Michael Card

Michael Card

Michael Card in concert
Background information
Birth name Michael Card
Born (1957-04-11) April 11, 1957
Origin Madison, Tennessee
Genres Contemporary Christian music
Occupation(s) Singer, Songwriter, Author, Composer, Radio Host
Instruments Vocals, piano, guitar, harp, banjo
Labels Milk & Honey, Sparrow, Myrrh
Website www.michaelcard.com
Notable instruments
Michael Card plays a right-handed strung guitar left-handedly.

Michael Card (born April 11, 1957) is an American Christian singer-songwriter, musician, author, and radio host from Franklin, Tennessee. He is best known for his contributions in contemporary Christian music, which couple folk-style melodies and instrumentation with lyrics that stem from intensive study of the Bible. Since his debut in 1981, he has sold more than 4 million albums[1] and has written 19 No. 1 singles.[2] He has also authored several books, including Gold Medallion Book Award winner A Sacred Sorrow.[3]

Career

Card was born in Madison, Tennessee as the son of a doctor and grandson of a Baptist minister.[1] He received bachelor's and master's degrees in Biblical Studies from Western Kentucky University, and was awarded the university's "Distinguished Alumni Award" in 1997.[1] His studies in physics and astronomy allowed him to support himself while a student by working for six years at a planetarium. As of 2005, he is working on a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Classical Literature.

Musician

Card never intended to be a professional musician. He got his start when his professor and mentor, William L. Lane, asked Card to write some music to accompany weekly sermons at their church. His friend, musician Randy Scruggs, then asked him to record a demo tape so Scruggs could get a job as a producer. The record label agreed to hire Scruggs as long as his first project was to produce an album featuring Card. Since then Card has released nineteen original albums and at least six compilation albums. Another album, Starkindler, is composed of Card's interpretations of traditional Celtic hymns. The compilations often include one or two new songs along with previously released material. With the exception of Starkindler, Card writes the vast majority of the music he records (although sometimes with collaborators).

Many of Card's albums are structured around a unifying theme. For example, the songs from The Beginning are all based on the Pentateuch. The individual songs have subjects such as Genesis, Leviticus, Abraham, Isaac and Moses. Card is particularly adept at relating difficult or obscure concepts from the Old Testament to more understandable themes from the New Testament. For example, the song "Jubilee" talks about the period of rest and the release from debts and slavery commanded in the Jubilee year as described in Leviticus 25, but also reveals how the idea culminated in the rest and freedom from condemnation offered through Jesus.

Card's most famous song is "El Shaddai", which was recorded by Amy Grant as well as by Card himself. Grant's recording was named No. 326 on the RIAA's list of 365 Songs of the Century in 2001. Other popular Card songs include "Immanuel", "Joy in the Journey", and "Heal Our Land". "Heal Our Land" was commissioned as the 1993 National Day of Prayer's theme song.

Despite his success in music, Card has always maintained that his music career is secondary to his calling as a Bible teacher. He has at times distanced himself from the CCM industry by criticizing the promotion of personalities over musical content[4] and the shifting emphasis away from God in order to sell more albums.[5]

One current music project is his writing and mentoring of musicians under the ByFor.org Project.

Author

Michael Card is the author or co-author of twenty-two books. He originally started writing as a way to share the knowledge he accumulated while researching his songs. His studies were so in-depth that he couldn't condense everything he had learned into one short song. The books that resulted from album research bear the same titles as the albums. He then branched out to other subjects not specifically based on his music, such as the Gospel of John, homeschooling, and Christian discipleship and mentoring. In 2014, Card completed the Biblical Imagination Series, a four-volume set which takes a deeper look at each of the gospels and the voice of the writers behind them.

Radio host

In addition to touring and writing, Card also hosted a weekly radio program. In the Studio with Michael Card was carried by stations in 48 states, Canada, and the Caribbean. It was also available via internet streaming audio and as a podcast. The show was an amalgam of talk, musical performances and Bible study. The show ceased production in March, 2009.

Controversies

Still, Card said, he doesn't see Mormonism and evangelical Christianity as opposed to each other. They are more like the two ends of a long thread — part of the same thing.[7]
Since the statement was not a direct quote, some have surmised that Card was misunderstood. The impact of this statement can be understood in the context that many Protestants deny that Mormons are Christians and consider the LDS church a cult. Card's response to his critics online[8] did satisfy some, since it denied the quote and the LDS interviewer later admitted to re-wording Card's statement somewhat interpretively.

Jerry Johnson, the author of the article on Michael Card in Deseret News, later admitted:

The word Michael used was "continuum." He said he thought the tensions between the LDS Church and the Evangelicals was because the LDS Church was on one end of the "continuum" and Evangelicals on the other.[9]

Discography/writings

Compilations

Other works featuring Michael Card

Videos

Books

Awards

1983 GMA Dove Awards

Songwriter of the Year
Song of the Year: "El Shaddai"

1988 GMA Dove Award

Praise & Worship Album of the Year: The Final Word

1994 GMA Dove Award

Children's Music Album of the Year: Come to the Cradle

1994 RIAA Certified Gold Recording

Sleep Sound in Jesus

1997 Western Kentucky University Distinguished Alumnus [11]

1998 National Religious Broadcasters Chairman's Award

2001 RIAA 365 Songs of the Century

No. 26 "El Shaddai", as recorded by Amy Grant

2002 Publishers Weekly Award

Best Religion Book: Scribbling in the Sand

2002 Chicago Book Clinic Award of Excellence

Best General Trade Book in the Self-Help Category: Scribbling in the Sand

2006 ECPA Christian Book Awards

Winner in the Christian Life Category: A Sacred Sorrow

Singles

Album Song Year Position
First Light "I Have Decided" 1982 8 [1]
"Fan the Flame" 1982 16 [1]
"Jesus Loves Me (This I Know)" 1982 8 [1]
Legacy "Love Crucified Arose" 1983 5 [1]
"Abba Father" 1983 4 [1]
"Tell the World that Jesus Loves You" 1983 32 [1]
"This Must be The Lamb" 1984 14 [1]
Known by the Scars "Known by the Scars" 1985 14 [1]
Scandalon "Scandalon" 1986 3 [1]
The Final Word "The Final Word" 1987 11 [1]
"Celebrate the Child" 1987 14 [1]
"To the Mystery" 1988 10 [1]
Present Reality "That's What Faith Must Be" 1988 14 [1]
"Know You in the Now" 1988 6 [1]
The Beginning "Jubilee" 1990 7 [1]
"Lift up the Suffering Symbol" 1990 23 [1]
The Way of Wisdom "The Way of Wisdom" 1991 15 [1]
"How Long" 1991 14 [1]
The Promise: A Celebration of Christ's Birth "We Will Find Him" 1992 16 [1]

References

External links

Media related to Michael Card at Wikimedia Commons

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