[WM] Worship Influencer Buyer's Guide 2023 | Page 19

[ WM ] Tell us how this journey all began for you . How did the course of your life lead you to where you are now ?

[ Grant Norsworthy ] I ’ ve been connected with the Christian Church - and music within the Church - my whole life . I picked up the bass guitar when I was about nineteen and pretty much immediately started playing in bands inside and outside the Church : garage bands , cover bands , wedding bands , party bands , original bands , whatever . Bands in church services and at Christian events , but also lounge rooms , backyards , bars , clubs , and concert venues .

Music moved me deeply . It still does . For me , making music is better than listening to music . I decided that I wanted to try to have a career making music . As a follower of Jesus , I wanted to have a career making music that pointed people towards The Cross of Jesus the Christ . That showed the worth of God !

This all started in Australia where , I would say , the lines of demarcation between what might be thought of as being “ secular ” and “ scared ” music are less distinct . It wasn ’ t terribly extraordinary for me to play bass at a

Melbourne night club until 3am on a Sunday morning and then be playing bass again in a church service at 10am . I saw how music could be used to make people want to dance or mosh and more … or sing worshipfully to God .

It was with the independent original band PC3 ( or Paul Colman Trio - a three-piece built around our lead singer and main songwriter Paul Colman ) that I was able to make the leap to full-time recording , touring pro musician . We formed in Melbourne in 1998 . Paul , Phil Gaudion ( our drummer ) and I were - and are - sincere followers of Jesus as The Christ . We released four well-received independent albums in Australia and New Zealand before relocating to Nashville , TN , USA in early 2002 and started working with Nashville-based management , producers , record label and all that .

Our music was always trying to point towards truth - and the ultimate Truth of Jesus - but it ’ d be fair to say that not all of our music easily fit into the American idea of what Christian Contemporary Music ( or “ CCM ” as it was called ) should be . I ’ m not sure that we three guys - collectively or individually - fit neatly into the American Christian ideal either . Still , we enjoyed some success for a short period . After two albums on the Essential label , we broke up in 2004 .

It was during those PC3 years that something started to change in CCM . We spent most of 2002 as an opening act for Third Day . They had just released the “ Come Together ” album . I heard it called a ” worship album ”. I started hearing a new term - “ worship artist ” - referring to people like Chris Tomlin and Darlene Zschech . Our management and the label were telling us that , “ Worship ’ s what ’ s hot right now ”, “ You should do worship to end your concerts ”,

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