Bob

“God Loves the Hood”F1 Diamond feat. B. JacksonFrom the CD Pastor of the Traphousewww.f1diamond.comMemphis-based Christian hip hop artist F1 Diamond, dubbed the “Pastor of the Traphouse,” offers an alternative portrait of the hood, one where people love God and not everyone is a player or a thug, as the media [...]

Soul of the ChurchHollywood Select Video/Infinity Entertainment Group (2010)The early Sixties were a particularly tumultuous time for African Americans. Marches in cities such as Birmingham and Selma were met with fire hoses, snarling dogs and wooden clubs. Freedom riders, voter registration volunteers and peaceful protesters were knocked down by insanely [...]

“I Believe”Neal RobersonFrom the Broken Chains Entertainment CD Lord, I Thank You (2010)www.BrokenChainsEntertainment.orgThe bracing title track of Bishop Neal Roberson’s debut album, Lord, I Thank You, released last month on his new Broken Chains Entertainment imprint, is likely to be the single designate. The more musically interesting track from the [...]

Michelle BonillaIn Spite of MeRockSoul Productions (Digital Release: April 13, 2010)www.myspace.com/michellebonillamusicwww.michellebonilla.comOn the opening track of her sophomore album, In Spite of Me, Michelle Bonilla declares to the heavens, “This is your show.” If life is a show, Bonilla is a superb MC.Blend Damita Haddon with Selena and you have Michelle [...]

More love for the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, this time from St. Louis, home of Willie Mae Ford Smith, Brother Joe May, Martha and Fontella Bass, Rev. Cleophus Robinson (although he also lived in Chicago), and many others. TBGB's Bob Marovich is interviewed as part of the story, from [...]

The Gospel True Tones of Lexington, MSNo Friend Like JesusSharp Records 2009www.sharprecordsusa.comNo Friend Like Jesus by the Gospel True Tones of Lexington, Mississippi, is another recent release from Sharp Records, an independent label out of Atlanta that, among other things, serves the gospel quartet community: singers, musicians, fans and radio [...]

“Save Me”Christawn feat. Micah StampleyFrom the forthcoming CD Life StoryAbundant Harvest Entertainment/Universal Music Christian Group (release date: May 18, 2010)Guitars snarl and growl like demons unleashed during the introduction of Christawn’s autobiographical single, “Save Me,” a power rock piece about dumping the thug life of chasing “cars, cribs, cash” once [...]

I Remember Gospel and I Keep On SingingMinister Gene D. VialeBloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2010257 pp. with Illus.www.geneviale.comGene Viale has quite a story to tell. His is a unique perspective on the gospel music business during and after the golden age, and he chronicles it in his recently published autobiography, I [...]

“You Pulled Me Through”Toni Rackard feat. Marvin Winans, Jr.From the Beyond the Veil Records CD Unconditional Love 2010www.tonirackard.comA chance encounter (or was it?) with Marvin Winans, Jr. in Tampa enabled Floridian Toni Rackard to get some of that Detroit sound on the first single from her forthcoming debut album, Unconditional [...]

By Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog.To say that much has happened to Brian Courtney Wilson since he sat down to talk with TBGB in September 2008 would be an understatement.Wilson's debut solo album, Just Love, was released on Matthew Knowles’ Spirit Rising Music imprint in January 2009, and [...]