Tag: donald lawrence

NC Music Hall of Fame 2021 double-induction to include Donald Lawrence

The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame will hold inductions for its 2020 and 2021 class on Thursday, October 21, 2021, in Kannapolis, North Carolina. The 2020 inductees, announced last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, included six nationally known and award-winning legends from North Carolina: The Briarhoppers, Jermaine Dupri, Donald Lawrence, Michael T Mauldin, Charles Whitfield, and the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Donald Lawrence (pictured at top, second from right) is a Grammy award-winning songwriter, producer, and choirmaster from Gastonia, NC who currently resides in Chicago. His discography includes credits with the Carolina-based Tri-City Singers, Donald Lawrence & Co., The Clark Sisters, Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, and a host of other music notables.

Following last year’s announcement of inductees, Lawrence shared via Instagram, “I’m overwhelmed and soooooo honored that I am being inducted into the NC Music Hall Of Fame,” Lawrence shared on Instagram following last week’s announcement. “It’s such an honor to join the long list of NC distinguished creatives like Andy Griffith, Roberta Flack and many others inducted in the past. . . . Thank you for honoring my musical contributions WOW this comes at such purposeful moment for me.”

According to a media release, the annual ceremony which normally takes place the third Thursday of every October was postponed and ultimately cancelled due to the pandemic. To this, the NCMHOF will host its first ever double induction which will include the 2021 inductees Tony Rice and Robert Moog. The Hall has also selected two past inductees, Tony Brown and Roberta Flack, to be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The honors will be commemorated in a live event which will take place at the historic Gem Theatre in Kannapolis. The ticketed event is open to the public and arrivals to the red carpet will begin at 6:00 PM. The evening will include live performances as the inductees are installed into the Hall of Fame. 

Donald Lawrence to be inducted into NC Music Hall of Fame

Donald Lawrence is among six artists to be inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame for 2020.

Lawrence is a Grammy award-winning songwriter, producer, and choirmaster from Gastonia, NC who currently resides in Chicago. His discography includes credits with the Carolina-based Tri-City Singers, Donald Lawrence & Co., The Clark Sisters, Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, and a host of other music notables.

“I’m overwhelmed and soooooo honored that I am being inducted into the NC Music Hall Of Fame,” Lawrence shared on Instagram following last week’s announcement. “It’s such an honor to join the long list of NC distinguished creatives like Andy Griffith, Roberta Flack and many others inducted in the past. . . . Thank you for honoring my musical contributions WOW this comes at such purposeful moment for me.”

Donald Lawrence IG post regarding induction into the NC Music Hall of Fame

The NC Music Hall of Fame has announced that the induction ceremony, originally set for October, will be postponed until 2021, due to the pandemic.  Once the state gives clearance to safely hold mass gatherings, the ceremony is expected to take place at the Gem Theatre in Kannapolis.  Other inductees are The Briarhoppers, Charles Whitted, Jermaine Dupri, Michael Mauldin, and The Squirrel Nut Zippers. Past inductees Roberta Flack and Tony Brown will be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Donald Lawrence asks for your support of The Thomas A. Dorsey Project

Professor Thomas A. Dorsey, Father of Gospel Music

(Springfield, IL)  The Thomas A. Dorsey
Project is proud to announce the support of Grammy, Dove and Stellar
Award winning recording artist, Donald Lawrence.

Donald Lawrence is an international songwriter, producer, music and
choir director and gospel extraordinaire with a storied musical career.  In support of The Thomas A. Dorsey Project, Lawrence issued this
statement:

As the Father of Gospel music, Mr. Thomas A. Dorsey has had a
profound impact on me as an artist. In fact, one of the first
songwriting awards I won as a young songwriter was the “Thomas A. Dorsey
Song of the Year Award,” during The Thomas A. Dorsey Convention of
National Choirs and Choruses. Mr. Dorsey not only paved the way for
future Gospel artists, he laid the foundation for which our genre of
music was built upon. All generations of musicians, regardless of their
musical preference or style need to study the work and life of Thomas
A. Dorsey. What better tool to learn the man than a piece of literature
written by his own grandson, Thomas A. Dorsey III? Thomas is currently
raising money via PayPal to facilitate the creation of this book about
his grandfather. Please contribute to this cause so that all of us
maybe allowed a window into the life of this musical genius.


The Thomas A. Dorsey Project is committed to protecting the image,
works, and reputation of Thomas A. Dorsey while preserving the legacy of
the most prolific innovator of gospel music. Dorsey arguably produced
the soundtrack to the Civil Rights Movement. Dorsey’s songs have been
recorded and performed by the likes of Sam Cooke, Albertina Walker,
Clara Ward, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, and Melonie Daniels, just to
name a few. The project is currently in Phase 1 of its Crowdsourcing
& Fundraising Campaign in which all funds received will assist in
facilitating logistics such as research, writing, editing, artistic
design and licensing necessary to complete a factually based narrative
which chronicles nearly a century of American History.

The Thomas A. Dorsey Project is seeking to transform Dorsey’s life story
into a manuscript, film and beyond. Please send all monetary
donations to:

The Thomas A. Dorsey Project
c/o Thomas A. Dorsey III
P.O.
Box 1825
411 East Monroe
Springfield, IL 62705

Online donations can
be made at PayPal.

For exclusive content and photos please “follow” The Thomas A. Dorsey Project on Twitter @Dorsey_Project, “like” on Facebook at The-Thomas-A-Dorsey-Project, or visit the official Tumblr blog at http://thethomasadorseyproject.tumblr.com.  

The preceding content is from a press release issued by The Thomas A. Dorsey Project.

"Light" – Tobbi & Tommi

“Light”
Tobbi & Tommi (2013)
BAS Music Group
Available at iTunes

Tobbi & Tommi cover art

Donald Lawrence describes them as “two of the best sopranos on the planet!” After 12 years with his aggregation, Donald Lawrence and Company, sisters Tobbi and Tommi step forward with their brand new single “Light.”

“Light” shines as a contemporary christian beacon of praise–“Glory, hallelujah, Jesus reigns and there’s access to redemption through His name!”–throughout which the two declare that “Jesus is the Light!”

Hailing from East St. Louis, Illinois, Tobbi and Tommi (formerly known as T&T and The White Sisters) have been immersed in gospel music for as long as they can remember.  Tobbi is also the featured vocalist on the new single, “The Gift,” from Donald Lawrence’s forthcoming 20th anniversary CD.

"Spiritual" – Donald Lawrence & Company

“Spiritual”
Donald Lawrence & Company
From the upcoming CD, Your Righteous Mind (Available Aug 9, 2011)
Available on iTunes

Donald Lawrence’s songs are often lifted right from the Scriptures, reminding you that the Bible is as timely as it is timeless.  Such is the matter of “Spiritual” from his forthcoming Your Righteous Mind album.

Blanche McAllister-Dykes (whom you know from Lawrence’s Tri-City Singers) delivers this number’s rich lead vocal atop a soul-infused music and choir arrangement, before Lawrence shouts out the band in the brassy musical interlude.  Die-hard Clark Sisters fans will recognize that the song’s climactic vamp makes its ascent sampling the sisters’ early 1980’s tune, “Walking in the Spirit.”

“Spiritual” is the second single from Your Righteous Mind.  The first single, which is the album’s title song and features Dorinda Clark-Cole, has been making waves since its radio debut.

Lawrence recently announced that the full-length project will drop August 9th.