Simple Things (CD - 2003)

Personnel: Amy Grant (vocals, acoustic guitar); Vince Gill (vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin); Will Owsley (acoustic & electric guitars, background vocals); Tom Bukovac (acoustic & electric guitars); Keith Thomas (acoustic guitar, keyboards, bass, programming); Bobby Terry, Bruce Gaitsch, Pat Buchanan (acoustic guitar); Jerry McPherson, Kenny Greenberg (electric guitar); Jeffrey Roach (keyboards); Tommy Simms, Craig Nelson, Leland Sklar (bass); Chad Cromwell, Chris McHugh (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Tiffany Lee, Katy Hudson, Becki Corcoran (background vocals).

Producers: Keith Thomas, Brown Bannister, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Ron Hemby.

Recorded at The Bennett House, Franklin, Tennessee and Ocean Way Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.

Personnel: Amy Grant (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Vince Gill (vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, background vocals); Gordon Kennedy (guitar, electric guitar); Tim Pearce (guitar); William Owsley III (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Tom Bukovac (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Ron Hemby (acoustic guitar, nylon-string guitar); Keith Thomas (acoustic guitar, keyboards, programming, drum programming); Wayne Kirkpatrick (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Pat Buchanan, Bobby Terry, Bruce Gaitsch (acoustic guitar); Jerry McPherson, Kenny Greenberg (electric guitar); Jeff Roach, Jeffrey Roach (keyboards); Chris McHugh (drums, drum programming); Mark Hammond, Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken, Browning, David (percussion); Katy Hudson, Tiffany Lee, Felicia Sorensen, Kim Keyes (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Keith Thomas ; Bill Whittington.

Recording information: Ocean Way, Nashville, TN; Sound Kitchen; The Beanstalk Studio; The Bennett House, Franklin, TN; The Parlor; The Parlour.

Author: Garrison Keillor.

Photographers: Sam "Stovepipe No. 1" Jones; Sam Jones.

Amy Grant's first full-fledged secular album since 1997's BEHIND THE EYES is a masterful amalgam of contemporary country/pop with her Christian sensibility, which underpins most of the material here. In songs such as "Out in the Open" and "Beautiful," SIMPLE THINGS is both a celebration of Grant's new life with her husband Vince Gill and an affirmation of the power of forgiveness.

Her 9/11 song, "I Don't Know Why," is a world away from some of the more unsubtle efforts of her contemporaries, with its "All I know is love" refrain, while "Touch" with its insistent guitar loop is a sensual delight. The folksy simplicity of "Innocence Lost" belies the complex emotions lurking beneath its surface--here it's obvious that Grant's faith is very much part of her life, which sometimes costs her dear. SIMPLE THINGS is the sound of one woman trying to reconcile her spirituality with her life, and reaching some kind of understanding with herself. minimize