Recently Amy Grant was interviewed by Pop Rocket Press on the upcoming 2 Friends Tour visit to Prescott Valley...

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Grant, Smith bring 2 Friends Tour to Prescott Valley
~Cheryl Hartz

Nearly 30 years ago, a guitar-pickin' girl from Tennessee and a piano-playin' boy from West Virginia became singing buddies through contemporary Christian music. Now, multiple Dove and Grammy award-winning artists Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith bring their Two Friends Tour to Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley Friday, Sept. 23.Amy Grant telephoned Monday morning (Aug. 22) after a bicycle ride found her "sitting on a giant rock in the middle of one of the largest urban parks" near her Nashville home.

"I may have gone too far. I barely passed a walker going up a steep hill," Grant, 50, confessed with a laugh. "After my interviews, I will peddle home in the heat of the day."

She said she's always loved biking and "it's good for singing."

Evidently so, because singer/songwriter Grant, who signed her first recording contract at age 15, still maintains a full schedule. That includes recently recording her first album of all new songs in seven years, Somewhere Down the Road. Her daughter, Sarah Chapman, sang with her on "Overnight" from that album.

"That was a total thrill," Grant said. "She was exactly the same age, 17, as I was when I recorded my first album." (That album, Age to Age, made her the first contemporary Christian artist to reach platinum status.)

Grant said she was "so sad" after dropping off the now 18-year-old Sarah at college. She flew right to Salt Lake City for her next concert, and coming home, got a call from her husband, country star Vince Gill, about a surprise in the driveway. "The tiniest little Airstream camper sat in the driveway. It's the ultimate hippie-mobile," Grant said, laughing again.

She and Gill's 10-year-old daughter, Corrina, slept in the trailer, and Gill joined them when he got home at 4 a.m. from his latest gig, she said. "Corrina even asked to have breakfast in the camper," Grant said.

She noted their yard looks like "camper central" with another pop-up and equipment.

"People borrow my stuff all the time. I love connecting friends to nature," Grant said. "But it takes a couple of hours to show them how to set it all up."

Integrating life and kids and work takes place moment by moment, she said. Corrina is the last of her four children at home, and Grant wants to make sure she doesn't feel isolated.

"I have four symphony shows this fall, during the weekend of my 10-year-old's fall break," Grant said, "so I called the conductor and asked if we could find a song Corrina could sing."

She then admitted she hadn't run the idea by Corrina yet. "She may say 'no way,' but she's pretty easy going. Our job today is to explore song ideas: what would give you joy to sing?"

Grant said she also enjoys having her "I Do daughter," Jenny Gill, touring with her. "Jenny joined me to sing Kim's parts when Kim (Keyes) had her baby. Now I've got both. It's great to have two women singing harmony parts," Grant said.

***

Back in 1979, Michael W. Smith was thrilled to have a songwriting contract while playing keyboards for the group, Higher Ground. Then in 1982 he got the gig as new phenom Grant's backup singer/keyboardist. Together and separately, they helped bring contemporary Christian music into its own.

By 1983, he recorded his first solo album, The Michael W. Smith Project. He wrote all the music and his wife, Debbie, wrote the lyrics.

Smith, 53, also has written numerous books, founded Rocketown Records, which launched Chris Rice, and helped start New River Fellowship in Nashville.

He continued to tour with Grant through the 80s, and later on special Christmas tours. Their Two Friends Tour is a happy reunion for both. Grant opens the concert, Smith joins her for some songs, then he takes the second half, in which Grant joins him on a couple of tunes.

Altogether, 13 musicians will take the stage. "It's a pretty streamlined package," Grant said.

They all travel by bus to the venues. "It's fun to see the country by bus. You can rest," Grant said. "And we squeeze our bicycles in the bay of the bus."

Whatever clears the mind and keep those lungs strong.

 

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