After graduating from college in 1995, Bebo Norman planned to take a year off of school to chase his musical dream. That single year has turned into several years, and now Norman is sharing his message and his personal convictions on a much greater scale.

Norman will have a chance to share those convictions and experiences with Ames when he opens for Amy Grant and Mercy Me at Hilton Coliseum this Sunday.

Norman says he began playing guitar at age 17 as a way to relieve stress during college and was initially unsure as to whether he wanted to make music a career.

“I had a bunch of friends who encouraged me to see what would happen with music,” he says. “I was going to take a year off to see what would happen with music before I applied to medical school. That year has turned into seven or eight now.”

Norman says he is a Christian musician, but thinks the label is more based on lyrics than the music itself.

“I’m definitely a Christian musician, but mostly by default,” Norman says. “I’m a songwriter and I write songs about what my life is about and everything that I experience every day is filtered through what I believe, filtered through my faith.”

Norman has played shows with many different artists throughout his career, and Christian guitarist Phil Keaggy is one of the artists he greatly admires. “I’ve done a couple of shows with him, which I loved,” Norman says. “He’s so humble and normal, but when you see him get on stage, and just what he does with a guitar, it blows my mind.”

Keaggy says he thinks highly of Norman as a musician and also admires him.

“The music I’ve heard of his, on recordings as well as what he does live, is just really refreshing and honest, and I have great admiration for his integrity and his delivery, his musicianship and his voice,” Keaggy says. “He’s definitely a breath of fresh air in the midst of so much commercialism.”

Who: Amy Grant, Mercy Me, Bebo Norman

Where: Hilton Coliseum

When: 6 p.m., Sunday

Cost: $20.50-$29.50