Sign Up To Keep Up To Date on CCM Concerts in the Philippines!

Keep Up To Date on Pinoy CCM Events
Name
Email

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Michael W. Smith greets his fans

Contemporary Christian recording stars Michael W. Smith and Stephen Curtis Chapman shared the stage at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium Saturday night, and their autographs now share space on Thurston Faulkner's guitar.

Faulkner, a Moore resident, was one of about 300 fans to walk through a rope line at Christian Supply on Saturday afternoon for a meet-and-greet with Smith. The guitar, which had already been signed by Chapman, is memorabilia for Samuel, a 2-year-old from Kazakhstan that Faulkner and his wife, Amber, adopted with help of a grant from Chapman.

Smith and Chapman came to Spartanburg as part of their United tour, on which they are touring together for the first time. Both veterans have new releases on the way.

Smith took the opportunity to play a video excerpt of a song from his newest and 21st album, "A New Hallelujah," and to answer questions from the audience, pose for pictures, chat and sign autographs.

"He was nice and very down to earth," Thurston Faulkner said. "For him to come and be personal with anyone who wanted to show up, it shows that he keeps in touch with real life."

Smith decided to make the rare store appearance after learning from recording executive Randy Davis that Christian Supply suffered an estimated $750,000 loss.

A former employee is accused of embezzling the money between Jan. 1, 2007, and Aug. 19. The loss nearly forced the store that's been in Spartanburg for more than five decades to close.

"I was blown away when he said he would come here," said owner Chuck Wallington, adding that Smith has an "incredible heart."

Conserving energy

Most singers try to talk as little as possible and save energy for the stage to be at their best when the bright lights shine. But Smith said he enjoyed the opportunity to meet fans.

"I've heard Celine Dion doesn't talk at all the day before a show, but I'm not that much of a diehard," Smith said after the event.

Smith said making the appearance "seemed to be the right thing to do." Although his album won't be released for about nine more days, the store

was able to pre-sell copies, and Davis rush-ordered a print of album jackets so Smith could sign them.

Davis said the event was a good way to help a business he's enjoyed working with, adding "(Wallington) is known throughout the industry as a top retailer and a top man."

Linda Temples and her daughter, Jordana Touchton, drove from Anderson to meet Smith and planned to attend the concert.

Temples said Touchton has taken her to concerts for 23 years.

"If it's within eight hours (by car), we're there," Touchton said.

Smith, 51, told the crowd the W. stands for Whitaker, an old family name, and his favorite song he's written is "All Is Well." He told a child that he wrote his first song when he was 5, and joked with the crowd that his music has since improved.

Smith said he keeps himself grounded by remembering, "We all have the capability of falling off a cliff," and poked fun at his celebrity status.

"Some people say, 'Oh you're Michael W. Smith. My mom and grandma are big fans of yours,' " Smith told the mixture of young and old fans.

Christian Music News Source

Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith? 'Amen,' says audience in Birmingham

Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith were preaching to the choir Sunday night during a 7 p.m. show at the BJCC Concert Hall.

Contemporary Christian performances like this one are based on shared religious beliefs among the musicians and audience members. Devout prayer and earnest speechifying are much more than expected; they're a crucial part of the listening experience. Also, entertainers typically make fund-raising appeals for their favorite charities.

Evaluating such events can be tricky, when the basic idea is to let go of critical faculties and lose yourself in transcendent uplift -- to allow the heart, not the brain, to take over. If that doesn't happen, has the concert fallen short of its mission?


Moreover, Chapman and Smith are longtime superstars in the contemporary Christian genre, with substantial music catalogs, many radio hits and shelves filled with Dove Awards. Despite millions in sales, they regard their careers as ministries that are geared to helping the world.

Both men have pressed rock, folk and pop into the service of a higher power, spreading the Gospel with obvious success for a couple of decades.

On Sunday, even if secular ears failed to find excellence in some of the songs (if melodies seemed no more than pleasant or if lyrics lacked subtlety), Chapman and Smith certainly hit the mark with the majority.

The crowd at the BJCC offered a reverent and enthusiastic response to their joint playlist, which lasted about three hours and included "God is God," "Live Out Loud," "Miracle of the Moment," "Dive," "For the Sake of the Call," "There She Stands," "Friends," "Place in This World," "Above All" and "A New Hallelujah."

Touring together for the first time, the frontmen organized the show into two separate sets -- Chapman featured first, Smith highlighted second -- but made sure to include dual performances throughout.

The backing band, which ranged from five to seven members, featured Chapman's son, Caleb, 19, on guitar and Smith's son, Tyler, 20, on keyboards. Chapman's other son, Will Franklin, 17, took over the drum kit for a number or two, sitting in for band member Michael Olson.

Seeing Chapman's family here (including his wife, Mary Beth, and his eldest daughter, Emily, in the audience) was particularly poignant. As Chapman said from the stage, this tour comes during a time of mourning and healing for the seven-member clan.

The youngest Chapman, Maria Sue, 5, was killed in May when she was run over in the driveway of their home outside Nashville. Will Franklin was at the wheel of the SUV when it happened.

