Amy Grant converts a snob

First of all, a disclaimer is in order - I'm a snob. Not intentionally, of course, but all my friends (and there are some) will tell you it is true.

So when I set out to review Tuesday night's concert by Amy Grant and the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, I was in a properly snobby mood and ready to pull out all the snide remarks in my bag. Sometimes your plans don't work out.

Amy Grant is such an unfailingly gracious and pleasant person in performance it is impossible not to like her, and the show she gave with the Evansville Philharmonic was so enjoyable that I had to simply sit back, join everyone else in the hall and relish the evening, a special fundraiser in the current concert season.

Amy Grant first achieved prominence as a performer of contemporary Christian music, and in the past few years has successfully crossed over into the world of pop and country. Her work is strongly in the mold of such artists as Kathy Matttea and Trisha Yearwood, but she has not deserted her gospel roots at all.

Several of her songs were clearly about her religious beliefs, and she spoke sincerely about those beliefs.

Her songs are uniformly optimistic without being sugary and saccharin and, especially in songs like "Ask Me" and "Eye to Eye," she deals with the seriousness of life in thoughtful and mature lyrics.

Another disclaimer at this point: I like bagpipes. I like all bagpipes - every sort, every nationality, every shape and size. And Amy brought the pipes along.

Her piper (whose name I didn't catch, unfortunately) played Irish whistles most of the evening, adding their plaintive sound and being featured in the evening's second tune, "The New Hampshire Hornpipe."

But the highlight of the evening was when he pulled out the Scottish highland pipes to play "Highland Cathedral" with the orchestra as sidemen.

This stately tune, a favorite of pipe bands, with a properly bombastic orchestral accompaniment, got the biggest applause of the evening. Only proper, too - it was bagpipes.

Relegated to the back of the stage, the Evansville Philharmonic provided accompaniment for Grant and her band, as well as the opening piece, "Harry's Wondrous World" from the music for the "Harry Potter" movies, and the well-known "Variations on a Shaker Melody" from Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring."

I'm still a snob, I suppose, but at least I'm a snob who knows he had a great time last night.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2006/nov/15/amy-grant-converts-snob/