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SPRINGFIELD — Before Christian punk, Christian rap, Christian ska, Christian metal, Christian hardcore and Christian indie-pop, there basically was just one Christian.

Amy Grant.

Before Michael W. Smith extolled the virtues of having born-again friends, before Steven Curtis Chapman won any of his 51 Dove Awards and before dc Talk dropped their first dope Jesus-rhyme, she was in a league all by herself.

The 10 Commandments aside, she made all the rules.

But Grant, who plays Kuss Auditorium on Friday, May 9, remains ever so selfless about her contribution to contemporary Christian music.

"There were people who came before me," Grant said. "People like Larry Norman, who just passed away, they went where no one had gone before.

"To me, they cut the roadbed ... I just smoothed it down."

Really, that's all it took — someone to take the pop style of the day and put it to a positive (usually biblical) message.

But it wasn't a long-haired Jesus freak like Norman who, for all his efforts in the late '60s and early '70s, remained a cult figure to the end to anybody outside youth group.

In 1977, with the release of a self-titled debut, that someone became a 16-year-old girl.

For whatever reason, Grant just clicked.

"Musically, I'm sure I'd do it all differently now. Everyone's tastes change," Grant, now 47, explained. "I'm just shocked I still have the chance to record."

Her legacy presumably guarantees some kind of recording contract for life (and maybe the next one, too).

With "Age to Age" in 1982 — Michael W. and Steven Curtis were yet to even drop their first albums — she was the first Christian artist to go platinum.

"I was willing to work and had so many people with vision around me," Grant said. "I had record companies who believed in me."

Her version of gospel music sounded (almost) like anything else on the radio at whatever time the albums were made.

In 1991, with the release of the album "Heart in Motion," Grant took contemporary Christian music to a heavenly new level.

By then, her original label, Word Records, had approached A&M about getting her a bigger platform — she'd simply outgrown them.

"That was generous on Word's part," Grant said.

Whether the music has aged well and whether "Baby Baby" now reminds you of having your teeth cleaned at the dentist office is irrelevant — 5 million of you bought the tape.

Thanks to "Baby Baby," the first song from a contemporary Christian artist to hit No. 1, "Heart in Motion" was up for album of the year at the 1992 Grammys.

The album gave rise to three more Top 10 hits: "Every Heartbeat," "That's What Love Is For" and "Good for Me." ("I Will Remember You" hit No. 20.)

While Grant isn't nearly as active as she used to be — she's down from 150 shows a year to, so far this year, three — she's hoping to have a new album out next year.

In the meantime, she'll compile her past Christmas music, along with four new songs, for a holiday release later this year.

"Like I need more Christmas music," she joked.

But as Grant inches toward 50, she could now just sit back as an elder stateswoman of contemporary Christian music if that's all she really wanted to do.

"My husband (country star Vince Gill) and I went to the Dove Awards," Grant said. "Oh my goodness, I have never been so proud.

"Vince, who is pretty accomplished himself, turned to me and said, 'I wish there were as many great singers in country music.' "

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or amcginn@coxohio.com.

How to go

Who: Amy Grant

When: 8:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Kuss Auditorium, in a show to benefit the Clark State Performing Arts Center expansion project

Tickets: $20 to $75. Call (937) 328-3874 or go to pac.clarkstate.edu

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