After twenty years as a Christian recording artist, it seems like Michael W. Smith has done it all—pop music, an orchestral album, film scoring, and two highly successful worship albums, not to mention authoring a handful of books. But this past spring, Michael tried his hand at something new once again: spoken word. The Gospels Come to Life company tapped Michael to read for their first edition of audio Gospels on CD and cassette. We talked with Michael W. Smith, as well as Michael Ring (general & managing partner of The Gospels Come to Life) about the challenges and goals of the project. In addition, we got a glimpse of what fans can expect musically from Smitty over the next year.

What was your initial reaction when you were asked to be a part of The Gospels Come To Life project?

Michael W. Smith: My first response was, "You know, I'm not really sure I'm the guy to do this." When you think of a spoken word project, you think of Charlton Heston or radio guys—people who have great speaking voices. I, on the other hand, have a bit of a southern accent. Would that be offensive or not as powerful? I didn't know. I remember telling Chaz, my manager, "I think it'd be a great project, but I don't think I'm the guy." I guess I got talked into it and we decided to give it a whirl.

It was a lot harder to stay focused than I anticipated. My brain would get depleted of oxygen from reading so much, so I'd have to take breaks, walk outside, and take a big deep breath or two. My part took about two weeks to record because I was really only good for about four hours a day. After that, I was spent, but I was also glad I did it.

How did Smitty become a choice for the voice of this project?

Michael Ring: When Michael became a choice, that's when he became the choice. The search was over once he was a true option for us.

I know a few people who happen to know Michael's management team. We were having a discussion about the narrator in late September of last year and Michael's name came up. That was on a Friday, Michael was asked about it that next Monday, and by Tuesday he had committed to do it. It was that fast.

In what kind of settings do you picture people listening to this project?

Michael Ring: Anywhere there's a CD player. I picture people sitting at home listening to it or driving in their cars. It's my dream to pull up to a red light hearing Smitty coming out of the speakers talking about Jesus versus some kind of pumping music.

How did you approach the speaking aspect? What did you find yourself keeping in mind throughout the recording sessions?

Michael W. Smith: I didn't want to be overdramatic with it. It was the first time I'd ever done something like this, so I really learned a lot. I had a concept of what was going to happen, but the reality was completely different.

A big issue was how much it would wear me out. You'd think that's not a big deal, but it takes constant concentration on the words and tone in order to sound powerful but not overly dramatic. It's not like reading the paper—a few hours of that kind of focus and concentration made me feel like I had been run over by a truck.

At first, I wasn't looking forward to listening to it. But I played the CD a few weeks ago and thought, "You know, that's really okay. I could probably listen to that." I feel I sounded better than I thought I would, and that's very rewarding to me.

What else, in the future, will come out of this initial Gospels Come To Life project?

Michael Ring: We're going to produce it in different languages. We already know we're going to record a Spanish version with Jaci Velasquez—just like Michael, she agreed to be a part of it immediately. That'll be recorded during the first two weeks of June 2003 and will be ready for either Christmas or Easter. Other things in the works are a heavy southern drawl version—we'd go back to Smitty for that one—and we're thinking about an urban version for sometime in 2004.

What initial thoughts birthed the project?

Michael Ring: When the Gospels Come to Life idea was created, it was about bringing the Word of God in a spoken fashion—which is the way we originally received it 2000 years ago. It was through our ears.

In today's busy world of trying to find time to read, it just seemed like an easy way to return to the way we originally received it. Maybe people will actually "get it" better when they hear it.

When and how was it decided that Michael Omartian would be brought into this project?

Michael W. Smith: Bringing in Michael [Omartian] was a management decision. When I said I could do this project, I guess I thought I could do it all. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I might not be able to read and score it. It sounded like a good idea to do it all because I've always wanted to score movies, but it just seemed like too big of a task to do both.

Michael Ring: When they mentioned Michael Omartian, I agreed that he was the best choice in Nashville. He's been around for a long time and we could trust him not to overplay it with a big, huge symphony. The music needs to be a backdrop for the word; it can't overshadow or overpower the performance. But when the score is appropriately balanced, it makes the entire project that much more effective. So when they said he was going to score it, I knew I didn't need to worry anymore.

What were some of your favorite passages of the Gospels to read and record?

Michael W. Smith: There were so many. I've said to others that there were places I had forgotten about that were just so powerful. I've read the Gospels many times, but it's been a while since I've read through a whole book.

There was something particularly powerful about the passages around the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. The drama of Jesus waiting, Lazarus dying, and Mary and Martha grieving really came alive to me.

There are also some places that I still don't understand. Like when Jesus was in the house and he was told that his Mom was outside. He responded with, "Who's my Mom?" His family was outside, but he didn't go outside. I just can't figure that out. There's a reason and maybe one day it'll be revealed to me, but I can't help but wonder what Jesus was thinking and what was really going on in situations like that.

My biggest challenge in the whole thing was reading the genealogies and all of the, "son of this person, and this other person, and so on." That section actually went quicker than we thought it would. I was glad to get past it and get on to the "meat"—the good stuff.

Did you do the recording chronologically?

Michael Ring: No, actually we did Mark first. Then we recorded Luke, John, and then Matthew.

What have some of the reactions been to the project?

Michael Ring: I was just telling Michael this morning about one of my wife's best friends. She really didn't know much about us working on this. Well, she pre-ordered a copy on the website and the first thing she said to my wife was, "It sounds like I'm sitting on a couch with Michael and he's telling me the story of Jesus." That's exactly what we wanted.

Click here to read more about Michael W. Smith's upcoming musical plans in the second part of our interview.

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