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Academy Center of the Arts

519 COMMERCE STREET, 24504, Lynchburg, VA, US

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Doors open: 19:30

Concert in your area for Funk & Soul and Indie & Alt.

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Amy Grant biography

Born on the 25th of November 1960, Amy Grant hails from Augusta, Georgia, USA. She is one of the most successful Christian pop singers of all time, with two Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, six Grammy Awards and 30 million record sales to her name.

It’s just as well that Grant is specifically one of the most successful Christian singers of all time because there is most definitely a higher power at work when it comes to her career. This is absolutely not to say that she’s not good enough or that she hasn’t earned it, mind you, but the story is pretty fairy tale-esque.

I mean, to get your first record deal by having a song, the very first song you’ve ever written for that matter, played over the phone to the head of a record label before your sixteenth birthday? That’s some God given talent right there.

The year after that, she recorded her debut album “Amy Grant”. The year after that, a single month before her high school graduation, it was released and before she’d even performed her debut ticketed concert, it charted in the top twenty of the Billboard Inspirational Albums chart.

Arguably, this would be more than enough for most seventeen year olds of the time to put the music on hold until at least after college, but this wasn’t to be the case for Grant. She chose both, enrolling at Furman University and starting work on her second album, “My Father’s Eyes”, an album which would go on to give her a Christian number one hit with the title track and her first Grammy nomination.

This success, combined with her and her co-songwriter and first husband Gary Chapman’s growing touring schedule, made her drop out of college to focus on music full time. She’s since gone on to release many more studio albums and countless singles, including a slightly baffling top five hit on the Hot Club Dance charts in 2014 with a remix of her song “Baby Baby”.

Clearly, to pigeonhole Amy Grant as a “Christian” singer does a disservice to her appeal and her talent. Her music might be inspired by her faith, but it can go on to inspire anyone open minded enough to listen.

Live reviews

With a history in Christian music from a young age, Amy Grant continued this talent of hers from the 80s, right up today, seeing great success in her work. Grant has seen multiple number one singles, as well as Grammy awards over the years, making her one of the leading and most successful Christian musician of the generation. Grant’s crossover from Christian music, to Pop was reasonably successful, working off the back of her platinum album. She enjoyed a spell in the mainstream industry before returning to her Christian roots.
Although Grant has several phases and styles to her musical career, one of my favourite characteristics of her performances, is that she journeys through her back catalogue providing her fans from each stage of her career something to shout about. Grant performs every time with ease and confidence, when she’s supported by her band, and also alone with her guitar. She adapts her performance for each genre perfectly, and maintains the genuine qualities of each song.
The performance that I most recently saw presented some newer material as well as the classics, and it was great to experience the feeling of hearing Grant’s magical lyrics for the first time once again. She ended her set with Love Will Find A Way, the favourite track of many fans, and the tactical positioning of this track made the audience appreciate it even more. That was not the first time I’d seen Grant, and it definitely won’t be the last.

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yazhow

Mac is a master song writer and a master musician. The song selection was great on March 8th. However, I prefer more Mac songs and a little less Jimmy Buffet accolades.
Mac's stories about his songs are very interesting and add a fuller dimension to his performance. His story telling parallels his music perfectly. If you get into his music, or behind it if you will, his mastery of minor chords and composition are of the finest combinations. It's easy to see why he receives his awards. It puzzles me why he doesn't get more notoriety on his performances.
If I may be so critical, the sound at The OB Opry was well balanced, except, in my humble opinion, the electric piano sounded that it was clipping on the high end. The speakers or volume seemed over capacity for the sound to reach maximum quality.
The Orange Blossom Opry is a great music setting. I hope to return.
It was a pleasure to see Mac in such a personal and well performed concert, as usual.
It's also great to talk to this fine and inspiring human being. Not just a great musician.

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