Gary Chapman: The US CCM songwriter returns after a long absence

Saturday 1st October 1994

The first album for six years by GARY CHAPMAN has been acknowledged by numerous critics as one of the finest albums of the year. Jan Willem Vink reports.



Continued from page 1

'Everyday Man' was released on RCA and Reunion in 1987, in the shadow of Amy Grant's 'Lead Me On'. Chapman's favourite song on the album is "Love Like Blood", written by John Hiatt, in which Chapman shares the lead vocals with his wife. 'Everyday Man' has a strong country flavour to it, reinforced by the contributions of country singer Ricky Skaggs. On the other hand the album has a strong emphasis on pop/rock songs. 'Everyday Man' explores themes such as family life and faith, but most of all it is filled with blatant love songs for the woman of his life. "Amy's got an angel on her shoulder/Maybe that's why her eyes shine so bright/Every time I tell her she starts a laughin'/Says boy you're crazy but you're alright," sings Gary in "Love That Girl".

After the release of 'Everyday Man' Gary embarked on a worldwide tour, supporting the releases of 'Lead Me On', 'Everyday Man' and 'I 2 Eye', by Michael W Smith, even visiting the Greenbelt festival in 1988.

However, the release of 'Everyday Man' wasn't followed by instant success. Gary again disappeared in relative anonymity, keeping his solo career on the backbumer. In the meantime Gary worked hard on the Riverstone farm, home of the Chapmans, and produced several albums by Wes King and Michael James. He also played a big role in 'The Loft', a youth project Amy and Gary developed in an old barn on their estate. The Loft is held annually since 1990, in five to 10 weekly sessions. "Our first step was to find a meeting place where kids would be out of the familiar, comfortable environments of home, school or church," recounts Amy. "We wanted a place where there would be few distractions, a place where we could have free reign to create any type of programme we wanted, a place big enough to hold a bunch of kids.

"Fortunately, Gary loved the idea from word one and we decided to forge ahead with the plan and commit ourselves to praying about it," recalls Amy. "We have learned that some of the best things in life come from the times when you make a commitment and then pray like wild men for God to be there. Gary and I can get in just as much a rut as anyone else, and I really think that the things that continue to pump energy into our lives are the ones where we step out of our routine and say, 'Yeah, I'll commit to that'. Those are the things that somehow seem to become the hub of our lives. And the Loft certainly became the hub of our lives during the fall of 1990 and the spring of 1991, 1992 and 1993."

"Simply stated, what we hoped to teach the kids at the Loft each week was to incorporate Jesus into their lives," comments Gary. "That's it. To learn how to sort through all the wild and wonderful things that happen in life and try to figure out how God fits into each and every circumstance."

The Loft had great spiritual significance, not only for the hundreds of kids gathered at the farm each week, but also for those involved, including Gary. Comments Amy, "Although we have been doing the Loft for several years, it was really just in the past two years that Gary stepped up to the plate as the spiritual leader of the group. Each week Gary would stand on stage and talk to the kids about his personal experiences and struggles in the pursuit of growing closer to Jesus. It's not easy to stand up on stage and be honest and vulnerable in front of a bunch of kids, but Gary got up there each and every week and somehow in the process of letting down his guard, I think he rediscovered his own need for God's mercy and grace and his own desire to grow closer to God."

Relating to his own past with drug abuse, Gary comments, "I'm in a better position to talk to kids if they're going through that kind of thing, or thinking through that kind of thing. I'm actually thankful for that part of it."

Gary's new determination and commitment to life and family can be found back on his latest recording, The Light Inside'. When he is asked what is important in his life right now he says, "Commitment. To remain committed to my wife, my children and my God. This album is about that process and the ups and the downs of trying to maintain that.

"The big issues for me are obviously my salvation, which I continue to work on, and my family. And more recently for me the personal quality God has in my life. I keep thinking that my kids are gonna come up to me and go, 'Dad, would you just grow up?' I'm sure it's coming. And I really want to know that I'm doing exactly what God wants me to do. It's not that I've been unsure about that necessarily in the past. I feel like I've been doing the right stuff - being the support for Amy and what she's been doing, trying to get better at being a songwriter, at being a dad and a friend, and all those things. But I think there's something specific.

"It's taking shape. I think God wants me to say something to young people. I just see more and more opportunities to make that happen. But now, instead of trying to say Tm this or I'm that', when something comes up, I just ask God if he wants me to do it, whatever it is, and try to learn to hear him. And however people try to hear him, and however people try to classify that is really out of my hands and, to some degree, none of my business."

Plans for the new album got concrete form in February 1992 when Amy and Gary were having dinner with Michael Omartian in New York City on the night before the Grammy Awards. Gary and Michael started discussing Gary's music and before the meal was finished Michael suggested Gary should start working on a new album. Gary jokingly replied, "Sure Omar, and I want you to produce it!" Besides 10 new songs, The Light Inside' includes two of Chapman's original songs, "Treasure" and "Finally", which was a number one country hit for TG Sheppard in 1982.

Gary spoke to CCM magazine about some of the songs on the album. "In a purely technical sense, 'Treasure' was never really recorded like I wanted it to be. That song to me is just a great testimony. When I think about how that song relates to my life, and who I was singing it then and who I am singing it now, it says so much about who God is. The cool thing is that he's still the same God. 'We Can' is all about the little town I grew up in. When you grow up in a small town, it's real easy to just be bummed about it because of all the stuff you can't do. I think I just decided early on to not let that be a problem, 'cause there's so much that you can do.

"The song 'Heal Me' means a lot to me. I honestly can't remember what had gotten me so down, but something had me so twisted up. I was bummed and just depressed. I just sat down and I don't want to say regurgitated, but it was almost that kind of a purge process to write that song."

His comments about the album's utterly moving "Sweet Jesus" are illuminating. "I work really hard to be as good a craftsman as I can be at writing songs. But every now and then one comes by that just...I think it's God's little joke just to say, 'Snap out of it. This [songwriting] is really nothing that you have any control over.' I sat down [on] a sunny, perfect day, blue sky, not a care in the world. Everything was right. I just had a cup of coffee and - this will sound wacked to some people, I guess - but I came as close to a vision experience as I've ever personally had. Saw the entire song like a movie. In a second. Top to bottom. And I wrote that thing in five minutes. And even to say that I wrote it - that's stretching it some."

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Reader Comments

Posted by bruce ward in phoenix,arizona @ 19:16 on Aug 17 2018

your music is great.



Posted by gregg in portland @ 12:59 on Aug 29 2016

Thanks for keeping this interview up. It was a wonderful window into the artist's life and lives...



Posted by Mike in USA @ 02:48 on Jan 24 2015

Just curious of what you think of him now, after a couple more marriages, Don?


Reply by H C in NC @ 09:19 on Jun 7 2016

Let those without sin cast the first stone

[report abuse]


Posted by Don in U.S.A. @ 20:12 on Aug 24 2011

I really enjoyed reading this article, especially how Gary tells about his vision of writing one of the best spiritual songs ever, "Sweet JESUS". I love that song immensely! "The Light Inside" is a great cd to have;
"Sweet Glow of Mercy" is a top favorite song! By the song titles, one gets the impression that life for Gary at the time was sweet. Well, he had a fantastic wife, and 3 kids! Kudos to a great songwriter! I am glad that I got to see him in concert with Amy.



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