So last Saturday night I suprised Kathy and took her to an acoustic Michael W Smith concert at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. Although I have seen him dozens of times I hadnt actully been to one of his concerts in years so it was cool to check it out. It was actually a very different kind of concert setting (including a rotating stage in a theatre in the round) and a great evening of worship with Smitty getting back to his roots on the piano. I have been a fan since my early teen years and even though my preferred musical style has changed since those days I was still very impressed by the creativity in the music and songstyles that is on the new album Stand. The Cd is actually not even out yet but will be in November. For us it was quite a flashback of our Nasvhille, Tennessee days where we saw him regularly in concert, at events, at church and many other place. More than the music though I am always impressed with his involvement in "ministry" outside the box including his movie, his involvement with the support of the president, his leadership in settings like 9-11, the Columbine shootings and the worship led by him in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the Amish memorial service. This guy has definitely gone above and beyond even his main calling in life to reach people. That to me stands out even more than the music itself. (check out the new CD. The song Cover Me is awesome)