By Robert M. Marovich On Sunday, December 12, at 8 p.m. ET, McDonald’s USA will deliver the gift of music to McDonald’s fans through its Inspiration Celebration® Gospel Tour Holiday Experience. Yolanda Adams, Kurt Carr, James Fortune, The Walls Group, and Brian Courtney Wilson, and featuring BET’s Sunday Best winner Stephanie Summers, will grace the virtual stage to ring in the season with some of their chart-topping hits and holiday carols and gospel music. The show, hosted by multi-award-winning musician and syndicated radio personality Lonnie Hunter, will air on BET Network’s YouTube Channel.  In addition to their solo spots, the ...

Episode 157 Playlist Amazing – Pastor Mike Jr. Redeemed – Denita Gibbs I’m not tired yet…running for Jesus – Calvin Bridges You did it – Kisha Grandy Fear is not welcome – Brian Courtney Wilson w/Hilary Scott Better – Pastor Skylar Patterson & Predestined feat. Lisa Knowles Smith UWait 2021 – Walter Barnes and Men of Ministry I’m yours – Leah Oduro-Kwarten I am strong – Capathia Jenkins Thank you – Pastor Mike Jr. Yamagoya3 – Imari Tones Perfect healing – Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers I will call upon the Lord – Dr. E. LaQuint Weaver II & ...

“Fear is Not Welcome” Brian Courtney Wilson feat. Hilary Scott From the Motown Gospel CD Still (Deluxe) (single release date: July 9, 2021) www.motowngospel.com By Robert M. Marovich While the original version of Brian Courtney Wilson’s “Fear is Not Welcome” was potent enough, for the Deluxe edition of Still, he duets with Hilary Scott, co-lead singer of Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum) and who, as Hillary Scott & the Scott Family, released the Grammy Award-winning Christian music album, Love Remains. Together, the two declare holy war on fear, but not without a call for assistance from on high. Echoes of Psalm ...

By Bob Marovich As is our custom for this time of year, the Journal of Gospel Music presents its “best of” lists in the category of CDs, songs, and historical releases. The recordings were not chosen as “best of” based on sales, chart status, promotion, voting, fan popularity, number of likes or retweets, committee decisions, throwing darts, reading tea leaves, arm twisting, or anything other than 1) JGM was serviced with the music for review either on its own platform or for review in another journal or publication, and 2) JGM believes they best represented gospel/sacred music in 2020 in ...

By Bob Marovich Like all of us, Brian Courtney Wilson is navigating the raging tempests of 2020 as best he can. He is also using his platform as a GRAMMY-nominated gospel singer, and specifically his new album, Still, to help others weather the storms of life. Wilson’s fifth studio album comes out this Friday, October 16, on Motown Gospel. “We are all in the same boat,” Wilson told the Journal of Gospel Music. “I pray that Still helps people deal with the challenges they are facing now and the challenges they’ve been dealing with.” Given that the title track (and current ...

Brian Courtney Wilson Still Motown Gospel (release date: October 16, 2020) www.motowngospel.com By Bob Marovich Whether its messages are explicit or implicit, gospel music at its finest tells listeners of all beliefs—and even those with no belief—that hope is a beacon in the midst of hopelessness, encouragement exists for the discouraged, and comfort is available for the discomforted. Hope, encouragement, and comfort are in abundance on Still, GRAMMY-nominated Brian Courtney Wilson’s fifth and latest album. Its eight radio-sized and biblically-based songs are reassuring shoulder rubs, made all the more so by Wilson’s easy-on-the-ears baritone. For example, the contemplative title track ...

By Bob Marovich Last December, gospel artist Gene Moore was on top of the world. He had recently gotten married to the love of his life, and things were looking up. He had released his debut album, The Future, on Motown Gospel in 2016. Then the trials started. “First, my wife’s car broke down and we were sharing a car for about six months,” Gene said. “Then I lost three of my jobs due to layoffs and changes in administration. I had to file for unemployment. I started to drive for Uber and Lyft. I told my wife I felt ...

By Bob Marovich Despite rumbles of thunder and intermittent downpours that kept the audience under umbrellas for much of the program, the closing event of the two-day 2019 Chicago Gospel Music Festival proceeded without delay. A collaboration between Chicago’s Department of Cultural and Special Events, the Stellar Awards, and the National Museum of Gospel Music, the evening program, held at the city’s Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, featured appearances by several Stellar Award nominees and awardees. Emcees were Pastor Charles Jenkins and Terrell Brown, Anchor, ABC 7 Chicago. Here are a few photographic highlights of the evening:

Click on the image above to start program Playlist for Episode 111: Satan, we’re gonna tear your kingdom down – Shirley Caesar All God’s children ain’t free – Jones Family Singers Whoa – Bryan Andrew Wilson Jesus will fix it – Anthony Faulkner When will it end – Dave Bass & the D.B.G.s I will be waiting – Guro After your heart – withLove All in – J Bethel & Spoken For Oh how I love Jesus – Brothers in Unity Fight the power (freestyle) – Nucci Reyo the King’s Kid Heal (find a way) – Brian Courtney Wilson It’s ...

Various Artists Heal: Songs of Hope for our Nation Motown Gospel (release date: January 13, 2017) www.motowngospel.com By Bob Marovich Gospel music often functions as protest music. Either explicitly, as during the Black Power Movement of the late 1960s, or implicitly, with semi-coded lyrics like the spirituals before them, gospel songs fight back against an oppressive world with messages of faith and encouragement that trouble won’t last always. Heal: Songs of Hope for our Nation from Motown Gospel offers ten examples of how contemporary gospel music is poised to carry on the fight against evil and oppression in today’s uncertain political climate. The ...