I recently had the privilege to chat with Denise Jones, one-third of the popular ladies trio Point of Grace. I can vividly recall being a young teenager and listening to christian radio and hearing this new all female group burst onto the scenes in the early 90s. Point of Grace was then a quartet and through a series of a couple personnel changes, they are now a trio comprised of Denise Jones, Shelley Breen and Leigh Cappillino. These ladies have had some great songs climb to the top of the charts the past 20 years such as : "Keep the Candle Burning," "Jesus Will Still Be There", "The Great Divide," "Gather at the River," and "How You Live," to name a few.
In recent years, Point of Grace has taken on a new direction musically and stepped away from the big stacked pop sound they were known for in their early days and have taken on a more country, organic sound. For this record, the girls decided to take a step back from their previous recordings and chose many of their favorite songs from over the years (and some recent days) and picked songs that spoke to each of them individually and put their spin on them. The result is "Directions Home- Songs You Know Songs We love" and what a project this has turned out to be.
Denise shared that each of the three girls made a list of five songs they each would love to record if they were doing a solo project, and they shared their list with producer Andy Leftwich. Andy took the list and added some of his own ideas to it, and the result is sure to be a classic.
The girls were excited to be able to co-produce this project, a first in their career with Andy, who produces for Ricky Skaggs. In fact, Skaggs also is a guest on the project along with Vince Gill.
Denise shared that the fans have received this new, fresh, scaled back sound from the trio amazingly well, and they're also gaining a lot of new fans. "We want those who come to our concerts to be encouraged, filled with hope but also to be able to sing along and find something familiar in our songs. Choosing songs for this record was fun in that we knew younger fans would know and recognize 'Home,' while older fans might remember 'Friend of A Wounded Heart'," shared Denise.
The group is currently debuting this new project on tour with Selah on the popular "You Amaze Us Tour." The two groups are "having a blast together" stated Denise. One of the highlights of the tour is each group singing a hit of the other group! And also, both groups come together and sing some popular tunes together - which she says is a hit!
Point of Grace has a busy schedule this summer with Selah. Girls of Grace, their conference for young girls that they've been hosting for years is undergoing some re-vamping, but they are excited about their upcoming conferences this fall and sharing new music, yet the same message: Hope!
Denise, Shelley and Leigh all have husbands and children, and they love being home with them. However, they are committed to the call of God and love sharing their music with fans everywhere. When asked what the future held for Point of Grace, Denise says, "Honestly we want to continue to be in the will of God. His favor has been upon us since the beginning, and we've tried to be obedient to His voice."
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