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Point of Grace Interview 2010
Denise Jones, Heather Floyd and Terry Lang began singing as the Oauchitones in Norman, OK, but added Shelley Phillips in 1991 to form Say So (later Point of Grace) at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR. The CCM vocal group began touring, and a first-place finish in the group competition at the Christian Artists Seminar in Estes Park, CO caught the eye of the Word label, which signed the quartet, releasing a self-titled debut album in 1993. Their 1995 follow-up, The Whole Truth, expanded the pop-R&B sound of their first album with rock and folk influences. A year later, Life Love & Other Mysteries topped Christian charts and became a platinum best seller. In 1998 Point of Grace returned with Steady On, which, as the title suggests, found them true to the course set out on previous releases. With over 8 million albums sold, Dove Awards on their mantels, Grammy noms, and more, Point Of Grace is certainly not an act that needs any introduction to the Christian music fans. However, with the crossover success of their song “How You Live,” they have started their pursuit of the country market where they are still relative newcomers.
Official Point of Grace Website
1. When we last sat down to chat with you, you had been finishing up your album. That album, No Changin’ Us, is now set to drop. What can people expect to hear on it when they hit play?
Shelley – This is actually the very first record that we have ever done as a trio and we’ve been around many years in the gospel music world. We have always been known as Point of Grace, Contemporary Christian artist and quartet. For us the last year and a half since we became a trio we have been spending time finding ourselves and honing in on what our new sound is, it has been a unique time of discovery and rejuvenation. A lot of time when a record is made so much time is put in to it with instrumentation and background vocals to the point where when you go to try and reproduce it live sometimes it’s a let down, you can’t make it sound like it did on the record because it had to many bells and whistles. We have been performing songs off of this new record for the past month or so and our new sound is very organic, very rootsy and really lends itself to the country side of things. The best thing for us is we can actually go with one guitar player and reproduce the record and make it sound as much as when that person pushes play. I love records that sound like the person is right there sitting in front of you telling you a story and I think that is what this record is like for us.
2. You did begin to incorporate some more of a country sound into your album. How much of that will be showcased and did it take away any from the Christian style you are known for?
Leigh – Nathan Chapman was our producer and with his thumbprint on the record it is definitely going to lean itself to more of a country feel. We definitely approved that as well because that’s were we are, that’s were our sound is. As far as to what people are going to hear, the are still going to hear what Point of Grace is known for and that’s the harmonies, and they are still going to hear the lyrics that represent where we stand in our faith and our relationship with God. So those things that mattered to us are still very prevalent on this record, probably more so than ever. Nathan really understood where Point of Grace was and he understood where Point of Grace wanted to be and he was able to make both of those entities come together. I think whether they are old fans or new fans when they hear it they are going to love it because it sounds real. It doesn’t sound manipulated, it’s just as real as it can be. We all know that gospel music is opportunity to talk about your faith as well as country music. We feel that both entities work together very well on this record.
3. You worked with Nathan Chapman who is known for his work with Taylor Swift. What was it like to have him producing the album?
Denise – Nathan is so talented and I don’t know if everybody knows this but he plays almost every instrument. He really understands harmonies and the musicality of how to keep the violin lines not muddy up the melodic line of the vocals. He just really understand all that. He is a gift to work with, he is so relaxed and really put us at ease going into the studio. He would say, I just want you to going in there and just picture that you are singing in front of a live audience and you are singing and telling them the story of the song. I really think that he was able to capture the transparency of our voices as individuals and yet as we worked together to blend our harmonies. We were able to go in there and sing. He doesn’t want you to worry about the scoping process. He really enables you to go in there and relax. It shows up that when you listen to the album it captures something different that you may have not hear in you voice before. What really works about it is that we can go out there with just a guitar or a band and pull it off.
4. You recently released the song “Come To Jesus” to represent the new album first. Why did you decide this song was the best way to do that?
Shelley - Our Christian record label really just gravitated toward this song. This is one of the songs that Nathan found for us. We were sort of going back and forth between several different songs to figure out the finals songs that we wanted to put on the record and nobody could agree. Nathan said I just heard this song the other day, I think you guys might like it, let me play it for you real quick. It was a unanimous decision around the table, record company, A&R, management. This song ended up being the first single, the last song we found the last song we recorded. The money ran out, Nathan had to play all the instruments. It was one of those 11th hour things and wouldn’t you know that it ends up being the first single. It is just straight forward and has one of those timeless, hopeful messages that when people turn on the radio they want to hear.
5.Which one song from the album is your personal favorite and why?
