Sometimes we’re so busy moving ahead that it’s hard to stop and look back, but if there’s anything Amy Grant has learned over the course of her multi-platinum career, it’s that sometimes reflection can be as important to the creative process as invention. It’s her penchant for simultaneously celebrating the past while forging ahead to the future that make this a unique time in her career, and it’s what fuels her two most recent releases, “The Christmas Collection,” and the special 20th anniversary re-issue of her landmark album “Lead Me On.”

   “I was so inspired looking back, it really has energized me for the next season of my life spiritually and creatively,” says Grant, a music industry icon who has sold over 25 million albums and earned six Grammy and 23 Dove Awards.

    Indeed the talented singer/songwriter has never been busier. In addition to readying the Christmas project and the new “Lead Me On” edition, Grant is also working on her music for her upcoming studio album, her first collection of all new music since 2003’s “Simple Things.” This fall, she’ll embark on a reunion tour with seven of the 10 musicians who toured with her on the original “Lead Me On” trek, and she’ll wrap up the year with a Christmas tour featuring her husband Vince Gill.
 
  For many families, Grant’s Christmas music has become part of the soundtrack of their lives, having sold over 6 million Christmas albums alone. Her first Christmas project, 1983’s “A Christmas Album,” has been certified platinum. Her second holiday effort, 1992’s “Home for Christmas,” has been certified triple platinum and 1999’s “A Christmas to Remember” has been certified gold by the RIAA.

   In assembling “The Christmas Collection,” Grant culled her favorite songs from her three previous holiday albums and added four new recordings---two are covers of longtime favorites and two are brand new Christmas tunes.  “I don’t very often listen to my old stuff, but I sat down one night and I just went through each of those three earlier Christmas records and I picked songs that were favorite moments for me.  There were the obvious choices like “Tennessee Christmas” and “Breath of Heaven,” but I also wanted to include some that artistically meant a lot to me, ” she explains. “For instance, I chose ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ because Phil Keaggy is playing guitar and he is one of the world’s greatest guitar players. I love knowing that he is playing on this compilation.”

    There are also new covers of such perennial favorites as “Jingle Bells” and “Count Your Blessings” and two brand new tunes.  Produced by her longtime friend Brown Bannister, the four new tracks have that timeless flavor reminiscent of the classic Christmas records that Grant grew up savoring during the holidays.

    “Believe it or not, I have never seen the movie ‘White Christmas,’” Grant says of the movie that spawned “Count Your Blessings,” “but I really love the thought, ‘Count your blessings.’ I love what it says in the song and I think it’s true. It reminds me of an old hymn that I used to sing growing up called ‘count your blessings…name them one by one’. Now, anytime I start getting the blues or feel like I’m just spinning my wheels, I find myself going back to that thought of daily counting your blessings.  It’s a great mantra especially at Christmas time; ’if it’s not a season of life you want to celebrate, it’s a great thing to remember. ‘You can waste time and energy on things that don’t necessarily help but gratitude is a gateway to changing how you look at life.

  Grant wrote one of the new songs, “I Need a Silent Night,” an instant Christmas classic people will find easily relatable, with Chris Eaton, who co-penned “Breath of Heaven” with her. “Chris and I had written songs for each of my previous Christmas albums, so I couldn’t imagine not having him on this new collection. As our conversation for a new song began he started talking about all the excitement around shopping. He loves to shop and loves the buzz and decorations associated with it. However, as his energy level starting going up, up, up, while talking about it my stomach was tightening and I was sweating because the experience is totally different when you’re the mother of young kids…so we kept talking and the idea of ‘I Need A Silent Night’ came about.  I love the message of the song.  Christmas can be a time for such high energy, busyness and chaos, but at the end of the day what I really need is a silent night to reflect on the real meaning of the season.  The highlight for me on this song was having Corrina record the Luke account of The Christmas Story. I’m glad we have her voice frozen in time on this track.  
 
