For someone who enjoys and appreciates all kinds of music, I have never been much of a concert goer. Just not a crowd person. If I were to tell my children that Captain & Tennille and Ray Stevens were my only two concerts for the longest time, they would have no clue who those people even were. After the inevitable Google search, offspring eyerolling would ensue. Fair enough, knowing that I paid good money to hear songs such as“MuskratLove”and“The Mississippi Squirrel Revival” is hard to reconcile.
I fought hard to gain my daughters’ musical respect. When they were young adults, I bought them tickets to see Keith Urban. I attended, too, but the next three of his shows they went without me. I assume my daughters thought it lame when I just sat and listened while they stood and danced.
In recent years, Emily and I have gone to Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, Sugarland, and Ricky Skaggs. Julie, a charter member of the Beyhive (Beyoncé fans), prefers something more earthy to bring out the Pentecostal. The reason for this is probably her inaugural concert experience in 1992 with her cool aunt. My sister Sabrina took Julie to see Boyz II Men at the Lubbock Coliseum. This concert basically baptized her in the name of hiphop/ soul/rhythm. Just this past summer Julie reveled in going to both the 2023 revival concert of Boyz and the Renaissance Tour for Queen Bey.
Which brings me to a little music thing I am doing this week in Austin while housesitting (my cousins travel a lot).
Amy Grant is coming to town, and my concert ticket is purchased (balcony, end seat, first row because, you know, crowds).
For those of you who are way older or much younger than I, she was a breakout Christian singer-songwriter in the 1980s. When Grant’s music crossed over to include pop songs, some churchgoing folks thought the move blasphemous. When she and husband Gary Chapman divorced in 1999 and Grant’s marriage to Vince Gill followed in 2000, gossip followed. Grant remained true to the truth. Since 2002, she has released seven new albums (remixed ones not included in that number). Two of those are compilations of the classic old hymns which she grew up singing.
In 1986, I heard her sing as a 25-year-old “kid” with no children in a packed Taylor County Coliseum in Abilene. This week, she will be on stage at the Paramount Theater on Congress Avenue as a 62-year-old grandmother.
Julie and Emily, your mother will once again remain seated during the concert, but this go round it’s because I have old knees. However, if you were with me, I would be happy to see you roll your eyes while I sing along to “Baby, Baby” and “El Shaddai” and “Lucky One”….which I am, for getting to see one of my all-time favorites on stage once more.
Note: Amy Grant will be in San Angelo at the Murphy Performing Arts Center on Thursday, September 28, at 8 p.m. if you are so inclined.
Snyder, Texas, native Sue Jane Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher whose thought-provoking commentary appears occasionally in several West Texas newspapers, including The Texas Spur and The Caprock Courier.
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