Amy Grant stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk about new music, her two-night Nashville residency and the bike accident she had in 2022.
Grant has created new music for herself for the first time in 10 years. Her two newly released songs are part of a record she’s working on. She still tours regularly and said she fills small places but sings 30- and 40-year-old songs. One night while she was performing, she realized she felt proud to be 63 and proud to be decades into her life. She said the view from where she is in her life now does look different from when she was younger, so she wanted to write a song about it called “The View from Here” which is about that perspective.
When Grant records new music it’s less about the production for her and she really wants to be moved by the lyrics. She’s fascinated by what other songwriters have to say and their ideas. If she’s going to take the time to record a song, she wants it to be specific, unique and have it matter. Her other new song, “What You Heard,” she wrote after a therapy appointment with her daughter who is grown now but they were revisiting some of her High School years. Grant has felt she has always processed things through music, and it’s been reflected in her songwriting.
“Tree’s We’ll Never See” is about taking care of the future now even though you won’t be around to see how the fruits of your labor grow. She called it a song you couldn’t record when you’re 22 years old. When she first heard it, it was so moving to her she recorded it two weeks later. She told one of the writers, Marshall Altman, that she wasn’t sure if she’d ever record again and played him some of the new songs she had written, and he encouraged her to start again. He then showed her “Tree’s We’ll Never See,” which was a song he wrote five years ago but never recorded. She was blown away by it because she has planted over 100 trees in her life and every time someone she knows dies, she plants a tree in their memory. She connected so much to the song and felt like she wrote it, and they booked the recording session immediately.
While in studio, Grant recalled the 2022 bike accident she was in. It caused her to have a traumatic brain injury and memory loss. She doesn't remember how it happened but was told it was from a four-inch deep pothole that stopped her in her tracks. She said life has been an adventure since then and that she’s different in some ways but it’s okay. She lost some of her inner monologue but realized that some things she thought used to matter don’t anymore.
Grant is in a new season of her life and feels like she’s a new version of herself. She can feel when one season of her life ends, and the next one begins. What she is discovering now is that there is something fantastic about every season of your life, but we live in such a youth-oriented culture, and no one shares the best things about their 60s and 70s. Her goal is to write songs about that dialog and those years because everyone must have things to look forward to. She hopes she’s able to encourage people to not be afraid to age and that it’s good to accept your place in life and thrive where you are.
Some other life updates Grant shared is she received an Honorary Doctorate from Notre Dame because she was involved in their program for their Senior class of engineering and architects. She invited them to come to their farm and see things they are already doing for their community and have an open space to work.
Grant is playing two back-to-back shows at The Ryman for the first time in 25 years. She usually does Christmas shows at The Ryman, but these shows will be completely different! Her two new songs “Tree’s We’ll Never See” and “What You Heard” are out now.