When Amy Grant took the Miller Theater stage Wednesday, she said she was going to take a stroll down memory lane in the place where “I took my first breath.”
The Augusta native doesn’t remember much about sharing the same bedroom with her three sisters at a home on Raleigh Drive because she was only six months old when the family moved to Nashville, Tenn., but she called the day in her hometown a beautiful one.
“There’s so much beauty in this place,” she said.
Most of Grant’s songs have a storyline, and she shared a little about some of them as she sang them. Grant said music to her is more than a melody and words, it comes with moments. Each time she sings a song, she sees memories of places and people that she associates with the songs. They peel back layers with each chorus and verse.
She opened the night with an invitation to the audience to “Stay for a While” because she had her “Hope Set High.” Then she launched into a familiar one to audiences who’d followed her career for many years “Angels Watching Over Me.”
As the night progressed, she mixed in tunes from her decades of singing and songwriting.
Grant wrote her first song at the age of 15 and has been making music for 45 years. She said she’s grateful that she’s been able to do what she loves all her life.
With the upbeat songs she wove in some that speak of the sadness of life including a song called “Somewhere Down the Road.” She took a moment of silence for the victims of recent shootings and mentioned a friend whose child had recently died.
“There’s pain and suffering everywhere, but love wins in the end,” she said at one point during the concert. “Love wins.”
She also sang the song “Ask Me,” which is about a friend who was sexually abused.
That friend, said Grant, is doing “very well” now.
She also added the song “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” into the song set. It’s a cover of the 1969 Jackie DeShannon song.
And as the night wound down, Grant said she wanted to savor the final moments.
“Thank you so much for this magical night in my hometown,” Grant said just before singing the song “I Will Remember You” and closing out the show.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
