Michael W Smith
Michael W Smith can be booked through this site. Michael W Smith entertainment booking site. Michael W Smith
is available for public concerts and events. Michael W Smith can be booked for
private events and Michael W Smith can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this Michael W Smith booking page.
Unlike most middle agents that would mark
up the performance or appearance fee for Michael W Smith, we act as YOUR agent in
securing Michael W Smith at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
Michael W Smith and work directly with Michael W Smith or the responsible agent for
Michael W Smith to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of Michael W Smith for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
Michael W Smith Biography
Michael Whitaker Smith has become one of the most enduringly
popular artists on the Christian Contemporary Music front and is also
finding considerable success as a mainstream artist. He was born in
Kenova, West Virginia, the son of an oil refinery worker and a caterer.
He became a devout Christian at age ten and spent his teens hanging
around with a solid support group of fellow believers who frequently
gathered to play and make music. After high school, that support group
split up, and Smith turned to alcohol, drugs and wild times. He scraped
through a couple semesters of college and began honing his songwriting
skills. In 1978, a songwriting company expressed interest in his
songwriting, and he moved to Nashville, where he played with local
bands, including Rose. He was still heavily into drugs and continued
using until October 1979, when he suffered a sort of emotional mental
breakdown that culminated in recommitting to Christ. The next day he
auditioned for a new CCM group, Higher Ground, as a keyboardist. While
touring with them, Smith cleaned up his act.
In 1981, he signed to Meadowgreen Music as a staff writer, where over
the next few years he provided gospel hits for such artists as Sandi
Patti, Kathy Troccoli, Bill Gaither and Amy Grant. He began touring as
a keyboardist with Grant in 1982 and the following year, after
releasing his first album, The Michael W. Smith Project, became her
opening act. His debut album garnered him a Grammy nomination for Best
Gospel Performance. Smith became a headliner following the release of
his second album, Michael W. Smith 2. Afterwards, he changed musical
directions and began recording more rock-oriented music in order to
reach a younger audience. As a result, some of his songs became more
secular and began breaking through to mainstream audiences. His first
real shot at mainstream music came in 1991 when his label, Reunion
Records, allowed Geffen Records to distribute his albums. They chose a
two-pronged promo campaign with ads designed to appeal to both CCM
audiences and to the mainstream pop audience. This has caused some
controversy among his more religious fans, who feared that Smith was
selling out to the more lucrative secular market, but Smith saw it
differently, claiming that he is really only trying to get his message
out to a wider audience and to help young people. Over his career,
Smith has won both Dove and Grammy Awards, has topped Billboard charts
and has been hailed by Keyboard magazine as one of the top keyboardists
in rock.
Continuing his musical reign into the new millennium, Michael W. Smith
had sold more than seven million records and had 25 number one hits.
And Smith's undying commitment to music came with his first
instrumental record entitled Freedom. This album, which was recorded in
Ireland, featured backing from the Irish Film Orchestra Limited and
contained Smith's personal songs composed with his classic piano
arrangements. The live albums Worship and Worship Again arrived in
2001and 2002. 2004 saw the release of Healing Rain, Smith's first
recording of new studio material since the turn of the millenium. ~
Sandra Brennan, All Music Guide
Written by Sandra Brennan