not, I have never seen the movie ‘White Christmas,’ but I really love the thought, ‘count your blessings,’ ” Grant said. “I love what it says in the song, and I think it’s me.”
Grant sure can count her blessings. After bridging a gap to secular audiences with her pivotal album from 1985 “Unguarded,” Grant’s career took a sharp turn and sharply criticized move in the pop direction. The move paid off dearly. Her career soared, and her records found spots alongside those by pop’s Madonna.
Then, came her messy divorce with fellow Christian singer Gary Chapman in 1999. Grant endured a barrage of criticism amid her personal tumult, much of which has since subsided. She married country singer Vince Gill in 2000, after which her personal and professional life appears at an apex.
See Grant on television, in concert or simply meet her backstage or on the street. She smiles with the warmth of a family quilt. Happiness appears to have found her.
“I’m glad every day to be alive,” Grant said. “I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I feel like I’m getting better at living in the day instead of living in the past and trying to anticipate tomorrow.”

IF YOU GO
Who: Amy Grant
When: Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Niswonger Performing Arts Center, 212 Tusculum Blvd., Greeneville, Tenn.
Admission: $50 for adults, $42.50 for group rates
Info: (423) 638-1679
Web: http://www.amygrant.com
Audio: http://www.amygrant.net (click on media archive link)

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .