Michael Whitaker Smith was raised in Kenova, West Virginia. A typical boy, he was facinated by Baseball. He wanted to eventually become a professional ball player. Music was certainly not his first love. Then at the age of fifteen, he recieved a crushing blow.....He wasn't good enough. No all-star team, no chance at making the pros. About the same time, he caught a vision to write songs that would say something positive about his faith. In September of 1978, Michael, packed his bags and piled them into his green chevy and took of for Nashville. In Nashville, Michael fell into a dangerous pattern of drugs, drinking and "self destruction." In October of 1979, Michael recalls, " I kind of flipped out. I honestly believed I suffered a major nervous breakdown followed by a powerful experience with my Creator. And I remember thinking that the burden had really lifted and that my life would never be the same."

It was there, in Nashville, after 18 months of toil filling positons in landscaping and food service, he finally landed a position as a keyboardist for the gospel group Higher Ground, which really set the wheels in motion for Michaels career.

In September of 1980, he signed his first publishing contract. There, he met Mike Blanton and Dan Harrell, the founders of Reunion Records and Amy Grant's managers. They introduced him to Amy, and her hubby Gary Chapman. The trio began writing songs together. Finally, Blanton and Harrell were impressed by one of Michaels songs, and they encouraged him to write more. To the astonishment of Blanton and Harrell, in merely a few short weeks, MWS returned with not one, but ten songs that were "pretty amazing." In 1982, he completed his first album, Project. So go to my discography for words to songs and more info!!