(light music)

- [Scott] For well more than 30 years,

Michael W. Smith has beenwriting some of the best known,

best loved songs in Christian music.

Despite huge success and popularity,

he's known for being adown-to-earth family man.

I talked to Michael and his son, Tyler,

at the Smith Farm near Nashville

about their family, careers, legacy,

and their newest jointproject, an album, Lullaby,

and a book, Nighty Night and Good Night.

- It's just trying to getkids to go to sleep. (laughs)

But you gotta come up with something.

Mike Nawrocki was a bigpart of this project for us.

And Mike was Larry theCucumber, VeggieTales.

I think there's something really sacred

about those final few minutesbefore your kids go to sleep,

that you're instilling something in them.

- I'm praying that'sgonna come into the homes

of just unbelievers

and we're gonna see a lotof people saved through it.

- Yeah.

♪ Sleep through the night ♪

♪ No need to fear ♪

♪ Jesus is here ♪

♪ Rest little one ♪

♪ Safe in my love ♪

♪ No more crying ♪

- [Scott] As to his own career,

Smitty, as he's called, knowsa bit about handling success.

He's sold 18 million albums,

received countless Dove and Grammy awards,

and even starred in a few films.

The kind of high profile you have had,

for how many years now?

Do you have any idea?

- I started touring with Amy Grant in '82.

- [Scott] Is that right?

- So 36, going on 37 years.

- Wow.

Okay, how've you been ableto maintain the balance

of husband and father and now grandfather

plus all the otherprojects you're involved in

and you're still working like a crazy guy.

- I just remember Deb and Italking at the very beginning,

when the success started taking off,

we cannot afford to be a casualty

and we are gonna make some ground rules

and we're gonna take sabbaticals

and we're gonna make family first, period.

And we're not gonna letanything jeopardize that.

And we said that was rule one

and we've stayed with that rule.

- And Tyler, you were a recipient of that

- Yes.

- priority.- Yeah, absolutely.

And I think part of what helped was

he would take us with him on the road

and he would take us...

I have a lot of memoriesof being on tour with him.

- Especially in the summer.- Yeah.

Absolutely.- They loved being on the bus.

- [Scott] They loved being on the bus.

- [Michael] Jumping in the bunk.

- We did love it.

(men chuckle)

- Slippin' and trippin' and...

They just thought the buswas the greatest thing.

- Part of the traps thatyou've been able to avoid

throughout the years, that must've been...

Money, sex, power are the three biggest.

- Yep.

- And take out so manyartists, as you say, casualty.

- Yeah, I've survived success.

- [Scott] Well, that's good.

- Thank God.

- [Scott] Yeah.

- You know, and I think as you get older,

you begin to realizewhat's really important.

You realize it's not about you.

And then you really realizethere's that God-shaped hole

that only He can fill.

If you sell a millionrecords for a lot of people,

then you have to sellfive million the next,

and if you don't sell five million,

you have to sell 10 million.

It's just a never-ending cycle of striving

that can bring an earlydeath to your life.

You know what I'm saying?

Hopefully, you just keepfalling in love with Jesus

and you start to hear more clearly

and you start to see more clearly.

And then, all of a sudden,Tyler's having kids

and the other kids are having kids

and it's G-Daddy time.

So it's all the family thing.

That's really the highlightof my life, honestly.

- How many grandchildren now?

- 14 and another one on the way.

- Do you write?

- I do, mm-hmm.

- You following in hisfootsteps in that way?

- You know, I say I'mwalking in his footsteps.

I'm partially walking in his footsteps.

I think I have one footin the music industry

and one foot in the film industry

so I'm writing a lot of musicfor film right now, actually.

It's kind of the primaryfocus for me currently.

- He's scoring two movies right now.

- [Scott] Really?

- He's not gonna tellyou that, but I will.

- Wow.

In your generation of people,

do they understand what the church is

versus who Jesus is?

And there is a clear

distinction.- There is.

There is, absolutely.

I think that's a lot of what's turned off

a lot of people in my generation,

is it's always a problem with the church

or someone in the church orsomebody who treated them badly.

But they've missed Jesus in all of that

and they haven't met him.

- He's been misrepresentedon so many levels

That's what bugs the heck out of me.

- [Scott] One of Michael'srole models and close friends

was Billy Graham, whosedeath has sharpened

Michael's focus on his own legacy.

- It was hard for me.

It was hard and beautifulat the same time.

I cried for a week.

I just couldn't, I just...

Matter of fact, I keepcrying from time to time.

I miss him 'cause hereally was a great friend

and I spent a lot of time with him

in his home over the years.

I think something was passed onto me.

I think there's maybemore of an urgency for me

in terms of what I'm doing every night.

Be more intentional.

- I definitely agree thata mantle has been passed.

- [Scott] Oh, it has?

- And I see it on my dad, absolutely.

I believe he doesn't even quite know

what he's about to stepinto, in my opinion,

that God's got something huge.

And that's exactly what weneed right now is another...

Maybe not another Billy Graham,

but what he had I think is what we need.

- It's called anointing

I think.- That's right.

- Well, if some of that ispassed on, I hold it lightly.

It's an honor.

I'll do whatever I'm calledto do to finish this race.

♪ You're safe here in my love ♪

(light piano chord)