patty_pierce_92203

Posted: 9/19/03

Patty and Pierce pack a punch for the girls' tour

By Cecile Holmes

Religion News Service

ASHVILLE, N.C. (RNS)–One is a songbird with the stage presence of a diva; the other so unpretentious a Christian she resembles the classic girl next door.

On tour, Sandi Patty and Chonda Pierce promise to be engaging and funny. They're longtime acquaintances who've become good friends. On Sept. 19, they launched a 31-city tour with an opening performance in Asheville, N.C.

Comedienne Chonda Pierce (left) and singer Sandi Patty have hit the road together on a "girls'" tour.

Someday they may be known as the “Thelma and Louise” of the Christian circuit. Fortysomething, likable and so down-to-earth that you want to keep them talking, they're breaking with convention in their “The Girls are Back in Town” tour.

Despite their blond tresses, this tour is no platinum, come-hither altar call. Nor is their God the sort of deity approached only in heels and white gloves. Patty and Pierce are too honest for that. Their Jesus is a Savior to be called on at home or in the workplace–even if one's calling requires scrubbing down the family bathroom with Ajax.

“I don't see life as very funny all the time,” Pierce said. “My favorite word in the dictionary is 'balance.' There are times when life to me really is hysterical. There are times when it is not.

“Take these (electrical) blackouts across the country. I had to laugh over some of it. What's not funny is where there are hospital staff who need power and people on life-support. But watching TV, I started laughing thinking about all those news people going to work today. I started laughing thinking about how many of them will have bad hair days. No hair dryers!”

Pierce, whose new video, “Have I Got a Story for You,” hits retail stores Sept. 23, doesn't take herself too seriously. Obviously neither does her performing partner. Pierce's video opens with a comical clip of the pair belting out music with Patty playing keyboard. In style and costume, they'll make middle-aged fans laugh and younger folks (including their children on the video) shake their heads in amazement.

“We're excited,” Patty said. “I have children, I'm a mom; us moms just need time to gather together and encourage one another. While we hope many people come (to the performances), we're really gearing it to women. Hopefully women will have a time of recharging and laughter.”

Patty, whose successful career has cast her as the sort of talent who has sung before heads of state and symphony orchestras, has a knack for recordings featuring sweeping orchestrations and dramatic endings.

Her new CD, “Take Hold of Christ,” is no exception. It features the sorts of songs that have made Patty one of Christian music's most-acclaimed performers. She's the winner of 39 Dove Awards, five Grammies and four Billboard Music Awards. Her 23 albums–including three platinum and five gold recordings–have sold more than 11 million copies.

So what do she and Pierce have in common? Life, say both performers.

“I met Chonda when she was traveling with (comedian) Mark Lowry. That was about 10 years ago,” Patty said. “I just thought she was absolutely wonderful. Then I lost touch with her. Over the last two or three years, our paths have crossed. It just seemed as we would share what God was doing in our lives–it seemed we were on the same page. So we combined forces.”

Pierce said getting to know Patty proved an education in friendship.

“She's hilarious. She's the type of girlfriend who always cracks you up over coffee,” Pierce said.

Their rapport comes through in Pierce's new video, which could prove even funnier than her earlier work. Recorded live at the Elkhart Theater in Elkhart, Ind., the video is packed with real-life stories. Like how Pierce managed to share a hotel room with a dead man, how her husband enjoyed a honeymoon package with someone else and how a strange trip between NASCAR and the Holy Land can totally turn your life around.

“Women are stressed out, overworked, underpaid, taking care of kids. If we can, we provide a night to just relax and have fun,” Pierce said. “We can never compete with the great conferences or Bible studies. Sandi and I truly believe if we could … put together a night for women to just be themselves” it will be worth it.