When the Museum of Christian & Gospel Music opens its doors this October in downtown Nashville, award-winning singer-songwriter Natalie Grant will be there — not just as a celebrated performer but as part of the museum’s permanent history.
“[This museum is] long overdue in our wonderful city of Nashville. I just feel like it’s going to be such an incredible addition to what’s always been known as Music City. But a big part of the fabric of the music of the city is Christian and gospel music, and so it just deserves its spot,” the 53-year-old Dove Award-winning singer told The Christian Post.
The Museum of Christian & Gospel Music (The C&G) is a dream decades in the making, according to Grant.
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Nestled just steps from the legendary Ryman Auditorium, it opens on Oct. 3, just days ahead of the Dove Awards, as a faith-filled celebration of the music that has uplifted, inspired and transformed generations. Presented by the Gospel Music Association, the museum is set to become a well-deserved addition to Nashville’s vibrant music museum landscape.
“I have such an overwhelming sense of pride that it will be included right here in the heart of Music City, right next to the Ryman, right next to where all this history was,” Grant said.
“People look at the Ryman as the mother church of country music, but actually, the Ryman was originally a church that housed a revival,” she continued. “It’s beautiful that we’re showing the true history of this city, that there was a revival in this city before there was country music. There was a Bible before there were boots.”
The C&G will honor the full spectrum of Christian and gospel music — past, present and future and will offer an immersive, interactive experience where visitors can step into stories of faith and transformation and even create remixes of iconic songs on-site.
It will also serve as a living, breathing part of the industry, hosting live performances, workshops, interviews, artist encounters, and rotating collections of music milestones and emerging moments. Series offerings will include podcasts, brown bag lunch symposiums, writers workshops and more to be announced. The initial “Legacy Series” event will feature the museum’s first-ever artist-in-residence, 16-time Dove Award winner and 3-time GMA Hall of Fame inductee, Russ Taff.
Among the museum’s displays will be a Dove Awards dress worn by Grant. Rather than choosing the gown herself, the Grammy-nominated artist is letting fans vote on which of three dresses will take center stage.
“There are so many memories for me attached to these particular dresses that we’ve chosen,” she said. “Not just what I hope were memorable performances, but memorable moments for me.”
Each dress holds a distinct place in Grant’s personal and professional journey.
“The purple dress, I was getting the privilege of performing ‘King of the World,'” she recalled. “When you release songs, and you hope that it hits an audience, but you have no idea what might be happening culturally, in the world, in the news cycle. But God always knows.
“This was in 2016 … and I felt like it just came out at such the right time of a reminder that He is the King of the world. Nothing has taken him by surprise. And I chose purple because that’s like God’s royalty.”
The artist said her second option, a blue gown, brings back a personal memory: hosting the Dove Awards in 2010 while unknowingly pregnant with her daughter, Sadie.
“I remember going like, ‘Oh, it’s kind of a little bit fitted.’ And the day before, I had my final fitting, and I’m like, ‘Why is this dress not zipping up?'” she said with a laugh. “Well, it was the next week I found out I was pregnant with Sadie.”
The third look, a skirt and blouse ensemble, was worn for an In Memoriam performance honoring lives lost in the past year.
“There were these two little birds, it actually looks like little doves that are carrying this flower piece,” she said. “And I don’t know — there was just something about the dove of the Holy Spirit and the peace of the Holy Spirit and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. … Honestly, that is what I felt the first time I saw that skirt.”
Grant, a five-time Dove Awards Female Vocalist of the Year winner, has hosted the show twice and performed more than a dozen times over the years. The chance to invite fans into the decision of what dress to showcase is both meaningful and humbling, she said.
“They’re voting on which one is going to be featured in the museum,” she said. “And I think it might be a hard choice.”
More than a fashion archive, the museum represents a deeper spiritual heritage, something Grant, a mother of three girls, said she’s eager for her daughters to witness.
“It’s going to be really fun to walk through the museum with my daughters and be able to see one of those dresses,” she said. “They were a part of it. Every time I do a fitting, they’re in the room, watching … helping me pick them out.”
After nearly 30 years in Christian music, Grant has seen the industry evolve. With the rise of worship-centric music, shifting values and public challenges, she emphasized that God is actively refining the space.
“God will always have the final say,” she said. “There will still be fruit … because the truth of the Gospel was in it. But God will always prune. He will always purify.”
She advised younger artists to embrace the “long road of obedience” and refrain from getting “weary of doing good,” as advised in Galatians 6.
“Don’t take the shortcut,” she said. “Stay on the long road of obedience, surround yourself with community, stay plugged into a local church. … Have people that are asking you the tough questions. None of us are built for the spotlight.”
Grant pointed to artists like Casting Crowns, MercyMe and Steven Curtis Chapman as examples of enduring integrity.
“He’s finishing his race well,” she said of Chapman. “With integrity, with character, with his morals in place … and God will continue to raise those up.”
Despite industry ups and downs, the artist said her hope for the future of Christian music remains fixed.
“There will be styles that come and go … but the Word of God will remain,” she said. “That is my hope — that the message remains. The method might change … but the message never changes.”
As for the museum, Grant hopes it will serve as both a tribute and a testimony.
“People think they’re going into a museum and they’re going to see a cool thing from this person … and they’re going to walk through, but they’re going to see a thread. And that thread is Jesus,” she said. “Right in the midst of crazy Nashville, right, Broadway, all of the things, and they’re like — a lighthouse is going to be the Museum of Christian and Gospel Music with the hope and the message of Jesus in it.”
Vote on Natalie Grant’s dresses here.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
