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There are familiar Smitty-isms on Stand, but there are also some fresh ideas. How would you define the shifts, and how do you think longtime fans will perceive them?

Smith Most fans will probably say it sounds like Smitty, but I think most will say he reinvented himself. I think that's the challenge: How do you reinvent and still stay true to who you are? Sometimes that's not easy, but I feel like I did it. It feels like it came from the heart, and I don't think anything on this record isn't me.

I have to give a lot of the credit to Matt. We had to decide what kind of record it was going to be in terms of audio: Is it going to be slick or organic? We decided we wanted this record to be pretty simple without a hundred tracks on each song.

The thing I'm most excited about this album is you feel like it takes you on a journey. I wish we could say we planned it that way, but that's not true. But is was amazing that all of a sudden at the end when you're sequencing, you're like "Oh my goodness, we have something here!"

How do you stay in touch with current trends rather than remaking Go West Young Man or Change Your World all over again?

Smith I have to give my kids the most credit. I learn more about music from them, and I purposely try to stay current because I have a real heart for youth culture. Also friends like Leeland introduce me to records, and it's almost like we're trading information.

Who have you been digging lately?

Smith The last thing I want to do is sound like someone else, but I'm a big Coldplay fan, and have been going back to older U2 again, along with their newest record. I'm also getting into a band called Carpark North; they're so creative, and they have a song called "Human" that's very '80s and reminds me of something I'd write. My daughter Emily is a big fan of Mew and we went and saw them in concert. They're so fresh and new and I love their melodies.

Speaking of your daughters, tell me about writing "How to Say Goodbye" for Whitney, and also collaborating on it with Amy Grant.

Smith I wrote that for Whitney when she was 19, and we were dropping her off at Pepperdine [in Malibu, California], which is at the opposite end of the world [from Nashville]. We've always been extremely close, and I knew it would be hard, but that's part of life. Kids grow up and you've got to let go, but I wasn't ready and it wiped me out for days. I cried for days because I just missed her, and four or five days after I got back, I wrote [the music to] the song. I then called Amy because she's been through this, since her son just graduated high school. It's been a long time since I've written with her and I had a gut feeling she was the one to write the lyric. She came out the very next day, and turned the lyric in two or three days later. I think she really knocked it out of the park in terms of looking into my heart and expressing what I wanted to say.

How would you describe the whole "taking a stand" concept?

Smith I think Stand is more of a response than starting some sort of revolution or changing the world. We're all obviously supposed to change the world and do something for somebody else, but I think it's just a response and a message I'll be preaching the rest of my life. I'm trying to get the church to realize who they are.

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