Michael W. Smith hopes that the “tremendous buzz” surrounding his song “Come Together Now” will translate into millions of dollars raised to aid Haiti quake victims.
The song, which was written by Smith, David Mullen and Cindy Morgan and performed by a chorus of several dozen Nashville music stars including Wynonna, Vince Gill and Amy Grant, is available through all digital retailers. Proceeds from the single will go to designated charity and relief work through Samaritan’s Purse and the American Red Cross.
“I think Haiti has been one reason for a lot of us to come together and count our blessings and know that every day is a gift,”Smith said at Thursday’s news conference to announce nominations for the Dove Awards.
“When something like this happens, I think it can rock you to your core, and you start to see the brevity of life and you start to think, ‘What the heck am I doing with my life?’ you start to be more proactive about reaching out to somebody who needs a hand just little things. you don’t have to cross the Atlantic to be a missionary.”
The music video for “Come Together Now” can be seen at tennessean.com/music. the song also will be the lead track on the Healing4Haiti compilation album, which will be released on March 2.
Psychic’s show postponed
Sylvia Browne, the world-renowned psychic who was a frequent guest on The Montel Williams Show, has postponed tonight’s performance because of illness.
The rescheduled show is April 24 at the Acuff Theatre near Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Tickets sold for tonight’s show will be honored at the new date, and refunds will be available at point of purchase.
At the April show, Browne will perform 200-300 psychic readings for audience members and discuss the importance of being physically, mentally and morally healthy.
“I’m a psychic, but I like to think of myself a spiritual teacher, too,” Browne said in a recent phone interview. “The one thing I’ve noticed with a lot of psychics is that they don’t give credit to God, and I think you have to. I think everything comes from God. I think most of us are just tubes anyway. If we’re going to give a message, we are nothing but a tube, and I always try to get to as many people as I can.”
Browne holds a raffle at each show to determine who will receive readings.
“I wouldn’t keep this up if people didn’t tell me I saved their lives, or ‘I now believe in God’ or ‘I was thinking about suicide and now I’m not,’ ” she said. “I think that’s what keeps me going.”
TobyMac’s ‘Tonight’ starts strong
TobyMac’s fourth solo album, Tonight, is his highest solo career debut. the album sold more than 78,000 units in its first week of issue, entering the Billboard Top 200 at No. 6 and topping the Christian SoundScan chart.
The lead single, “City on our Knees,” was nominated for a Grammy and became the fastest-selling track in TobyMac’s career, with more than 225,000 downloads.
Snider says new album might be the last for a bit
It’s a good thing that Todd Snider’s latest recession-inspired disc, The Excitement Plan, is such a fine listen it might be the last album the East Nashville musician puts out for a while. Snider told The Tennessean he might “study songwriting under some other people for a few years, and then reapproach it.”
“Whatever argument I was in, I feel like I’m not in it anymore,” he says. “Songwriting is traditionally for the unhappy, and most of them spend a good deal of time with their head in the oven. I wouldn’t mind trying sanity out for a few years.”
Luckily, Snider isn’t taking a break from performing he’s playing at TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater (505 Deaderick St., 782-4000) on Saturday. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show are $22.50-$40 through TPAC’s box office, by visiting tpac.org or by calling 615782-4040.
Snider guarantees “a 90-minute distraction from your impending doom.”
Get a ‘plus one’ at Lloyd’s show
Bill Lloyd has been a guitar-wielding fixture on the Nashville music scene for a long and good time. lately he’s most reliably been seen on stages as an integral part of The Long Players, a collective that renders live versions of classic albums.
At 9 tonight, Lloyd will deliver some cover tunes, but also a healthy dose of originals in his plus One gig at Family Wash, 2038 Greenwood Ave. in Nashville, 226-6070.
Lloyd expects some pals to show up as well, and each of them will play an original and a cover. See, “plus one.”
There’s no cover charge, but mind the tip jar.