Cape Girardeau to be first stop in 23-city Rock & Worship Roadshow Tour

The stars are aligning with and for contemporary Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman.

Chapman, one of two Grammy Award-winning artists scheduled for tonight’s Rock & Worship Roadshow in Cape Girardeau, is beginning the 30-year celebration of his debut album in 1987.

The five-time Grammy winner, who has sold more than 11 million albums, will be sharing the stage with seven other artists, including Grammy Award-winner Francesca Battistelli, as the road show opens a 23-city tour at 7 p.m. today at the Show Me Center.

The setting is not far from Chapman’s anonymous beginnings in Paducah, Kentucky.

“This is like my hometown show, man,” Chapman said in a recent telephone interview. “I’m super excited. I’m going to get family there. It’s the first show of the tour, so that’s going to be cool, and everybody is excited about the opening night. It’s going to be a fun night. Can’t wait.”

Francesca BattistelliSubmitted photo

In addition to Chapman and Battistelli, who won her Grammy in 2016, the lineup includes Jordan Feliz — recently named the Gospel Music Association Dove Awards’ New Artist of the Year for 2016 — Rend Collective, Passion, Family Force 5, Derek Minor and Urban Rescue. Carlos Whittaker will host the event, and Tony Wolf will speak. General admission is $10.

The tour coincides with a milestone year for Chapman, the most decorated artist in contemporary Christian music with a record 58 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, an American Music Award and 48 No. 1 singles, in addition to his Grammys.

Chapman has 23 albums — eight of which are gold or platinum — to date, the most recent “Worship and Believe,” and he will release a book, “Between Heaven & The Real World,” next month.

“My whole story that began in Paducah, I’m telling about all that in my book that’s coming out at the same time [as the tour],” Chapman said. “So it’s like I’m celebrating. It’s just a real milestone for me, a lot of things that have happened in my life, and this tour is just kind of giving me a cool way to celebrate this with these artists and with my music that night.”

Chapman said he started working on the book, which gives the deeper story behind many of his songs, about three years ago, knowing he had a 30-year anniversary approaching, and thought he had plenty of time to complete the project. He didn’t realize the time constraint under which he was working.

Rend CollectiveSubmitted photo

“When I’m writing a song, I’ll rewrite the song, and sometimes it’ll take me a year to finish a song, and that’s like 100 words, and this is like 100,000 words, so I should have known it was going to take a lot longer,” Chapman said with a laugh.

Chapman is known for his storytelling lyrics, and with a combination of musical styles ranging from pop to country, has created a trove of hits that include “Dive,” “Live Out Loud,” “Cinderella,” “Do Everything” and “I Will Be Here.”

“I grew up with a lot of country music, a lot of folk music, a lot of bluegrass music in my veins, so I’m sure it kind of comes out in the music that I write, for sure,” Chapman said. “My dad calls it the McCracken County sound.”

His latest album has been a departure, embracing the popular corporate worship style used by many churches. He sought input from Rend Collective, an Irish worship-style band, and others in the writing process.

Chapman’s songs often revolve around the events in his life, and the death of his 5-year-old daughter Maria Sue in 2008 has made it a journey that has tried and strengthened his family’s faith and left an indelible mark on his work. Chapman, his wife, two sons and oldest daughter all have the word “See” tattooed on their bodies, a word Maria Sue, one of three girls they adopted from China, had written the day of her death in an accident at the family’s home.

The word is also part of the Bible verse Psalm 34:8: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Like Psalms, “Worship and Believe” has a soul-testing journey at its roots, one filled with lamentation and grief, as well as thanks and praise.

“Part of what kept me really alive, honestly, through the darkest grief of that was songs of just, this is what I’m going to choose to believe. I’m going to hold onto this, and I’m going to trust God, although life and circumstances cause me to maybe want to shake my fist and say, ‘God where are you? How could you?’ I’m going to choose to trust God and worship him,” Chapman said.

Battistelli on card

Battistelli’s Grammy came for her live rendition of “Holy Spirit,” a corporate worship song that has generated more than 10 million views on YouTube. It’s a departure from her trendy pop songs and videos.

The 31-year-old New York native has six Dove Award honors, including Artist of the Year in 2010, and six No. 1 singles.

“Holy Spirit” was a cover version she decided to include on her last album, “If We’re Honest,” at the last moment with no expectations of it being released as a single.

“But it turned out to be, I think, the best, in terms of charting, of any of my songs,” Battistelli said. “Crazy how that all works. Definitely the Lord’s plan, not ours, but you love it. It’s an honor to see it do so well.”

She has garnered nominations for Song of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards with “I’m Letting Go,” “Free to Be Me” — her first No. 1 song on the Christian radio charts — and “Beautiful, Beautiful” from 2009 to 2011, respectively.

Like Chapman, she can play to an array of styles, but her sweet spot is a pop sound, sometimes tempered with alternative and soul. As a teen, she started out in a female band, Bella.

“I realized I wasn’t singing about anything that mattered, and I’ve always loved the Lord, but he really just captured my heart for worship and for music that glorified him, and that’s all I wanted to write, and that’s all I’ve really written since,” Battistelli said in a phone interview.

Originally, she sought to add something to a Christian music scene that was becoming more inclusive stylistically, but not on all fronts.

“I think from just a sound perspective, when I came on the scene 10 years ago, there wasn’t a lot of females on the radio, and the ones that [were on] just kind of had a sound ... it felt like females were pegged in a certain way, and I just wanted to break that mold a little bit,” Battistelli said. “And I think I did. And it’s been cool to see in the last 10 years how many more women have kind of joined our ranks in the industry and have done well.”

Battistelli uses polished vocals and music videos to project a popular sound and look while maintaining spirituality in words and subject. Her catchy rhythms can resonate with younger audiences, but she also can change the pace for wider appeal.

“It’s never been obviously targeted at teenagers or college students,” Battistelli said. “I think my fans that come to my concerts run the gamut of ages, but I tend to see a lot of families, which is cool — moms and their daughters will both approach me and say, ‘We both love your music,’ and that’s really special for me to think that it’s got a wide reach.”

She expects to play for about 35 minutes before Chapman, the final performer of the evening.

“It’s very exciting,” Battistelli said about playing in Cape Girardeau. “We’re looking forward to the tour. We think it’s a great place to kick it off.”

jbreer@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3629

Pertinent address:

Show Me Center, Cape Girardeau, Mo.