New stuff all over the place!!

Well the day has finally come (yesterday) - NEW Amy Grant music on Itunes and the long awaited launch of the full new design of www.amygrant.com.  On top of all that, in the past week we have set Amy up on twitter (@amygrant) and I am also twittering official Amy news (@friendsofamy) and the rest of my life/work days (@jencooke).  We are also in the process of updating Amy's facebook and myspace pages and hooking everything together so that the flow of information is faster and more efficient.

All of these things are exciting development of ways we can connect Amy and her music to her audience but it also can be a bit mind-boggling to keep track of.  I woke up this morning and thought "Ok, I have to twitter, update facebook, blog, and then respond to twitters"....  oh yeah, and I have to give Braden a bath, get him off to pre-school, do my regular work emails and manage the side of Amy's career that has nothing to do with twittering!  The addition of social networking is fun and informative in real time but it also creates a busyness to an already very busy work schedule.  But it is all good -- just be patient with me (a constant plea) as we continue to work it all out and get it integrated.

Good news today - "Unafraid" is #12 on the Christian singles chart on Itunes and the "She Colors My Day" ep is #4 on the album chart.  Both are climbing.  I can't wait to tell Amy -- it will encourage her to see those numbers and remind her that there is an audience who LOVES when she releases new material.

Speaking of new material -- she has 7 more songs already completed.  We are considering releasing them in eps rather than full length albums just so we can keep the music coming to you on a more consistent basis.  For those of you who continue to ask for physical releases and not just digital, we hear you and are trying to figure out the very best way to do that.

Several people have asked me about production of the new stuff.  Well, Amy has taken a very different approach on these recording and is working with producers she has never worked with before.  On "Unafraid" and on several other new tracks she is working with Lead Me On tour band members and legendary session players Greg Morrow and Mike Brignardello.  The producer connection started during the 20th anniversary LMO tour - - Greg and Mike LOVED the new songs she would close the night with and asked if they could help her in the studio and create the tracks.  Amy has been very hands on with them and has co-produced all the tracks.  So far they have 5 completed and more to come.

And then in a shift in a totally different direction she was introduced to two young producers (Ian Fitchuck and Justin Loucks) who she met through singer/songwriter Mindy Smith.  Ian and Justin work with several young independent artists in Nashville and are very talented.  Amy has so enjoyed getting in the studio with them.  They create a very open artistic/creative community and the place is a revolving door of artists coming by to sing on each others projects.  Amy loves it.

Amy has been spending a lot of time recording her sessions with her new flip camera and we will begin posting her homemade videos in the next two weeks on www.amygrant.com.  I'll make sure to "tweet" when they are up!  And I'll blog.  And I'll update facebook...and myspace....  And so the cycle continues....

Blessings to all of you today.  Remember - love will make you UNAFRAID.

Jen

Comments

[Kristofer]

Thank you so much for all you do to keep us updated on Amy news! The past couple days have been amazing...and I'm so glad to hear Amy is going in a totally new producer/production direction. New winds blowing...

[Ryan]

Wow! We are all proud of the work you are doing and in keeping up with all the Amy news. Thank you for all that you do and juggling a crazy schedule. I like the idea of EP singles though I am still a huge fan of physical releases. I know times are changing in the world of music and physical CD's, unfortunately, will become a thing of the past eventually. Amy looks and sounds better than ever. Please encourage Amy to do more videos - she looks amazing!!

[Myra]

I'll take new music in any format I can get it! EPs work for me.

[Jen Norton]

The social networking stuff can overtake your life, can't it? But it's an amazing tool. Thanks for all you do to keep up and keep us connected to Amy!

[Sandy]

THANK YOU so much for taking time to keep us updated.
You are such a lovely Lady.
It´s always a great pleasure and gift to read your blogs.
I´m looking forward to Amy´s VIDEOS! WOW-that sounds great!
I love the new song "UNAFRAID"!
Cool that the EP and the song are placed so well in the i-tunes charts.

[Laura]

Jenn this is all great news!

Sounds like Amy has hit a new creative streak! I'm so excited!

[James Waddell]

thank you for the production/credits information...that is something, i think, we fans miss without a physical release...but don't get me wrong, digital is better than nothing...haha...loving the flow of information...amy's music has always been a godsend and continues to move me all these years later...

[chrisnu]

While getting new music as soon as possible sounds great, I don't think that the importance of releasing a proper album should be overlooked. Albums have a stream of musical and lyrical themes from song to song, rather than simply being a collection of songs. I think there's a potential danger in releasing multiple EPs, in that the coherence of an album may be lost. Amy's worth the wait of an album being released. However, if the quality of the work remains high, I won't complain.

[sfr]

Well I'm in agreement with you Chrisnu, that I could indeed wait for the
album in "the physical" as I love being able to see the photos,
background info on musical/production contributors, lyrics, 'special
thanks' etc, etc, that comes part and parcel with such releases. We
lose all of that with digital releases. But like you said, as long as
the quality of the work is maintained, I'll be glad to get what when
can get digitally. However, here's hoping that management can work
things in such a way whereas fans of both persuasions can be
appeased. Those wanting to hear the music in a more timely fashion,
can get to hear 4 song EP releases, every several months, let's say.
And then when all the EPs have been released, that perhaps they may
still feel it would be economically sound to release it 'physically'
in its entirety for the 'album buffs' who can then order it online or
purchase it at several major retail stores or Christian book stores.

[wayne mitchell]

Very true sfr! So what do i need to learn here? Do i need to start learning how to do itunes? And how do i burn them? I don't have a burner! So how in the world do i continue to get physical songs on a cd? What do i do? Everyone, i don't understand this! Heck, the only way i'm being able to listen to amy's songs, that are new, is through this website, woohoo! Im grateful for that, but sorry it's not enough! What do i do?

[Alan Carver]

"Speaking of new material -- she has 7 more songs already completed. We are considering releasing them in eps rather than full length albums just so we can keep the music coming to you on a more consistent basis. For those of you who continue to ask for physical releases and not just digital, we hear you and are trying to figure out the very best way to do that."

Okay, bottom line is Amy going to release a physical CD in the Fall? Or is it going to be released via digital format only? Could you please clarify this for us.

Thank you,

Alan Carver

[Michelle Gibson]

Once there is enough new music recorded, simply release an album on CD, just as Amy has already done.