For those who suppose Mariah Carey is all in on Christmas, Christian singer Michael W. Smith has Carey beat when it comes to pure output.
The veteran performer has launched 5 Christmas albums since 1989, together with “Every Christmas” in 2023. He has usually toured presently of yr for many years, often along with his longtime buddy Amy Grant.
This yr, Grant determined to take a break from touring, so Smith is doing a set of solo dates.
“I think she just wants to be home with the grandkids,” mentioned Smith in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Structure. “I’m totally down with that. I wasn’t offended. We’ll be back. It’s just a matter of time.”
Smith, 67, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee, himself has 18 grandkids from 5 kids. “A 19th is on the way,” he mentioned. “We’re populating the county.”
Christmas Day on the Smith family, he mentioned, “is beautiful chaos. It’s insane. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s loud. It’s wonderful. Our dog Penny waits by the tables for scraps. It’s a glorious day for her.”
Count on his Christmas set record to incorporate classics akin to “All is Well” and “Gloria.” And with out Grant, he’s bringing in one other artist to assist him out: 24-year-old Christian singer Riley Clemmons. “She’s vibrant,” he mentioned. “She’s going to bring a lot of joy to the stage.”
Additionally, for the primary time in a number of years, he’s together with bagpiper Skip Cleavinger with the band. “I’m definitely excited,” Smith mentioned. “There is something about bagpipes that make your hair stand on your neck. We’ll do some songs we haven’t done in awhile because they’ll feature Skip.”
Smith mentioned that is solely the second time he’s beginning his tour earlier than Thanksgiving, which is Nov. 28 this yr, the newest the vacation can occur. This leaves simply 27 days between the 2 holidays. Smith’s first Christmas live performance this tour is that this Friday, Nov. 15, in Charleston, S.C.
“People are ready for it,” Smith mentioned. “I think they’re ready earlier than maybe 10, 20 years ago.”
Smith himself grew up in a West Virginia family that started taking part in Christmas tunes on Sept. 1. He completely adored “The Andy William’s Christmas Album” rising up and, when he turned an grownup, went out of his option to catch Williams in live performance within the late Seventies. He virtually all the time consists of at the least one or two Williams songs on his set record.
“His voice is so soothing,” Smith mentioned. “There’s something so compelling about it. He’s effortless. Nobody else sounds like him.”
Smith mentioned he has by no means gotten uninterested in doing these seasonal live shows and has no plans to cease any time quickly.
“These nights sort of center everybody and remind us what’s important: being kind and celebrating the most important thing in life — Jesus. There is always something special about singing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ or ‘O Holy Night.’ That never changes.”