Go Mainstream, Young Man : Christian Artist Michael W. Smith Looks to Leave ‘Gospel Ghetto’

By most standards, Michael W. Smith is a star. Adored by hundreds of thousands of fans and familiar to millions more, most of them female and in their teens and 20s, he has one gold album and several more nearing that 500,000 sales mark--including his latest, “Go West, Young Man,” his fastest-selling to date.

He is currently on a headlining tour of sizable halls that includes a stop tonight at UC Irvine’s 5,000-seat Bren Events Center.

And hardly anyone in the record industry has the slightest clue who he is.

That’s because until now Smith has peddled his perky, danceable pop in the “gospel ghetto,” a.k.a. the contemporary Christian music market, almost exclusively among religious-pop radio stations and young patrons of evangelical bookstores. It is in this market that the composer/singer is a household name and sex symbol (chaste variety).

Smith, 33, is the No. 1 male Christian artist, but despite his numerous TV appearances, crossover to the mainstream has been fleeting.

A new hookup between secular giant Geffen Records and Smith’s label, Reunion, could change that. His first Geffen-distributed single, the inspirational power ballad “Place in This World,” has just entered the adult contemporary radio charts, and about 100 Top 40 stations have added it to their playlists within its first two weeks of release, a promising start.

Does it bother Smith to sell so many records and yet be a virtual unknown outside Christian music circles?

“A little bit, but I think that’s all gonna change,” Smith said in a phone interview from a Vancouver tour stop. “I don’t say that in an egotistical way. I just think Geffen is determined to make it happen.”

If he does break through this time, Smith has some big footsteps to tread in--those of his friend and frequent collaborator, Amy Grant, who has the No. 1 song on the Billboard pop charts for the second week in a row with “Baby Baby.”

Together, Smith and Grant--both of whom live in Nashville and share the same management team--have co-written dozens of songs for their albums. They’ve also toured together several times.

Grant’s new album is her first in a decade that doesn’t include Smith compositions, and the two of them are touring independently this summer. Is this a concentrated effort to separate their identities, or to establish Smith’s success as separate from Grant’s coattails?

“It wasn’t deliberate,” said Smith, who made his name as a songwriter before he became a successful record maker. “I’ve written for her for eight years, and all of a sudden not to have any songs on an Amy Grant record was a little strange.

“I think we both just were looking for songs at the same time. You get to the point where you feel like every song is very important.

“I’m convinced Amy would’ve recorded ‘Place in This World,’ but I thought, ‘Man, you know what? I’ve got to start hanging on to some of these good songs.’ ”

Despite the chart success both he and Grant are enjoying in the pop radio realm, Smith--whose flashy, high-volume, non-preachy concerts are indistinguishable from big mainstream shows in most ways--doesn’t expect a huge crossover of his Christian-lyric songs.

“My gut reaction is, I can’t imagine radio playing songs that overtly talk about ‘Jesus is the answer’--which is what I believe. But on the other hand, I think there is room on pop radio for songs that are very spiritual, which ‘Place in This World’ is to me.”

Ch ristian pop singer Michael W. Smith and D.C. Talk appear tonight at 7 at the Bren Events Center on the UC Irvine campus. Tickets: $19.50. Information: (714) 856-5000.