I’ve always been enchanted by ethereal music that really soaks into you - I luv to listen to music while lying down in bed thinking about life! The kinda music that isn’t hard - but is almost like a lullaby... really fills you! I’d found it in Enya, Yanni and Enigma and have always been on the lookout for a Christian Band that would fill my void. A few years ago I picked up an assorted Christian Album from my friend that had an artist called Michelle Tumes singing out a song called Listen and I knew my search was over. But I lived in a country called India and that meant I had to really hunt to get my hands on any of her albums. I was finally rewarded when I saw the album at a local Christian Bookstore. I shelled out Rs. 50 (a little more than a dollar) for the cassette and here I am.

Born in Adelaide, Australia, and trained in piano from the age of four, Michelle found her musical vocabulary shaped and inspired by the familiar images of sand, sea, granite rocks and wind-blown fields that marked her coastal home. In them she saw the handiwork, and the soothing presence, of the God who had created them. 

At 15, Michelle auditioned for music school and enrolled in a two-year classical piano program. She was disillusioned by the high pressure of the school and decided against a musical career and studied dentistry. Michelle then tried her hand at dental studies, but found it not to be her cup of tea. It was at this time her younger sister gave her $40 to make a demo of one of her songs. She made the tape and sent it out to several publishing companies, unsolicited.. With that vote of confidence and some interest from publishing companies, Michelle set out to pursue a career in the States. After landing cuts by artists like Jaci Velasquez and Sixpence None The Richer, Michelle signed a deal with Sparrow and eventually released her debut album, "Listen," to critical and commercial acclaim. She received an impressive nod from her peers with a Dove Award nomination in 1999 for New Artist of the Year.

Her career took off with the launch of her debut album, Listen, in 1998. The record produced three number one singles, and earned Michelle a Dove Award Nomination in 1999 for New Artist of the Year. Since then, Michelle has recorded two subsequent number one singles, “Hold On” and “Heaven’s Heart”

With the release of Dream, Michelle offers her same tender brand of songwriting, this time with a slightly more upbeat flair. A progression from her last two albums, this collection of songs is slightly less introspective in nature, erupting with exuberant lyrics and sounds

She's also written for Jaci Velasquez, Point of Grace and Sixpence None the Richer.

"I was already developing bad habits on the piano at the age of four," Michelle remembers, "so my mom found a classical teacher who was terrific. His style was very expressive, and he encouraged me to interpret the music however I felt it. So from a very early age, I began to develop a very personal and expressive style, both on piano, and as a songwriter and singer." 

"God has given us tools such as intellect, emotion and the ability to see images," Michelle says, "and I use those tools when I write songs, but the songs themselves spring from somewhere much deeper. Often it is when I’m really praying and meditating on God’s goodness and grace that I find the sudden inspiration for a song."

"A song has to move you," Michelle explains. "Whether it's to tears or to happiness, or just causing you to reflect and come to terms with who you are. I feel that all my songs have to be inspired by God in order to be worth singing, because it's God who created music and put this desire in me."  

“I talk in depth with people after concerts and they have shared some really amazing and even sad stories with me, but it’s been great that they seem to have found a lot of peace from the music,” says Michelle. “People inspire me. My relationship with God as it’s manifested through my relationships with people inspires me too.”

"The songs themselves spring from somewhere much deeper. Often it is when I'm really praying and meditating on God's goodness and grace that I find the sudden inspiration for a song."

"The main theme throughout Listen is the peace of God. The music certainly reflects that, and many of the lyrics paint pictures, peaceful images of the places where my relationship with God developed. Growing up I would often find my way to lonely, secluded beaches, where the waves rolled in upon the sand, and I would pray and contemplate my relationship with God there. In recreating those images in my songs, I’m hoping to open a door for other people to enter into that same kind of peaceful communion with God." 

"I guess the theme of this record (Center of My Universe) is taking what we have in this world and looking at things in a new and different light, and seeing how wonderful they are, instead of focusing on the bad. There are bad things that happen in the world, but there is so much hope. I think we need to express that to each other as much as possible."

“This album (Dream) has a lot of joy in it,” Michelle describes. “It’s almost carefree and yet it still addresses a lot of the issues of the journey of faith. But I just wanted to incorporate some faster songs as well as songs that really soared and that had more rhythm and happiness to them.”

Grant Cunningham - "Michelle is the consummate artist. She has developed her gifts as a musician, singer, and songwriter into a truly unique signature. Her music is unlike anything I know. She communicates beautiful compelling things from a very deep place. She dreams this amazing music, and watching it come to life is a real privilege for those of us close to the process"

If you want to add a link, some info or more lyrics to this page use this form your e-mail more content to this page new link url

---

Back to the addicted2jesus christian music artists main page

---

 

 

Search the addicted2jesus website!

make sure this radio button is checked before you do your search

 

 

Search the wwworld!

 

Cybergrace Banner Exchange

Ark Webs Family Banner Exchange - by Fish the Net