Point of Grace: Christmas, cookbooks and staying centered

Nov. 24—Point of Grace stunned the Contemporary Christian music world in 1993 by releasing a debut album with six No. 1 singles. Thirty years later, the group, which launches its Gloria Christmas Tour with special guest Mark Schultz and host Andrew Greer at the Arbogast Performing Arts Center in Troy on Saturday, Nov. 25, is still going strong.

Point of Grace formed at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas in 1991 and released its groundbreaking debut album two years later. The group, named New Artist of the Year at the 1993 GMA Dove Awards, went on to sell more than 8 million units, score 27 No. 1 singles and win a dozen more Dove Awards, including Group of the Year in 1996 and 1999. Point of Grace received a Dove Award this year for Inspirational Album of the Year. It was the group's first win since taking home three trophies in 2011.

Shelley Breen and Denise Jones have been members of Point of Grace since the beginning. Leigh Cappillino replaced founding member Terry Jones in early 2004. The group was a quartet from 1991 until founding member Heather Payne's exit in 2008. In addition to more than a dozen albums, the singers released a best-selling cookbook, "Cooking With Grace," in 2010.

Breen recently reflected on the group in advance of their appearance.

Q: What can folks expect from this holiday show?

A: We'll sing an evening of Christmas songs, and we like to keep it pretty classic. We're pretty old school, nostalgia-driven, when it comes to Christmas music. It's a lot of songs that bring back memories of Christmas like "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Joy to the World." We're going to do a really beautiful piano-vocal rendition of "O Holy Night." Hopefully it will be a great centering night before the chaos starts. The tour starts the day after the day after Thanksgiving. I'm one of these people that celebrates one holiday at a time, but the game is on the day after Thanksgiving.

Q: What makes Mark Schultz and Andrew Greer good fits for this show?

A: We have Mark out with us again because last year went so well. He's had so many Christian radio hits over the years and he's so talented. What a lot of people don't know is how funny he is. I love having him on the tour. He opens for us and brings such a joy and laughter. Andrew is on the tour hosting. A lot of people know him from his YouTube series, "Dinner Conversations with Mark Lowry and Andrew Greer." He does a lot of interviews. People call him the Ryan Seacrest of Christian music but he's also an incredible keyboard player. Andrew plays keyboards in our band, but he'll also host the evening and do a couple of songs before Mark comes out. We're excited about that.

Q: This is the 30th anniversary of the group's first album. How does that feel?

A: I can't believe it. I can't believe how old we are. (laughs) But, yeah, it's a good thing to celebrate. I'm glad we're still able to go out on the road and people still want to come. We love singing now and connecting with people probably more than we ever have before. I'm glad to still be able to do it.

Q: Point of Grace just won another Dove Award this year. How does it feel knowing people are still paying attention?

A: We were so honored and surprised to get the Dove Award nomination this year. We haven't had one in a while and we thought that was so nice. We got all dressed up and went to the awards ceremony absolutely not thinking we would win but then we won the Dove Award for Inspirational Album of the Year. It was really exciting to get the nod after all these years. We definitely appreciate it more now, as you do when you've been around a while.

Q: What has this year been like for the group?

A: We've been pretty busy the last couple of years. We did a new record last year. One of the things that took us by surprise was how successful our cookbook was. We did one several years back called "Cooking with Grace." We put a little bit of our personal lives in it too, obviously. It really did well, and we really enjoyed it so we're working on a new cookbook, "Cooking with Grace 2." It's going to be a family favorites-driven cookbook. We've not only been singing and doing shows but testing recipes and editing recipes. We're just trying not to gain weight. Food is a way of connecting. It's in our DNA as southern Christian women. You see that growing up. When you don't know what to do, you make a casserole. We were all raised that way. It's been a fun project to work on.

Q: What does 2024 look like for Point of Grace?

A: Christmas time is our only official tour time when we travel with the full band and pull out all the stops. After that we do a lot of what is known in the industry as one-offs. We'll go to churches, women's conferences and things like that, but Christmas is definitely our favorite time. For me and the girls, it's our favorite music to sing. It lends itself to harmonies so it's really fun for us. A lot of people grew up on our first Christmas album, "Christmas Story," so we love to sing songs from that to bring people back.

Q: Anything we missed?

A: No, but I always like to emphasize this is a fun, multi-generational show. It will be festive. It's one of the few things the whole family will enjoy. Bring grandma — it won't be too loud. We're going to sing all the classics. The kids usually have a good time and I do love that about what we do. There will be something for everyone, so I encourage people to come out. Let's get centered and have a peaceful night to ring in the holiday season. It's the perfect time, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Then you go home and get your tree up on Sunday and get it going.

Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or donthrasher100@gmail.com.

HOW TO GO

Who: Point of Grace with special guests Mark Schultz and Andrew Greer

Where: Arbogast Performing Arts Center, 500 S. Dorset Road, Troy

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 25. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Cost: $25 to $65

More info: 937-418-8392 or www.arbogastpac.com

Artist info: www.pointofgrace.net