By Cheryl Johnston
Gordon Mote will perform at Plant City Church of God on Sunday, January 26 at 6 p.m. The public is invited to this exciting, free event at 2103 Mud Lake Rd. in Plant City.
Voted “Top Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year” at the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, the blind-since-birth Mote surprised his family one Thanksgiving Day at age three by miraculously playing “Jesus Loves Me” on the piano with both hands.
He toured with his family’s singing group until undeniable talent made him an award-winning Nashville sessions player. Two days after Mote’s graduation, Cum Laude with a music degree from Belmont University in Nashville (transferred from Jacksonville State University in Alabama), Grammy-winning recording artist Lee Greenwood hired him for keyboard and background vocals.
As a studio musician, Mote’s big break came when Country Music Hall of Fame keyboardist Pig Robbins (who is also blind) couldn’t make a session and recommended Mote. That day, Alan Jackson recorded his poignant 9/11 tribute “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” — resulting in the first number one single for Mote. Since then, he has played for music’s biggest names, including Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Martina McBride, Bob Seger, Alan Jackson, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Alison Krauss.
Mote recently wrapped up a six-year stint singing and playing for the popular Gaither Homecoming concerts and recordings so he could devote more time to his family and expanding solo career.
The vocalist, producer and keyboardist extraordinaire creates songs that touch the heart. More than his undeniable talent, his fans appreciate his message of Christ’s love to a world in need of hope.
Since stepping into the spotlight as a solo artist, Mote has recorded an impressive body of work—three instrumental and six vocal albums—including the Dove Award-nominated If You Could Hear What I See (2004), Don’t Let Me Miss the Glory (2007), Songs I Grew Up Singing (2012) and for Christmas 2012, The Star Still Shines.
The songs on his latest New Have Records album, All Things New, offer encouragement for life’s great struggles. His wife Kimberly and their children Samantha, Parker and Ashton, sing “For You” with him. Friends Darius Rucker, Josh Turner, Sheryl Crow, Matthew West and Scotty McCreery joined him on “Do You Believe in Love.”
“I’ve played for every one of these artists on their records,” Mote explained. “For them to sing on mine was a real honor.”
