Awakening in Indy: Brian Reeves & Heart After God

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

When you think of great cities for gospel music, what places come to mind?

Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Oakland…

…Indianapolis?

Yep. The capital of the Hoosier state has a special place in gospel music history.

Beatrice Brown, one of the earliest organizers of the Dorsey Convention, came from Indianapolis. Keyboardist-arranger Kenneth Woods, Jr. was a vocalist in her Brown’s Inspirational Singers ensemble; he went on to work with Brother Joe May, Sallie Martin and Mahalia Jackson, among other famous singers. The late Robert Turner and the Silver Hearts were another group to put Indy on the gospel map.  Then came Al “the Bishop” Hobbs, Tyscot Records, and the list goes on and on.

Singer-songwriter Brian Reeves is another Indy-based artist aspiring to the national gospel music scene. His debut album, Awakening, features his own compositions, his smooth singing and his vocal group, Heart After God.

Reeves was born in Indianapolis and attended Greater New Hope, a Pentecostal church. “Greater New Hope was where I got my start in music ministry,” Reeves told TBGB during a telephone interview last week. “I was a choir director at the age of sixteen, and everyone was older than me, but the pastor really allowed me to operate within the music ministry as well as in the youth department.”

The young artist attended Indiana University, where he studied voice and earned a concentration in choral directing. It was at IU where Reeves wrote his first song. “I took a Midi technology course, and we had to compose our own music. I think my song was called ‘He is God,’ or something like that. My first little song,” Reeves laughed.

Summoning a variety of influences – from Israel and New Breed to Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett – Reeves began working actively within the gospel music industry. He continued to write music and started recording, the culmination of which is the independently-released CD Awakening.

“[Awakening] is about the believer’s ‘a-ha’ moment,” Reeves explained. “It is about the time when we question God’s plan for us, when our faith is challenged, but then we understand who God is and his authority over our life. We realize that God is always looking out for our best interest, even when he says ‘no.’ Every song on the album has that thread of recognizing God’s ability in our lives.”

Awakening features Reeves’ seven-member vocal group, Heart After God, also from Indianapolis. “They are individuals I selected not just because they possess a phenomenal singing ability,” Reeves said, “but because everyone in the group understands music ministry. They have the compassion it takes to reach God’s people, to deliver music in a way that touches them, and they allow people to fill them up, as well.”

Brian Reeves & Heart After God are currently touring the Midwest to promote Awakening. They have been featured on gospel music websites Nuthin’ But Gospel and BET.com’s The Gospel According to Torrence. The ensemble received the Dorinda Clark Cole Conference Best Group Award in 2007.  Last year, Reeves was named Tyscot Records’ GEM Male Vocalist of the Year.

The title track is one of the album’s early singles. “It is about the times when we experience trials and tribulations,” Reeves said of the single. “The lyrics remind us that when things weigh us down, and after we’ve called on everybody for help, we can call to the God who has all wisdom and power. We can call to the God whose voice alone can move anything. He is the one who has the solution.”

The ensemble’s appreciation for the CCM-gospel fusion of Israel and New Breed is especially evident on another single from Awakening, “Remind Me,” TBGB’s November 8 “Pick of the Week.”

For more information on Brian Reeves & Heart After God, go to http://www.heartaftergod.org/.