{"id":988,"date":"2011-12-20T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2011-12-20T17:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/wholenotes\/?p=988"},"modified":"2011-12-20T12:47:58","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T17:47:58","slug":"a-conversation-with-four-time-gma-female-vocalist-of-the-year-natalie-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/2011\/12\/a-conversation-with-four-time-gma-female-vocalist-of-the-year-natalie-grant.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with four-time GMA Female Vocalist of the Year Natalie Grant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It’s hard to believe, but the facts don’t lie. Natalie Grant recorded three albums between 1999 and 2003, and not one of them produced a single Top 40 Christian radio hit. A lot changed, however, in 2004, when Grant traveled to India and had some life-altering moments that not only changed her life, but brought a new passion and direction to her music.<\/p>\n

Since then, Grant has been a staple on the radio charts and has nabbed four Gospel Music Association Dove Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year. More importantly to Grant, she has discovered a burning desire to impact the lives of her listeners (in particular, girls and young women) and help draw attention to an endemic international crisis.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, we spoke to Grant about her first starring film role–a made-for-TV movie that aired on the Gospel Music Channel. You can read that part of the interview by clicking HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In this part of the Whole Notes interview, you can hear what Grant has to say about how her image has changed over the years, the message she hopes her music sends, and how Law & Order <\/em>changed her life:<\/p>\n

Bonham: When you were first introduced to the music world, it seems like your label was marketing your looks as much as your singing ability. How far removed do you feel from that point in your career and at what point do you think people started to catch on to what you had to offer as a singer and a songwriter?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Natalie Grant: I didn\u2019t make those choices in the beginning. That\u2019s so often part of the story with an artist. You get into a situation where other people are deciding what you should be, how you should be imaged, and then they\u2019re putting it out. What\u2019s even more disturbing is that it happens in a faith-based community where it\u2019s supposed to be all about your message. I struggled greatly with the way that they were imaging me. And even my record, to be truthful, I\u2019m so not proud of my first record at all. It wasn\u2019t me at all either. But, without it, I don\u2019t think I ever would have continued to progress and grow the way that I have. If you\u2019re an overnight success, you\u2019re not pushed as much to kind of dig deeper and find out more about yourself and what you\u2019re capable of. You just try to continue to do the same things to keep the same success going. And I did not find success with my first record. I didn\u2019t find success with my second<\/em> record or my third<\/em> record! It was my fourth! But I had the opportunity to continue making records. That first record label isn\u2019t around anymore, so I lost that deal and signed with someone else. I\u2019ve definitely had an interesting career path. What that\u2019s done is it\u2019s shown me that I can actually take control of those kinds of decisions and the first time that happened was on the Awaken <\/em>record. That\u2019s why it was so important for me to have the content be there and to be able to talk about who I was and who I am. But it\u2019s also because something significant happened in my life with my trip to India. It really did transform my life from the inside out. As a result, it transformed my heart.<\/p>\n

Bonham: So you\u2019re obviously much more comfortable with where you\u2019re at now and the kind of music you\u2019re able to produce for the public.<\/p>\n

Grant: Yes, and it\u2019s so important to me to make the message more important than the image because I have daughters. I see this message that the culture is sending to girls. I know the message that it sent to me and a lot of the struggles that I had growing up were because of that. I know what so many girls struggle with. I don\u2019t want to be the one that stands on stage and every girl out there says, \u201cOh gosh, I couldn\u2019t look like that\u201d or \u201cI want to look like that.\u201d I would want them to say, \u201cThere\u2019s a woman who\u2019s had a strong impact on my life because of her faith and the way that she lives her life and how honest and transparent she is.\u201d Hopefully I\u2019m accomplishing that.<\/p>\n

Bonham: The sex trafficking issue is slowly getting traction in the entertainment community and in the church. How has that ongoing international tragedy impacted you personally?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Grant: It\u2019s becoming trending now, which is incredible because trendy stuff gets done. When I first learned of it, I\u2019d never heard of it before. Nobody was talking about it. It was in 2004 and it wasn\u2019t really in the news yet, but an episode of Law & Order <\/em>did something about it. I never thought I\u2019d say that Law & Order <\/em>changed my life, but it did. It really did. It showed children being sold out of the back of a van in New York City. And that led me on a trip to India where I saw children for sale in the street. I went into a brothel. I saw a rope tied to the end of the bed and they told me it was for a 14-year old who was working in the room that night and she had a one-year old child and they tethered the child to the bed while the mother was forced to work. You\u2019re standing there thinking you\u2019re in the middle of some horror film. This cannot be real life. But it was. Then I learned that it happens here (in the United States). They broke up a brothel one mile from my front door in Nashville with 12 girls under the age of 15. So it wasn\u2019t just in India. It was in my front yard\u2014literally. Because of that, I started the Home Foundation. We\u2019ve gone through a rebranding and now it\u2019s called Abolition International. But I started that foundation in 2005 and it just blows my mind what God has allowed us to do and what we\u2019re continuing to do. The fight is massive. The problem is on such a massive scale that you can\u2019t wrap you\u2019re mind around it. Over 20 million people are still in slavery and most of them are young girls who are raped 20 and 30 times a night. How can you possibly even digest that? You can\u2019t. When you think about it from that aspect, it can be very defeating. Why even fight? It\u2019s too overwhelming. But one of the men in India that we worked closely with, he said, \u201cWe can only help the ones that God sends.\u201d I love that. We try to do that as well. We try to help the ones He sends. We can\u2019t sit here and think we\u2019re going to save 20 million, because that\u2019s too overwhelming and defeating and impossible. But you know what? We\u2019ll do our best to save and help and free the ones that He sends.<\/p>\n

To follow Natalie Grant’s music and touring schedule, visit her official website HERE<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

And to learn how you can support Abolition International, click HERE<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends! It’s hard to believe, but the facts don’t lie. Natalie Grant recorded three albums between 1999 and 2003, and not one of them produced a single Top 40 Christian radio hit. A lot changed, however, in 2004, when Grant traveled to India and had some life-altering moments…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[505,3,70,120],"tags":[579,577,113,576,575,578,470],"class_list":["post-988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awards","category-christian-music","category-music-feature","category-qa","tag-abolition-international","tag-child-sex-trafficking","tag-dove-awards","tag-female-vocalist-of-the-year","tag-gospel-music-association","tag-law-order","tag-natalie-grant"],"yoast_head":"\nA conversation with four-time GMA Female Vocalist of the Year Natalie Grant - Whole Notes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A conversation with four-time GMA Female Vocalist of the Year Natalie Grant - Whole Notes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Click “Like” to share this with your friends! 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Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=988"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":995,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions\/995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}