Leigh – My favorite is probably the title cut “No Changin’ Us.” Nathan Chapman’s wife, Stephanie, who I think is one of the most incredible writers in recent years that have come out of
Denise – It is such a hard question because we are so loving the record right now. I am a huge fan of Hillary Lindsey and her writing abilities. We were finally able to record one of her songs this time around called “Wild Flower.” For us it is an up-tempo song which I love. I love that about it, it’s happy. I had the chance to sing this the other day at my children’s school. It’s about a girl that has big dreams and wants to be something and unsure to where that leads. We sing to so many teenage girls and mom’s that I feel that we all teenage girls at heart sometimes, about those insecurities of were we are going to be, what it is going to be like when we grow up. This is a song of hope. Don’t worry so much about what everybody else tells you that you need to be. Just be who God created you to be.
Shelley – One of my favorites is a song that we open the album with called “He Hold Everything.” Nathan was one of the writers on this song. I love songs that you can that you can put yourself into the lyric and picture yourself. It talks about things that the world is going through right now like hard economic times, makes you think about things like the earthquake in Haiti and questions that we all have like why do these things happen. This song is a great encouraging reminder that God holds everything in his hands and we have to trust and believe that he has our best interest at heart to and that is where our faith comes in. So hopefully people that are sort of questioning God, that are going through a hard time right now in life that this song can bring comfort to them.
6. Besides the album you have a new cookbook also coming out called Cooking With Grace. How did that project come together for you?
Leigh – If you ever see a Point of Grace show not only will you hear the music, you’ll hear us talk about the food we had that day…LOL! Because we love food. It something that we wanted to do for a long time. A friend of ours, Julie, it was a vision of hers where she just sat down one afternoon with Shelley and discussed an idea with her. It was a few elements that took place that made it hone in together to get it was it is today and that is the cookbook. It was a vision that we always wanted to do but it was Julie that put all of the details together and held us accountable to get all the recipes and stuff together. Four months later I am holding it in my hand, I am so glad that we did it and I am so glad that her vision was something that was quite contagious for us. We think it is going to be an opportunity for those people that have loved Point of Grace for a long time to get to know us even deeper. And for those that love to cook an opportunity to get some great hometown recipes, family recipes. We consider it a little scrapbook for us, it goes into detail on how we were raised and why certain things are so special to us. We look at it now and it is really a sweet little treasure to us to always have.
7. You will also be embarking on the Come Alive Tour with Mark Shultz. What are you most looking forward to with this tour?
Denise - The food…LOL! We are had been actually going out on the west coast a lot and we haven’t been out there in a while and we are excited about that. We are also excited to introduce people to our new music. It’s fun to do new songs and hopefully people will love it as much as we do.
8. How do you plan to incorporate some of the new songs with a tad different style and feel into your sets amongst the hits you are known for?
Shelley - Just naturally. It’s sometimes hard to guess. We have so many songs under our belt at this point that we get every night, oh you didn’t sing this song or you didn’t sing that song or thank you so much for singing my favorite song. Some songs work better live than others do. We just figure out a good formula, how many old, how many new. If we have done anything in the last 15 years or so since we have been together, you learn what connects well live and what doesn’t. Songs you think are going to work right sometimes don’t work well at all and other songs you never would expect to work well live the crowd loved them and you get a standing ovation after them. I think it is a trail and error and you figure out a good balance there.
9. You are obviously well recognized amongst the Christian genre and have dabbled now in the country genre. What major differences have you been able to notice between the two?
Leigh - Well off the top there is beer involved…LOL! It’s really not that different and I think that is one of the reasons that we are pleasantly surprised. We are finding that when we go into radio stations, we are fining that the people there knew Point of Grace because we had been to their church or what have you. So, their arms are wide open to us. Really we just aren’t seeing much difference. I’m actually kind of glad that I can’t really answer that as far as the differences because they have been so welcoming to this genre of music so we are thrilled about that.
Denise – The one thing that country music does so well, they embrace what is coming in as new but they don’t forget their past. I think it is such a lovely blend, they respect those who began at the Opry and the new people really pay tribute to them. It is such a neat relationship.
10. What advice can you offer to someone that is looking to break into the music industry?
Shelley – Oh gosh. We get that question more than any other question, I think because there are so many people that want to do this. I really feel like the tough love kind of advice is if it is country music see if you can sing around locally where other local country artists do. If you get asked back or ask to sing somewhere else that means to probable did a good job and you connected. If it’s Christian music, same advice at a church. I’d say don’t move to
