Kim Walker-Smith tour comes to City Church Chattanooga

When Kim Walker-Smith heads out on tour, things are perhaps a little different than they are for other musicians.

First, her husband, Skyler, is her tour manager. Nothing really unusual about that. Nor is she any different in wanting to put together an entertaining show for fans. Where things take on an added dimension is that for Walker-Smith, the main reason for the performance, the reason she even travels in the first place, is about more than singing. It's about connecting with people in a spiritual way.

"It's interesting," she says. "Creatively, we want people to enjoy the show, the music, and even visually, the mood of the music is important. But, the other side our goal is to help people to connect. I never felt called to be a singer, but I have it in my heart to be with God. I could go sing anywhere, but what I want to do and I love to do is to serve the body of Christ."

Walker-Smith will perform Tuesday, July 24, at City Church Chattanooga on Lee Highway. A member of Jesus Culture, a global evangelical organization, she says she travels the country performing and spreading the word of God. She has found that no matter where she goes, the people there have similar wants and needs, but the reception they give her does vary at times.

Fans who come to her shows in the South are polite and receptive. The folks in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives, are a little more distant, while the folks in the upper eastern part of the country are very receptive.

"They are really passionate," she said of the people she encounters in the Northeast.

"I don't think a lot of people like me get up there, so when we do get there, they are so happy to see us. The same with Miami. I love going to Miami. The Bible Belt is a mixture. Maybe they like it, but they are not as expressive. The Pacific Northwest is more 'unchurched' perhaps," she says with a laugh.

Walker-Smith says that it was discovering that people could be passionate about their religion that turned her life around. While attending a Christian college in Redding, California, she was struggling with her grades and life in general when she stumbled across an all-night prayer house run by the Bethel Church. It opened her eyes to a new world.

"I didn't know that such passion existed," she says.

"I didn't know people could be so excited or passionate about their relationship with Jesus. That a relationship like that could exist outside of a church. I had just thought that God lived inside the walls of a church. It really, really impacted me."

That is the message she hopes to share with people through her music and her performance on Tuesday.

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6354.