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Today as I was going through some YouTube videos I was reminded of my days in college, which were not that long ago. This got me to thinking about a time when the most important things in my life collided like a beautiful piece of artwork: God, music, and journalism.
At the University of Houston, I studied broadcast journalism and minored in sociology. I was also active with the daily campus newspaper, The Daily Cougar. It was also around this time that I joined another christian campus group called Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. I was previously in the Baptist Student Ministry because I attended a Southern Baptist Church at the time, but things were falling apart quickly and I felt like God was calling me elsewhere. So I joined Intervarsity and started attending their Wednesday night women’s bible study.
It was also around this time that I decided to cover the Moores School of Music beat at the Daily Cougar – which meant I was covering quite alot of classical music and opera. Still a good training ground for music journalism but it wasn’t what I listened to. However, I had gotten word that summer that one of my favorite Christian artists, Amy Grant, was going to re-release and recreate the corresponding tour from her landmark 1988 album Lead Me On. Now I say ‘landmark’ because essentially Grant is the Christian answer to either Madonna or Michael Jackson. The Lead Me On tour sold out arenas! She was that huge in the 1980′s.That’s a pretty big deal for a Christian artist to be doing that considering that, at the time, it was a niche market.
Being the journalist I am, I knew this would be huge. I also knew that it would be a pretty cool thing to cover because it even had the chance of meeting her and covering her upcoming concert. Also, people would hear about the message of Christ’s love. I had to go after this!
However, I knew this required alot of prayer. Prayer in both approaching the Life and Art editor for permission to do the article and that the request from Grant’s management would go through. So one day while in the office I overheard the Life and Art Editor and my friend Mike talking about the lack thereof concerts in Houston during the month of November. So since it was a slow news month for life and arts, they let me do it just as long I could get her management info. So I immediately looked up Blanton, Harrelll, Cook, Corzine management and my editor set it all up.
Responding, though, wasn’t quick. Since tickets were already included within the coverage (because that’s how things work when you cover life and arts – most of the time), I waited and waited to buy tickets. Finally, both my editor and I had given up on Grant’s management contacting us so I went ahead bought the tickets. They weren’t the ones I wanted: balcony! I wanted floor.
A few weeks later, my prayer got partially answered. I got a week before the concert saying I was cleared to cover the concert. So I had extra tickets (which I gave to my father) went to the concert and thoroughly enjoyed hearing such classics as “Find A Way,”"Love of Another Kind,” “Angels,” “Stay for Awhile,” and almost all of the good songs from her “Lead Me On” album.
I was unaware though, that there was a little slip in the envelope containing the tickets that said “come meet the band after the show.” The chance to meet my childhood (and adult) musical idol was essentially blown.
Maybe one day I will get to meet her. It is on my bucket list.
Till then!
