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Grant's Christian roots shine on

Amy Grant
Fox Theatre
Tucson, AZ
February 7, 2018
Amy Grant Amy Grant Amy Grant

Review and photos by Frances Sealy

Amy Grant is not presently on tour and she mentioned that she did not know what Tucson fans wanted to hear, so she decided to fill the set with songs that she wanted to sing. Grant is famous for composing and singing songs of love, loss, faith and living in the moment. Grant performed in spite of recovering from the flu and no one in the crowd seemed disappointed in the least.

Grant is touted as pop music's most successful Christian artist. She released her first album at age 16. Grant has garnered six Grammy Awards and multiple Dove Awards over the years. She crossed over to pop music after some scrutiny regarding her marriage to Vince Gill.

Grant possesses the gift of story telling much like her husband, Vince Gill. She shared her airport experience early this a.m. During her layover in Dallas, a lady approached her after getting on the Skylink to change terminals. Even though she likes to observe people in public places, she was not in the mood to talk. She likes her space. A lady that was sitting in the seat across from her, got up, held up her boarding card as she approached Grant so no one could hear what she had to say. People approach her to talk all the time. Grant said, "She leaned down and said, 'Check your zipper.' My fly was wide open. Suddenly she was my best friend. That was maybe the nicest thing anyone had done for me in a long time."

While swapping guitars, she spoke of her relationship with her husband. "My husband has a love of Martin guitars. He never met a 'Martin' he didn't like." "Vince likes everything in perfection especially when it comes to music. If I can have a ball of twine, a pair of scissors and a roll of duct tape, I can pretty much work anything out. We are the yin/yang of perfection. We see each other's modus operandi from a great distance and it gives us a lot appreciation on how the other survives." This was the introduction to "Our Time Is Now."

Grant writes songs that memorialize her life. "Saved By Love" was inspired by her sister who is a genius at fixing things. "Baby Baby" was written for her daughter when she was six weeks old. That daughter is now living in New York and she is engaged. Grant's cover of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" was inspired by the great songwriters of our lifetime.

Grant performed a short acoustic set of "Father's Eyes" and "Somewhere Down the Road." It was very apparent that she knows how to play a 'mean' Martin guitar without the other members of the band. The band was stellar. Grant introduced drummer, Greg Morrow, as being with her since the beginning of her career. Gene Miller on guitar could extract almost any sound from his instrument and all the sounds were great. Jonathan Hamby on keyboards had the perfect touch while Kim Keyes played harmonica and provided background vocals. Keyes was able to do a couple of short lead vocals when Grant's voice failed. That only happened twice, but Keyes was right there. Grant was a true professional as she soldiered through the show despite her illness.
Set List:
1. Anywhere With Jesus
2. Curious Thing
3. Takes a Little Time
4. Come Be With Me
5. Our Time Is Now
6. Big Yellow Taxi
(Joni Mitchell cover)
7. Saved by Love
8. If I Could See (What the Angels See)
9. What Is the Chance of That
10. Don't Try So Hard
11. Baby Baby
12. House of Loved

Intermission
14. Hope Set High
15. Oh, How the Years
16. Father's Eyes
17. Somewhere Down the Road
18. Sing Your Praise to the Lord
19. Thy Word/El Shaddai
20. Helping Hand
21. Love of Another Kind


Related articles:

Amy Grant & Vince Gill Photo Gallery - Bloomington, IL Dec. 2008
Popping the question at Amy Grant's "House of Love" - Nov. 2008

Amy Grant Amy Grant Amy Grant

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