GREENSBORO, N.C. — Do you know how they say you should never sit down with someone you're a fan of just in case they're not all you dreamed them to be? That rule doesn't hold with David Crowder.
The once-again Grammy-nominated artist is touring with TobyMac and other artists on the Deep Hits Tour, which makes a stop in Greensboro, NC on January 28, 2023. We got to sit down with him and ask about everything from his signature beard to his Christmas album and everything in between.
THE BEARD
It's long. It's crazy and it's all due to....his wife!
"My wife is the keeper of the beard. The last time anyone saw what was under here was 2000, the dawn of the new millennium. It was a crazy time, I had my bathtub filled with water, and we weren't sure what the computers were going to do," said David Crowder.
He makes a joke about thinking it was time for a spiritual cleanse.
"I went Old Testament and decided to shave off the beard, BIC style, and immediately knew it was a mistake. Her exact words were put it back on now," said Crowder.
HIS FAVORITE CONCERT VENUE
Crowder, who often plays on a church stage, has sold out Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium and has played at Carnegie Hall. But his favorite venue is The Filmore in San Fransisco.
"They didn't want us to play it, they said, man, this is a rock venue and church music doesn't go in here, it's the antithesis of what we're doing around here. But we were determined we got to get into that place. The best thing was the guy who runs it said, I don't know what happened that night, but it feels like you pushed all the dark stuff out and so can you please come back every year," said Crowder.
WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU WEREN'T A MUSICIAN?
Crowder loves being on the road and that is what he would be doing if he wasn't a music genius.
"I would drive semi-trucks. I would still be on the road, but hauling America on my back. I think because I saw Smokey and the Bandit when I was a kid. It sounded like fun," said Crowder.
What didn't sound like fun to Crowder, was making a Christmas album. But he did that in 2022 and it was called Milk and Cookies. It's a take-off from his recently released Milk and Honey album.
WHAT ABOUT A CHRISTMAS ALBUM?
"Every artist, you got to get to the Christmas album, it is literally in the contract so you're going to have it and I've been putting it off. There's a lot of pressure on a Christmas album, they're the best songs ever, sung by the best people ever, why do we need another version of me singing it? I thought if I am going to do something, I need to have originals on it and there are over half originals," said Crowder.
One of the songs is called the Elf Song and it pokes fun at standing up for the Christmas elves and their working conditions. Another song talks about Santa's beard and if it needs to be cut off.
"I had more fun making the Christmas album I think in the entirety of my making music, so I'm so glad it happened. I remember telling my mom and she was like, you can't call it Milk and Cookies, that's too silly," said Crowder.
HOW SHOULD CHRISTIAN MUSIC SOUND? WHAT SHOULD IT SAY?
"I think that's something we need to change as the church, I think if we were more winsome and threw the door wide open. Grace is big enough for all of us and we need to do a better job of letting people know this is not a place of judgment. God didn't come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people alive and there's no one I met on planet earth yet that doesn't want to live life to the full," said Crowder.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SONG? LINE IN A SONG?
Crowder says his favorite album is from the Crowder Band era, A Collision. He says it was a great moment in time and the songs that came out of that time of life were special.
"There's an old school song that I covered, I didn't write it, but the song, How He Loves. There are so many beautiful lines in it, it's so poetic," said Crowder.
Crowder says he is always chasing something. It's like he picks up thoughts and lines here and there and puts them in a pail and saves them for when it makes sense.
"My favorite song? Happy Birthday! What other song comes with cake and I love eating cake," said Crowder.
Crowder's song "God Really Loves Us" features Maverick City Music. It is up for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Song. This is his fourth Grammy nomination. The Grammys are on WFMY News 2 on Sunday, February 5, 2023, at 9 pm.