Of course, my GMA Week began with two big shows right off the bat: Friday night's Mercy Ministries benefit concert at Belmont's Curb Event Center and the "Altar and the Door" tour with Casting Crowns, Leeland and John Waller at the Sommet Center Saturday night. Check out my previous blog for details.

Sunday night officially kicked off the GMA festivities. Worship at the Ryman is the GMA's time-honored tradition of getting the week off on the right foot. Everyone from artists to managers to media to label folks gather at the historic Ryman Auditorium to worship together. I have to admit that it's one of my favorite highlights of the week--no matter who is performing, because there is always such a sweet, reverent spirit that permeates the room. This year, worship was led by Michael W. Smith, Israel Houghton, Fred Hammond and Mandisa.

Immediately following the worship service, I headed to another one of my favorite showcases--the Songwriter's Showcase in the Renaissance Hotel ballroom. It's always interesting to hear the stories behind the biggest songs of the year directly from the people who write them (meaning that the songwriters are sometimes different than the people who actually recorded it). The most interesting anecdote of the evening came from this year's "Songwriter of the Year" winner Cindy Morgan, who wrote "Song of the Year" nominated "How You Live (Turn Up the Music)" recorded by Point of Grace. She sang the original version of the song, noting that the first line is quite a bit different than the line in the recorded version, namely because it goes something like "Make love in the sunlight with all the doors open..." She quips, "I'm married, so I'm going to do the original version for you tonight, if that's OK." Look up the performance on youtube. It was stunning, and I thought the story was funny. Here's the setlist from the Songwriter's Showcase, which, incidentally, was hosted by Mark Hall (Casting Crowns) and Bart Millard (MercyMe):