Audio clip
Ted Gocke
Among contemporary Christian artists, it doesn’t get any bigger than Steven Curtis Chapman.
The singer/songwriter, with seven Artist of the Year Dove Awards to his name, will headline the Coca-Cola Stage tonight at the Riverbend Festival.
“One of his nicknames,” according to Ted Gocke, director of development and an on-air personality at radio station J103, “is Mr. Dove Man because he’s won so many. They’ve tried for years to get him (at Riverbend), but because of scheduling they couldn’t. It’s going to be incredible.”
Mr. Chapman won his first Artist of the Year Award in 1990 and won his most recent one this year. His 56 Dove Awards, like the Artist of the Year honors, are a record for the Gospel Music Association.
In all, he has sold more than 10 million records.
“He’s one of the mainstays in Christian music,” said Mr. Gocke. “When contemporary Christian music first began to get popular, he was right there. If there’s a legacy, he’s it.”
As a testament to that legacy, he said, “you’ll see kids jamming, their parents and even senior adults” at Riverbend.
Mr. Chapman, whose music includes ballads, upbeat numbers and edgy pop tunes, often sings about families and the ties among family members. In fact, two of his sons are members of his band.
Just over a year ago, he lost his 5-year-old daughter, Maria Sue, in an automobile accident in his driveway. That tragedy, according to Mr. Gocke, has only strengthened the bonds with his fans.
He said Mr. Chapman has said on several talk shows that “for whatever reason God has allowed (the accident) to happen,” it has given him a large platform to share about how God can “pull you through tragedies” like his.
The Franklin, Tenn., resident’s current album, “This Moment,” was released in 2007 and was his first new project in more than three years.
“Cinderella,” the album’s best-known track, receives a lot of requests on J103, Mr. Gocke said, and often is requested for father-and-daughter dances at weddings for which he DJs.
The song, inspired by a bathtime encounter with daughter Stevey Joy and her sister, Maria, “hits home with so many people,” he said.
The concert, Mr. Gocke said, will be “like sitting down and listening to a greatest-hits album. (Mr. Chapman) reaches across generations. He shares from the heart. He’s perfect for Riverbend. He can do it all.”
Clint Cooper is the faith editor and a staff writer for the Times Free Press Life section. He also has been an assistant sports editor and Metro staff writer for the newspaper. Prior to the merger between the Chattanooga Free Press and Chattanooga Times in 1999, he was sports news editor for the Chattanooga Free Press, where he was in charge of the day-to-day content of the section and the section’s design. Before becoming sports ...
I really enjoyed the first half hour of Steven Curtis Chapman. But then it became a sermon/talk act. What happened to the music? That's why we were there. At the end of the 1st hour people were streaming out of the seating area as we got less and less music. What a shame, instead of a celebration of joy in Christ, we got to hear five minutes of talk repeated numerous times. That 1st 1/2 hour was worthwhile, but we left early as there didn't seem to be anymore music coming.
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