One of the questions I get asked a lot, is about how I ended up as a background singer on tours. In a nutshell, here’s how the story goes.
While I was living in Ft. Collins, Colorado, a concert promoter friend of mine, had been booking CCM artists such as David Meece and Amy Grant, for shows . She had booked David, at Red Rocks Amphitheater, for a show one summer. At the show, which I attended, she found out that David was planning a tour for the fall and he was looking for background singers. So she took me backstage after the show, and introduced me to David. He was willing to give me a shot to audition. So I borrowed a guitar and auditioned for him right then and there. He was very encouraging and said he was interested in the possibility of having me sing on his fall tour. He wanted me to audition for his management that would be with an artist recording at Caribou Ranch. That artist was Amy Grant. She was there recording her first Christmas record.
I drove up to Caribou Ranch and did my second audition for Amy’s management. They liked my voice and encouraged me to keep singing, but weren’t sure if it made sense to bring someone in from outside the Nashville area, since background vocalists are practically growing on trees there! Never the less, I was still very encouraged by the whole thing.
Several months passed by and I found out from my promoter friend that they wanted me to come to Nashville and start rehearsals for David Meece. About two weeks later I was on the road with David and White Heart. While on the road on that first tour, I decided to move to Nashville and take the plunge into the music scene. I was in town for about a week when I was asked to audition for the “Straight Ahead Tour.” That was the first time I met Amy. I auditioned singing harmony with her on one of her songs. I was told a couple of days later, that I got the gig, A week later we went into rehearsals. A month later, I was out on the road, on the “Straight Ahead” tour.
I’ve continued to sing with many other artists both in the CCM arena as well as pop and country even, including Alex Harvey (Delta Dawn, Reuben James, etc.) Chris Eddy (songwriter for Lynyrd Skynyrd, bassist w/ Shelby Lynne), Greg Barnhill (hit country songwriter). I’ve enjoyed all of the work I’ve done as a background vocalist on the road and in the studio.
Here’s a list of tours and artists I’ve done background vocal work for on the road:
David Meece and White Heart Tour
David Meece Australia Tour
Candle in the Rain Tour
Amy Grant
Straight Ahead
Unguarded
Heart in Motion
Michael W. Smith
Eye to Eye
Russ Taff
Rick Cua Italy Tour
Don Moen South East Asia Tour
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Very cool. I had all of those albums and was growing in my Christian walk along the way. Isn’t it funny how music has a way to connect us to various events and seasons of our lives. Music has helped “disciple” me along the way in a sense. I can hear songs from those records today and recall what the Lord was doing in my heart and life. It is refreshing to go back and listen to them from time to time. Renee, I even found a large tour book from Unguarded that has some photos of you in it. Who would have guessed years later our lives would connect in Mexico. Great to see you still loving Jesus with the same passion and using your gifts to honor Him! – Margie Boyd, Tyler, TX
Thanks Margie! It’s great to hear from you; sure do miss bowling in Mexico! It is cool how different songs take us back to different moments in our lives and we get to remember those times and see how far we’ve come along in life. Of course photos from back in the day cause me ask the question, ” What in the world was I wearing and what’s up with my hair!?”
Renee
Hey Renee,
Fascinating, thanks for sharing! I think I’ve asked you this before but has any audio survived of those tours you did with David and Amy? Even if it was just as no frills as somebody popping a cassette in the soundboard, do you know if any audio was captured even just for their own archival purposes? Neither Amy or David released live versions of those shows on VHS or anything. I’d do anything to track down bootlegs from that era.
How cool for you! Great memories.
Joey DiGuglielmo
Joey,
Thanks for the comment! For some reason my brain did some kind of random association and I thought of the Elton John tune that has the line “candle in the wind” in it; or i just could have forgotten to take my daily dose of ginko biloba! During the Amy tour they taped the shows every night. I have no idea where those recordings may have ended up. I have some video of Amy and the band on the Grammys, and the Wise Up video. All I have of the David Meece tour is pics. At some point I may post some of those under the yesterday tab on our website. And yes, you are a smart butt for calling me on it; just kidding!
Renee
Oh and by the way Renee, not to be a smart ass, but David’s tour was called “Candle in the RAIN” (not wind). ha ha — I have an LP of that album framed and autographed above my desk. He signed it for me this summer.
Oh, btw, Joey, because of you, I’m gonna fix the title of the tour in the post. HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY! LOL
Thanks so much for writing!
Renee
Ha ha — thanks Renee. So lovely to hear from you and nice of you to reply. You’re a doll.