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Christian rockers ready an intimate performance
By John Benson
For fans of Contemporary Christian Music, Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Songs & Stories Tour” is tantamount to an up close and personal evening with the genre’s superstars.
Previously appearing in larger venues, including a Youngstown show earlier this year at Stambaugh Auditorium, the current tour leg finds Chapman joined by Third Day’s Mac Powell and singer-songwriter Brandon Heath. The powerful bill has booked a Friday show at Victory Christian Center in Lowellville.
“In Nashville, we love doing these singer-songwriters in the round,” said Chapman, calling from Franklin, Tenn. “It’s where you tell a story and sing a song. You really get a different experience. This feels appropriate for this kind of a tour.
“I have Mac with me, who is a great friend and great songwriter. And then there’s Brandon, who is one of my favorite songwriters on the planet. We’ll have a full band with us but the approach is a little bit more intimate in a way.”
When it comes to Powell, you won’t find a more successful CCM musician over the last decade with Third Day scoring 32 No. 1 singles. In addition, the singer penned country songs with Kristian Bush, Travis Tritt, Darius Rucker and the Band Perry.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to be on the stories and songs tour,” Powell said. “I get to share more insight into some of my songs in a way they haven’t been shared before. Secondly, to be able to share the stage once again with two of my favorite singer-songwriters in the business will be amazing.”
He added, “You may have seen us in concert before, but never like this.”
For Heath, it’s been a decade since his debut album, “Don’t Get Comfortable,” attracted the attention of CCM fans. The Grammy Award-nominated artist was named 2009 and 2010 Male Vocalist of the Year, as well as BMI’s 2014 Songwriter of the Year.
“I’m excited to share the stage with two of my music heroes,” Heath said. “I’ve gotta really up my game. These guys have major songwriting muscle and I’m the grunt of the bunch.”
The other compelling aspect of the “Songs & Stories Tour” is the fact it’s playing churches across the states. Chapman uses an apt analogy to equate the experience. He said it’s the difference between taking your family out to a really nice restaurant, which has its benefits, and just eating at the family dining room table. The latter offers ambiance and intimacy.
“You feel like you’re at home when you play a church,” Chapman said. “The only challenge sometimes with churches is people might go ‘that’s not my church’ or ‘I don’t normally go to church but I like this music. Is it cool for me to go?’ That’s why I hope we can break that down. I’ve seen that change over the years because I’ve been doing this for a while.
“Now, so many concerts are held in churches that people are more accustomed to going. For that night, it just becomes a neutral venue. But still there’s a sense of this is our living room. As a family, as brothers and sisters in a sense as followers of Christ, this is where we come to worship. This is where we come to think about these deeper issues in our lives.”