Only the most hard-hearted soul could fail to be moved when Chapman talked about the accident and its aftermath. Instead of ignoring the tragedy, he brought it up immediately, explaining that he was simultaneously broken and hopeful.

Many of his songs had acquired new meaning for him, Chapman said, and despite doubts and questions, he and his family were holding fast to their faith. In that spirit, he performed the song "Cinderella," written before Maria Sue's death and partly inspired by her.

More than anything else, such moments conveyed the basic message of religion as a source of strength and succor. For several reasons, contemporary Christian fans in Birmingham are bound to remember this concert for a long time.

Christian Music News Source

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Christian hitmakers combine their talents

Fans of Christian pop star Steven Curtis Chapman didn't have to wait long to find out how he and his family have been in the wake of personal tragedy.

Chapman, who lost his 5-year-old daughter in an accident earlier this year, put his loss at the center of his Saturday night set at the Roanoke Civic Center.

He and his fellow hitmaker, Michael W. Smith, opened their show with "Blessed Be Your Name," which Chapman described as "a truth that has been an anchor for my family and I" since Maria Chapman died in May after a car one of her brothers was driving struck her in the family's driveway.

"Lord, help us to believe this when we sing it," Chapman said before singing the lines, "You give and take away, but my heart will choose to say, blessed be your name."

Judging by the cheers from the crowd of 1,926, fans were glad to hear that Chapman's faith has stayed strong.

Not that it's been easy, he said. He had to make sure he still believed in the songs before he could take them in front of audiences, he said.

Chapman and Smith, both veterans of two decades in the Christian music business, are touring together for the first time. Each played a set of more than an hour and joined each other onstage. Chapman sang part of Smith's crossover hit, "Place in this World," while Smith sang Chapman's "The Great Adventure." They also joked about the mullet haircuts they sported in the late 1980s.

The music was mostly easy listening and not particularly adventurous, but audience members loved it, often raising one or both hands toward the sky.

Smith, introducing his song "This is Your Time," told the tale of Cassie Bernall, one of the victims of the April 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. One of the two shooters asked Bernall if she believed in God, Smith said -- Bernall said yes, "and that kid pulled the trigger." But the Rocky Mountain News and other sources have reported that Bernall was not involved such an exchange.

Either way, such lyrics as "It was a test we could all hope to pass, but none of us would want to take," were apt for a crowd that obviously shared the faith of Smith and Chapman.

The civic center used a curtain and tarps to reduce capacity to about 2,000, and empty seats remained.

Christian Music News Source

Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman Prepare to Kick Off Historic Tour

Award-winning and multi-Platinum-selling artists Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman will kick off their historic joint tour Thursday with plans to hit 19 cities through early November.

Joining forces together for the first time, Chapman and Smith will start off their month-long “United Tour” in Columbus, Ohio, and travel throughout the east coast before concluding in St. Augustine, Fla., on Nov. 8.

The unique tour will showcase two of Christian Music’s most recognized and beloved artists, who together have garnered a staggering eight Grammy awards, 96 Dove Awards, 77 No. 1 singles and more than 30 Gold and Platinum albums. It also marks the first tour for Chapman since his family’s loss of their five-year-old daughter, Maria.

“What new world order is this!?!? Michael W Smith and SCC on stage doing songs together? Woo. Well wow and wow,” exclaimed Jim Houser, Chapman’s manager, in his weblog Wednesday as the two Christian music legends rehearsed.

On Tuesday, Houser estimated that as many as seven tour stops have been sold out so far.

“As I like to say... we are pushing the tour out the door,” he wrote.

The idea for the joint tour reportedly came shortly after Chapman and Smith spent time together in the United Kingdom working on the “Compassionart project,” which brought more than 10 of Christian Music’s most revered singers, songwriters and worship leaders together to write and record a collection of songs for charity.

According to Compassionart, Smith said the gathering was “one of the most significant weeks of [his] life.”

Benefiting from the Christian music stars’ upcoming tour will be Smith’s long-time ministry partner, Compassion International, and Chapman’s adoption ministry, Shaohannah’s Hope.

Throughout the tour, both artists will perform music from their current and upcoming albums – Chapman’s This Moment and Smith’s A New Hallelujah.

Tour Dates and Locations:

October 9th Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
October 10th Cincinnacti, OH Aronoff Center
October 11th Roanoke, VA PAC
October 14th Mc Murray, PA South Hills Bible Church
October 16th Myrtle Beach, SC Beach Church
October 17th Atlanta, GA Cobb Energy PAC
October 18th Spartanburg, SC Spartanburg Memorial Aud
October 19th Birmingham, AL BJCC Concert Hall
October 23rd Tulsa, OK Spirit Bank Arena
October 24th Omaha, NE Holland PAC
October 25th Waukegan, IL Genesee Theatre
October 26th Merrilville, IN Star Plaza Theatre
October 29th Lowell, MA Memorial Auditorium
October 30th Rochester, NY Auditorium Theatre
October 31st Bethesda, MD Strathmore Music Center
November 1st Alabany, NY Palace Theatre
November 5th Ft. Lauderdale, FL Broward Center
November 7th Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
November 8th St. Augustine, FL Amphitheatre

Christian Music News Source