Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman are touring together Christian Music

Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman are touring together

January 25, 2009 – 11:13 am

It’s like Elvis Presley and the Beatles coming to town for fans of Christian contemporary music.

For the first time, singer-songwriters Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman are touring together, and the accomplished musicians will be stopping at Purdue University for a 7 p.m. March 29 concert at Elliott Hall of Music.

Combined, the artists have sold more than 25 million albums and have scored numerous Dove, American Music and Grammy awards. The two have ruled Christian radio with dozens of No. 1 singles as well.

This will be the first Christian contemporary concert Purdue Convocations has brought in, according to Abby Eddy, marketing director for Convos. Eddy added that Convos has been trying to get the artists into Purdue for the past several years. Now they get them both on the same night.

Tickets range from $20 to $55 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Feb. 13 for Purdue and Ivy Tech students and Purdue faculty and staff. The general public can buy tickets starting at 10 a.m. Feb. 14.

The Smith and Chapman tour was conceived after the musicians teamed up for the recent CompassionArt Project in the U.K.

One of Smith’s hits, “You Are Holy,” was originally written by Marc Imboden, an Indianapolis singer-songwriter and worship leader. He said he wrote the tune in 1994. In 1999, he was contacted by Smith’s record label that he wanted to use the “echo song.”

Imboden said the tune just traveled around the country from tabs he wrote or people learning it after a worship service.

“You Are Holy” wound up in a musical that Smith’s daughter was in. She pitched the song to her father, thus making the song a national hit.

“For whatever reason, it resonated with people,” Imboden said. “It was like the telephone game … . I would travel around the country and show up in places I’d never been before but people already knew it. It was an odd situation.”

The song ended up on a Veggie Tales movie, too.

Imboden said he plans on checking out the concert at Purdue. He has met Smith a couple times over the last 10 years.

“And I want to see Chapman. He’s great,” Imboden said.

Christian Music Online