We are in the midst of an Amy Grant Renaissance (an Amygrantaissance?) because the world is full of blessings we do not deserve. Amy Grant’s career flourished in the late 80s and early 90s, when she proved that Contemporary Christian artists could thrive in the mainstream in ways undreamed of by those who went before her. To some extent, acts like Jars of Clay, Switchfoot, P.O.D. and Lecrae only fly because Amy Grant ran, and she ran nowhere with more confidence than she did her beloved Christmas albums, which she memorialized Monday with a brand new performance at NPR for one of their beloved Tiny Desk concerts.
NPR has hosted everyone from the Wu Tang Clan to Anderson .Paak, pushing a few desks aside and letting acts set up in their offices to perform a few hits. This is Grant’s first Tiny Desk performance, and NPR Music notes that over the course of her “fabulous four-decade career” …you not only hear an artist progress — from ’80s synth-pop to lush string arrangements to a contemporary Nashville sound — but as a person, as her own feelings and faith surrounding the season evolve with a mixture of melancholy and cheer.”
