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.

Video – “And the Winner Is” – D. Sowells & NEM

New Edifying Music’s new gospel recording artist, D. Sowells & NEM, has released the official music video for their debut single “And the Winner Is,” now available on iTunes, Amazon, and other online stores.

D. Sowells & NEM is committed to glorifying Christ, edifying His church, and evangelizing civilizations through music ministry.  Derrick, the group’s lead vocalist, feels God blessed him to pen this song as encouragement for himself and others during these hard and challenging economic times.  For more information about D. Sowells & NEM, you can visit www.dsowellsnem.com.

Video – “God Is Faithful” – Jennifer Holliday

Jennifer Holliday has released her first gospel music video for the single “God Is Faithful.”  The song was written by Keith A.Williams and is the featured song on her current digital-only EP, available at CD Baby.  
Holliday was presented to another generation of music enthusiasts recently, after her appearance on this season’s American Idol with finalist Jessica Sanchez.  The two brought down the house with the tune that made Holliday a household name, “And I Am Telling You,” from the Broadway musical, Dream Girls.

Video – “Down in the Valley to Pray” – Doc Watson (1923-2012)

Bluegrass singer/songwriter/guitarist and North Carolina native Doc Watson has died.  He was 89.

Watson enjoyed a successful career as a bluegrass, country, and folk artist.  The seven-time Grammy winner and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient also recorded gospel, including the Grammy-winning album On Praying Ground.

Greensboro’s WFMY News 2 highlights Watson’s influence: Doc Watson Bluegrass Legend Dies At 89 In Winston-Salem.  Meanwhile, GMF shares a beautiful a capella tune it located on YouTube.  The Watson family, friends, and music community have GMF’s sincerest condolences.

Broadway singer Carrie Smith (1925-2012) started in gospel

The New York Times details the career of jazz and blues singer Carrie Smith, who passed away Sunday, May 20.  Smith began, as many do, in the gospel genre before becoming a recording artist, achieving acclaim on Broadway, and gaining notoriety abroad.

GMF sends condolences to her family, friends, and fans.

"I Trust in God" – John Thorpe and Family

“I Trust in God”
John Thorpe and Family
From the CD, Child Of God (2012)
Available at CD Baby

John Thorpe and Family "Live" with Dr. Bobby Jones art work

Kudos to the groups and choirs of today that reserve spots for a traditional, minimally altered hymn or two in their otherwise trendy, radio-friendly repertoires.

McCollins Thorpe, Sr. solidifies this space for John Thorpe and Family with “I Trust in God,” an arrangement of the W.C. Martin hymn, “My Father Watches Over Me.”  It’s Thorpe, Sr., the eldest brother of the 14 siblings, whose vibratic tenor hinges on the upswings and downward slopes of every note to create a moderately slow but soulful number that baptist pastor Martin himself, were he to overhear from Glory, would give a nod to.

While John Thorpe and Family are a choir that occasionally consists of all 14 brothers and sisters plus a niece and nephew, their material is crafted with a traditional quartet-like vibe—a subgenre in which the Thorpe brothers, who are the primary lead singers, are firmly planted.  This is why Thorpe, Sr. is able to guide them from the flowing expressive verses right into a toe-tapping chorus and vamp with ease, adding just the right amount of spice to the sweetness of the early 20th-century composition.

2012 BET Awards Nominees Announced

Kim Burrell

Yolanda Adams, Kim Burrell, James Fortune & FIYA, Fred Hammond, and Trin-i-tee 5:7 are the Best Gospel Artist nominees for this year’s BET Awards.

The show will air live July 1, at 8 PM EST, on the BET network with Samuel L. Jackson as the host.

See the complete list of nominees here: BET Awards ’12 Nominees.

"Don't Forget About Me" – Cat Cole

“Don’t Forget About Me”
Cat Cole
From the digital mixtape, Strait from Da Soul of Cat Cole (2012)
Available at Soundcloud

“Can I do an old Tommy Ellison song?” Cat Cole asks at the start of “Don’t Forget About Me.”  Cole has a way of merging sounds of yesteryear with a style that appeals to gospel quartet lovers, R&B heads, and young folk alike.

Right after his question, the song he’s asking about struts off in shuffle rhythm while Cole pours out his lines with the intensity of a 1970’s soul singer.  About halfway in, the rhythm falls into a good ol’ straight quartet pocket as he turns the corner on the run and petitions, “Come on, Jesus.”  The background vocalists sing the same, falling slightly behind the beat.  It’s a groove you have to hear for yourself.  And you can–absolutely free.

Cole, whose real name is Castro Coleman, made this and several other tracks available online for free, last month.  He says Strait From Da Soul of Cat Cole is the first of several mixtapes that will drop every 90 days while he works on his upcoming album, The Favor Factor, which is scheduled for release later this year on the 4Winds/Malaco label.  Cole is the lead singer of Castro Coleman and Highly Favored and the music director for the Williams Brothers.

"Lord, You're the Landlord" – Mississippi Mass Choir

“Lord, You’re the Landlord”
Mississippi Mass Choir
From the CD, Then Sings My Soul (2011)
www.mississippimass.com

It takes an aggregation like Malaco’s tenured Mississippi Mass Choir to pull off lines like, “Lord, You’re the landlord, and there’s a leak in Your building. Fix it, fix it like You said You would.”  Voiced by some other choirs, such words might come off as demanding; to the new school, maybe even a little corny.  Not so with Miss Mass.

Original member and principal vocalist Lillian Lilly capably leads this Frederick Knight composition (previously recorded by labelmate Eddie Ruth Bradford) with the faith-filled fervor that the informal and simplistic lyrics call for, while the multi-award winning choir concurs: “I can’t fix it….You’re my landlord….Fix it like You said You would.”

The metaphor may not necessarily strike a chord with younger listeners, but “Lord, You’re the Landlord” is definitely your grandmother’s kind of hand-clapper.

Pastor Marvin Winans robbed, carjacked

“This kind of nonsense just has to stop,” Pastor Marvin Winans told ABC7 Action News Wednesday afternoon after being assaulted, robbed, and carjacked while pumping gas at a Detroit Citgo.  He spoke further with ABC7 Wednesday night upon leaving the hospital with a fractured finger.

The pastor of Detroit’s Perfecting Church, Winans is also a Grammy-winning singer.  His current musical collaboration, “Let the Church Say Amen,” features him with Andraé Crouch on Crouch’s The Journey project and has become an instant classic.  Winans also appears in a recurring acting role on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, and he recently gained even more prominence as the eulogist for the homegoing of Whitney Houston.

Helen Baylor breaks silence on music industry pitfalls and her recent addiction

Helen Baylor recently sat down with CBN’s Efrem Graham (May 10), and candidly addressed the negative influences that pervade the gospel music industry.

During her interview, Baylor–recognized in gospel for her riveting testimony and thankfulness for having “a praying grandmother” (The Live Experience/Word Records)–also discussed her marriage, which ended after 30 years, and the recurrence of her struggle with drugs.