One of the most celebrated artists in Contemporary Christian Music,
singer-songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman boasts an impressive list of industry
achievements: more than 10 million records sold, 56 Dove Awards (more than
any other artist), five Grammys, and 45 No. 1 radio singles. Chapman’s polished
songcraft has not only earned heaps of critical and commercial acclaim; it has
helped transform the CCM genre, infusing it with a radio-friendly pop and rock
sensibility that catalyzed its growth over the last two-plus decades.
“Steven was among the best of that new breed that came along, along
with Michael W. Smith,” says Tommy Coomes, a pioneering musician, producer
and executive who’s been influential in Christian music circles since 1970.
“He’s got the hit-making sensibilities, and I don’t think one could possibly
overshoot the fact that he’s inspired so many other people to write better
songs and go for it, just like the Beatles gave bands permission to write
their own songs and sing, and not just do what an A&R guy says. Like a
Renaissance man, he does it all, and that’s very unique.”
Chapman grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, in an environment he describes
as “acoustic guitar rich.” His father, Herb, owned a music store, Chapman Music
(which he still runs), where he was exposed to a lot of acoustic instruments.
Chapman credits his father not only with sparking his interest in playing, but
also in the creative process of writing songs. “He and his buddies would lock
themselves in the kitchen for hours with their little reel-to-reel tape recorder,”
he says. “I remember pressing my ear up to the door to listen and being fascinated
that they were in there creating music and writing songs. I was always really
enamored with that; there was something cool and mysterious about it.”
Chapman was also influenced by the records his dad had in the house,
including those of ’70s singer-songwriters like Jim Croce, John Denver and
James Taylor. “Especially the cool acoustic riffs they’d write their songs
around,” he adds. “And then bluegrass — Ricky Skaggs was a huge hero of mine.
And Glen Campbell. I would listen to his live record and slow it down from 33
to half speed and try and figure out what he was playing, [especially] some of
those crazy jazz solos that he’d do. I also used to watch The Mac Davis Show.
He’d go out in the audience with his guitar, people would throw out a song title
or just a phrase, and then he’d write a song on the spot around that title or
those words. I was a Jerry Reed fan, too. He probably influenced some of my playing,
some of his kind of blues-influenced swamp guitar style.”
In his college years, Chapman took a summer job at Opryland USA in Nashville,
where he played and sang in a country band to help pay for school. An audience member
got wind that he was an aspiring songwriter, and soon an introduction was made with
Bill Gaither, an influential publisher in gospel music circles, who took Chapman under
his wing. Working at the publishing house would prove to be his songwriting boot camp,
but Chapman’s dedication to his craft would pay off. He signed with the Christian label
Sparrow Records, and his debut record, First Hand, was released in 1987. The recording
sessions would later lead him — indirectly — to his first Taylor, a 510.
Chapman later added a 714 to his arsenal. “I loved the size of it; I loved writing
on it,” he explains. “I think it fits great in a track. With my music being sometimes
rock and needing a guitar that just cuts through the wall of sound, it’s got to have
a more compact sound. I love the huge range of the Dreadnought when it’s being picked
or when it’s really the main thing going on, but when you get all these tracks, it ends
up getting washed out. The 714 had a great spot within a band setting; it cut through.
So, that’s when that guitar became my favorite. And the cedar, for some reason, just feels
great with a band around it. Some of the stuff I do is real rhythmic; for a lot of the
playing I do with the band, the guitar is part guitar and part percussion instrument.
On a lot of my stuff, like “Dive” or more up-tempo, shuffle-beat kind of stuff, the 714
has always been the one. Inevitably, I’ll go somewhere to do a TV show, and almost without
fail a [sound] guy will come over and say, ‘Man, that sounds great plugged in. Sounds
like a real guitar.’”
For more information on Chapman and his music, visit www.stevencurtischapman.com.