Author: Libra Boyd

Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.

Official Video – “Glory” – Mario Brown

GMF spotlighted gospel newcomer Mario Brown’s single “Glory” a few months ago (see here).  Now, here’s the newly released music video, directed by Robert Williams III.  The full-length project, The Mario Brown Project, is set to drop September 4, 2012.

Rev. Dr. Luke Powery to serve as Duke Chapel’s first Black dean

Duke University recently announced the new dean of its historic Duke Chapel.  Rev. Dr. Luke Powery, scholar, preacher, and singer, has been named the chapel’s dean and is the first Black to fill this position in the chapel’s history.  Newsobserver.com has the feature here.

“I Still Have A Praise Inside of Me” – Georgia Mass Choir

“I Still Have A Praise Inside of Me”
Georgia Mass Choir (2012)
Savoy Records
Available on iTunes

Rev. Milton Biggham and the Georgia Mass Choir are mainstays in traditional choir music.  Whether shooting movie scenes (The Preacher’s Wife), appearing at athletic events (the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta) or being featured on their own recorded DVDs and CDs, their sound appeals to both church and mainstream.  In fact, the opening lines of Georgia Mass Choir’s slow and introspective current single “I Still Have A Praise Inside of Me,” lyrically channel Kirk Franklin and God’s Property’s “More Than I Can Bear.”  After having reflected on the hardest of life’s trials–fires, floods, brokenness, and the like–the choir’s resounding refrain, led by Rev. Biggham and Victor Broughton, is the triumphant “but I still have a praise inside of me!”

Georgia Mass Choir’s single is a timely message of resilience in the midst of trying times.

Cheylaine Murchison: Rising artist with "a desperate generation in mind"

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

With Stellar Award winner Maurette Brown Clark at the helm of the judges’ panel and a demo recording package with M.Y.R.O.H. Music Group at stake, Cheylaine Murchison emerged as last year’s winner of the gospel singing competition “Sunday’s Showcase.”  The competition was presented by NC’s Greater Cleggs Chapel Missionary Baptist Church to find the area’s next Christian singing sensation.

In the year since her win, Cheylaine has been on a journey–both to complete her recent CD, which she debuted at this year’s “Sunday’s Showcase” in April, and to minister from a deeper level to as many as the Lord will allow her to reach.

I caught up with Cheylaine to hear more about her journey and her passion.

Libra:  You emerged as the winner of the 2011 “Sunday’s Showcase.”  What has your year been like since then?

Cheylaine:  My year has been amazingly blessed. I have been given such a wonderful opportunity, and being able to do what I love in this capacity has been spiritually and mentally rewarding for me. Everything from meeting and working with new people, to enhancing my writing skills, and even learning the business side of the music industry has contributed to this beautiful experience. I have spent quite a bit of time writing lyrics and working in the studio, both of which are somewhat new endeavors for me. So, it has been a learning experience as well. I am just so grateful to be in this position. A year ago,  I could not have imagined this for myself, but today I feel as though I am one step closer to my destiny.

Libra:  Part of being the showcase winner was the opportunity to record, and your project was released in April.  Tell us about your CD and the musical style we will hear.

Cheylaine:  The name of my first project is titled Journey to Me. It basically reflects my journey to find out who I am in God and who He intended for me to be. It includes six tracks. I wrote the lyrics for all six tracks, which for me, was a feat in itself. All of the songs are based on scripture.  But most of all, it is real music. It’s uplifting, it’s heartfelt, and is intended to reach a variety of people. You can expect to hear worship, praise, and contemporary tracks as well. I wrote these songs with a desperate generation in mind. People do not want gimmicks and tricks anymore. They simply desire to experience and know the power of God, and I hope that my music will help them do just that.

Libra:  Who were your musical influences growing up?

Cheylaine:  Oh wow! I love music, so my influences are endless. My parents brought me up listening to gospel artists such as Timothy Wright, Walter Hawkins, and Milton Brunson. As I got older I spread my wings a little. Some of my favorite gospel artists were, and still are, Mary Mary, Kirk Franklin, Isaac Caree/Men of Standard and Kim Burrell. I think they all are wonderful examples of artists who really know and own their craft. I appreciate the consistency and authenticity of artists like Fred Hammond and Yolanda Adams. Vocally, I get a lot inspiration from Jazz artists and crooners. Vocalists like Brandy and Chrisette Michele challenge me technically to be a better singer. The list could go on, but these are just a few that have contributed to my style.

Libra:  That’s quite an impressive and diverse list.  As a rising artist, what are your music ambitions?

Cheylaine:  My biggest dream is to reach the masses. I want to take this as far as it will go. That includes traveling and ministering to those all over the world, as well as ministering locally. I hope to make music on a much larger scale and that this is the first CD of many. And if anyone hears my music and walks away changed or blessed, then I will have succeeded at what I set out to do, with the help of God.

Libra:  Amen!  Along with the larger platform is the need to remain grounded in and covered by your local assembly.  Would you like to shout out your church?

Cheylaine:  I serve faithfully as a praise and worship leader, Sunday School teacher, and youth president at Hood’s Chapel United Church of God, where my leaders are Bishop Philmore and Evangelist Diane Hester. We are located in Lenoir, NC–this is basically the foothills of the mountains in western NC. I love my little church on the hill!

Libra:  How can GMF readers get your CD?

