Sondra Busby – We Need Your Presence
South Carolina singer Sondra Busby might be a contender for the title of “queen of the vamp.”
South Carolina singer Sondra Busby might be a contender for the title of “queen of the vamp.”
“I Still Got Joy” Roy & Revelation From the Malaco / 4 Winds Records album The Book of Revelation (release date: January 28, 2022) www.malaco.com By Robert M. Marovich South Carolina-based Roy & Revelation keeps the soul-stirring gospel quartet sound relevant with “I Still Got Joy.” Complete with call-and-response and [...]
“Thank You” Sonny Brown Independent (release date: January 3, 2022) By Robert M. Marovich If Sonny Brown’s “Thank You” has a traditional gospel quartet vibe, it’s because Brown has spent part of his career in the quartet field, notably with the Fantastic Violinaires and the Swanee Quintet. In exhalations of [...]
“You Fight On” Apostle James Pinckney Jr. & Voices of Faith From The Sound of Holiness (release date: November 6, 2020) https://faithtabernaclechurchofzion.com/ By Robert M. Marovich From South Carolina, the Voices of Faith choir, under the direction of Apostle James Pinckney Jr., was one of the darlings of the 2021 [...]
“Pull Together” Roy & Revelation Malaco / 4 Winds Records (2021) www.malaco.com By Robert M. Marovich “When you look in the mirror / Are you proud of your reflection?" That’s what Roy & Revelation want to know on their new single, “Pull Together.” When people continue to be judged by [...]
The Frierson BrothersBreakthroughJ.E.F. Records (release date: November 23, 2020)www.friersonbrothers.com By Robert M. Marovich There are so many links to gospel music history on the Frierson Brothers’ Breakthrough that it would be hard for the album to not feel a little like a church revival. First, the album, produced by Derrick [...]
“Get Right Church” The Gospel Legends From the OTH Records CD Just One Touch (release date: December 11, 2020) www.thegospellegends.com By Robert M. Marovich One day about fifteen years ago, I was at the Gospel Music Workshop of America when someone handed me an invitation to meet a group called [...]
“It’s Gonna Be Alright” Mie’L & Company Shekaycie Music (release date: September 5, 2019) https://www.thebash.com/gospel-band/mie-l-company By Robert M. Marovich From its name, pronounced My-L, Mie’L & Company sounds like a male-led small choir. From the cover of its EP, Another Chance, with its photo of group leader Richie Irby, it [...]
By Bob Marovich Give it up for Pastor Shirley Caesar. She stands once again, unafraid, and speaks her mind through music. Caesar, whose heart-wrenching “Mother Emanuel” honored the nine who lost their lives in the 2015 shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, is back with another protest [...]
“Another Chance” The McDuffies McDuffie’s Music Group (release date: March 13, 2020) By Bob Marovich The McDuffies’ single, “Another Chance,” is bittersweet. In this unhurried quartet ballad, lead vocalist Ricky McDuffie sings about the times that God “looked beyond his faults” to bestow upon him another chance, even when he [...]