   She and her husband also wrote a new song for “The Christmas Collection.” “Vince is constantly playing music around the house and was noodling with some music which happened to coincide with us trying to find new songs for the new Christmas record.,” she says. “We wrote that over a cup of coffee one morning and it’s a very romantic Christmas song.  I don’t think anybody really thinks about Christmas Eve as being the most romantic time, especially if you have children because you are exhausted, but if you could have a time like this, what would it be like? We tried to write a song that would bring that to life.”

    In addition to sharing her new Christmas music during a holiday tour, Grant will also be on the road this fall reviving the music from “Lead Me On,” the legendary 1988 project that remains among the most influential albums ever recorded in Christian music. Grant humbly confesses that the album’s enduring popularity has surprised her. “When you’re recording, you’re just hoping that someone will listen to it then,” she says. “You’re not thinking about 20 years down the road.  At that point, 20 years down the road seemed forever.  I probably assumed I would not be making music 20 years down the road.  Your perspective changes with time and I remember just thinking, ‘I’m not going to be one of those women that’s just way past your prime and if I’m still singing when I’m 40, somebody get a hook and come drag me off stage.’  That’s how I felt in my 20’s, but then you get to be in your 40’s and go, ‘I’ve got so much more to say now!’”

   When asked why she thinks the album remains a favorite among both fans and music critics, she responds, “The production was very cutting edge for its time, and I think it aged well. I think the songs are honest and intriguing, and I believe the reckless honesty on that record is compelling.”

   Grant says the “Lead Me On” album came during a particularly poignant time in her life and reflects a hard won maturity. “I was pregnant with Matt,” she recalls of expecting her first child. “I was recording into my pregnancy and right after he was born; and my grandmother had just died.  I was just wrestling with facing some more adult issues.  . . .I think I had just realized that life can’t be tied up in a neat bow and I was just wanting to just reflect on that.”

    Grant took all the emotions she was feeling at the time and turned them into songs that would touch a generation wrestling with the same issues, and the relevance of that music continues today as fans have embraced “Lead Me On” all over again. The 20th anniversary special edition not only includes the original album, but also second disc that features newly recorded acoustic versions of key tracks as well as live recordings from the original “Lead Me On” tour.

    “We actually had a multi-track recording of a couple of concerts that we had never even listened to and they just sat in a vault,” she says. “When EMI said we want to re-release ‘Lead Me On,’ I thought, ‘thank goodness, we went through all this effort years ago to record it.’  I’m so glad we did because hearing those recordings is what inspired wanting to revisit the tour. When we go back out and tour this fall, we’re actually going to use an old set list to build the foundation for the evening.”

   For the reunion tour, Grant invited the musicians who helped her take those songs on the road 20 years ago.   “It’s going to be a fun walk down memory lane for all of us because we’ve all gone on to other lives and certainly other jobs,” she says of the tour which will include such stellar players as Jerry McPherson, Chris Rodriguez, Chris Eaton, Greg Morrow, Ken Rarick, and Warren Ham.  “What has been so amazing is people have wanted to come back and participate. I’m excited about being back with almost everybody from our original group.”

   Grant has also been working on the songs that will define the next chapter of her illustrious career. “It really wasn’t until I revisited “Lead Me On” that I became re-energized to create new music.  It was a real catalyst in the creative process for me. I’ve been writing a lot of songs, and I’m very excited to get back in the studio.

    Ever since her teen years as a fresh-faced singer/songwriter who helped shape the burgeoning contemporary Christian scene to her groundbreaking success as a crossover artist, Amy Grant has consistently voiced our collective hopes, dreams, fears and joys. With warmth, humor and grace, she continues to move forward taking us all with her on an amazing musical journey. “I’m glad everyday to be alive,” she says with a smile.  “I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I feel like I’m getting better at living in the day instead of living in the past and trying to anticipate tomorrow.  From a songwriting standpoint, I hope my best songwriting is in the future.  I love the creative process and it never gets old.”