Cheylaine:  Currently, we are only selling physical copies of the CD, meaning you have to get it from me or another individual selling CDs for me. The price of the CD is $7. In special cases, I have mailed the CDs to individuals who are out of state or much further from the Raleigh-Durham area for $10. So, this is an option as well. We are hoping to make the CD available on iTunes in the near future.
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GMF readers who would like to book Cheylaine or obtain a copy of her current six-track CD Journey to Me can contact her at [email protected].  Here’s a snippet of one of her tracks, “Sacrifice.”

Regina Belle talks about health, new project

NPR.org recently published an inspiring interview with singing sensation Regina Belle during which she details her health struggles and discusses her latest gospel music project.  You can hear it or read the transcript here: Gospel Singer Regina Belle Reaches ‘Higher’.

“Destiny” – Desirée

“Destiny”
Desirée (2012)
http://www.desireelive.com/

“Everything you go through in life is meant to bring you to your destiny.”

Desirée Ogali delivers this line as if taught from experience.  Indeed, the inspirational gospel artist’s bio explains that her current single “Destiny” is the story of her life.  A simple keyboard and drum track support her soprano vocal.

Music has been a major part of Desirée’s life for as long as she can remember.  Her mother is a singer and her father is a singer/band leader in their home country of Nigeria.  By the time she was nine, Desirée was writing and tapping out tunes on the keyboard herself.  She is presently a music director and worship leader in Miami, FL.

“How Glorious and Excellent is Our God” – Freda Battle & The Temple Worshippers f. Rodney Posey

“How Glorious and Excellent is Our God”
Freda Battle & The Temple Worshippers feat. Rodney Posey
From the upcoming CD, How Glorious and Excellent is Our God (Available July 17, 2012)
Peace-O-Mind Music

Just right for a hot summer day of driving along the freeway with the radio up and windows down is “How Glorious and Excellent is Our God,” the feel-good, worship-filled, bumpin’ single from Freda Battle & The Temple Worshippers’ new CD by the same name.  The forthcoming album is their first in six years.

Produced by brothers Gerald and David Langford, “How Glorious and Excellent is Our God” goes hard with big horns, big bass, and big voices–all declaring the greatness of the Lord.  Interposing the hymns your grandma churched on, Battle and the choir insert a stanza of “It Is Well With My Soul” before handing the song over to guest vocalist Rodney Posey and taking it back for their next interjection, “I Will Trust in the Lord,” between the song’s choruses.  Battle then returns the lead chores to Posey for the remainder of the declaration of God’s glory and excellence.

The full-length project drops Tuesday, July 17.

“Giving God the Glory!”

Calhoun

Jacqueline Calhoun of Anderson (TX) and Stephanie Jackson of St. Louis (below) usher in the presence of God through their solo offerings at the GMWA Quartet Division’s Tuesday night program.

Jackson
Editor’s Note: On Thursday, July 12, Stephanie Jackson was named the winner in the solo category of the GMWA Quartet Division’s “Quartet Quest.”  The group G5, consisting of preteens and teens, earned top honors in the quartet/group category.  Winners received a cash prize and will be given a chance to record with quartet producer and CEO of MILestONe Enterprises, Milon Fenner.

Africa's Glorious Lamps make their first GMWA appearance

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

Twenty-two years ago, they were all incarcerated for refusing to serve in a force engaged in killing their fellowmen.  Today, they are shouting “hallelujah” and giving God praise for their spiritual and physical freedom.

The Glorious Lamps (left) brought the GMWA crowd to its feet at the Monday night musical, as much for their testimony as for their energy and uptempo song.  Sometime after being incarcerated, the men were overheard singing together, and the rest is simply divine intervention.

“You guys don’t belong in here,” they were told by the official who overheard them.

“And he backed up the truck,” recalls a group member, “and put us on this truck, and [carried] us to the next liberated country, the Ivory Coast.”
Other house-wrecking performances during the Monday night musical were Atlanta’s Chosen Aggregation (“God Specializes”), Timiney and Anasia Figueroa (“I Decided to Make Jesus My Choice”), and the Cincinnati chapter of GMWA with a sweltering medley (“Two Wings/I’ll Fly Away”).  The Dallas chapter’s charging number about the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus was so contagious that the audience spontaneously reprised the vamp as the choir exited the stage.  One spontaneity led to another as a mic toss ensued and “Mama” Sue Roseberry (BET’s Sunday Best 4 finalist) was pulled from her seat in the audience to add fuel to the Holy Ghost fire. 
Last night was a clear indicator that the old songs of the church have not been abandoned for the new.

"Lost in the Presence" – Willis Canada

“Lost in the Presence”
Willis Canada
From the CD, Beyond the Cross (2012)
www.williscanada.com

With appearances on TBN and Daystar, Willis Canada is no stranger to the southern gospel music community. In fact, his current single “Lost in the Presence” reached #2 just last month on the Gospel Music Tour Convention Top 100 charts.

The uptempo song is a catchy albeit explanatory tune for onlookers who may think something’s awry when the saints get their praise on.

“If they think we’re out of order ’cause we can’t stay in our seats…I can hardly hear them talking/I’m not listening very well, ’cause I’m plugged to the power and I’m about to have spell!” Canada sings. It’s all because he’s “lost in the presence of the sweet Holy Ghost.”

Canada is a native of South Boston, VA. In February 2013, he will be a musical guest on the Sunny Skies Gospel Caribbean Cruise. More information about the cruise is available at www.sunnyskiesgospelcruise.com.