Category: Artists

The Gaither Vocal Band got its start in the early 1980s with four guys singing around a piano backstage before a Bill Gaither Trio concert. Gary McSpadden, Steve Green, Lee Young and Bill Gaither were just having fun, harmonizing on “Your First Day in Heaven” when Bill decided they should try out their new sound on a live audience that very night. The audience went wild… and that impromptu performance marked the beginning of an era.

Now, for more than a quarter century, the Gaither Vocal Band has created a legacy of award-winning excellence that has forever raised the bar for male harmony. The list of men who have comprised the Gaither Vocal Band over the years reads like a “Who’s Who” among the gospel music industry’s best-loved voices. And, always at the helm, has been Bill Gaither, who has led the group out of his personal passion for great harmony and his genuine desire to bring meaningful music to a hurting world. The Grammy-winning, chart-busting success of the Gaither Vocal Band has far exceeded his wildest expectations.

Today, the Gaither Vocal Band roster is comprised of Bill Gaither, Wes Hampton, David Phelps and Adam Crabb. Individually, these men are gifted artists and men of authentic faith. Together, they are the incomparable Gaither Vocal Band, known around the world for their powerhouse vocals, innovative harmonies and life-altering message… a message of grace, hope and redemption.

Few entertainers today can match the unbridled energy and creative passion that Tamela Mann brings to her multi-faceted career. An acclaimed actress, NAACP Image Award nominee and Dove Award-winning vocalist as well as wife and mother, Mann’s talent has helped anchor one of the industry’s most successful film, TV and theatrical franchises, while her amazing vocal gift is at the top of her impressive resume.

Tamela seems to effortlessly juggle a variety of notable projects while still finding time to aid such worthy organizations as the American Diabetes Assn. 2012 looks to be a memorable year for Mann as she’ll be seen with Jordan Sparks and Whitney Houston in the upcoming film “Sparkle,” she and her husband, NAACP Image award winning actor and comedian, David Mann will co-host a new lifestyle and cooking TV “Hanging With The Manns,” and she’s releasing a new album, “Best Days”.

“I want to present music that people can be blessed by and that can be healing,” she says about her new record. “We have to put music out to keep people encouraged and keep lifting the body of Christ up, and even the ones that haven’t become Christians. We need to encourage them that the best thing that they could ever do is become a child of God.”

With “Best Days,” Tamela is on a mission to share the strength and joy that can be found in being a child of God. Produced by Myron Butler, the project showcases Mann’s powerful voice and her gift for wringing every ounce of emotion from a great lyric. The title track, penned by Butler, is a jubilant celebration of God’s promises. “It’s a very encouraging song. It gives a lot of hope,” Tamela says. “It’s about looking back on your past and not letting your past take over your life. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Things will be better.”

That positive, life-affirming attitude is not only the focal point of Tamela’s new album, it’s at the heart of everything she does. Whether she’s starring in a film, a play or on television with her husband David in the successful TBS comedy “Meet the Browns,” or recording a Dove Award-winning album, the singer continually touches people with her impressive talent and her Christ-like spirit.

Faith has always been the foundation of Tamela’s life. “It was all about faith and all about God in my mom’s house,” She recalls of growing up in Fort Worth, Texas as the youngest of 14 kids. “We couldn’t listen to like R&B or blues. My mom would say, ‘You can’t listen to those blues in my house.’ She was really strict, but we listened to a lot of gospel music—The Clark Sisters, Andrae’ Crouch, Walter Hawkins, The Williams Brothers and Inez Andrews.”

Tamela knew at an early age that she was called to music ministry. “When I was eight-years-old, I was going to youth choir rehearsals with my older siblings, and I would start learning the songs that they were singing. I noticed myself scooting up closer and closer to the choir stand, singing with the choir. I jumped in there and started singing soprano right off.”

Though she was young, her voice caught the attention of the choir director and her uncle, who was the pastor. “I had an opportunity to sing the lead and the song was James Cleveland’s ‘I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired.’ It went over so well and I got so moved while I was singing the song, I started crying. I didn’t know what it was at the time, being so young, but it was like the spirit of God would take me over every time that I would sing. I found out that singing was my passion.”

By the time she was 12, she was in the singing choir at the Holy Tabernacle church. Shortly after high school, she met three young men that would change her life forever. David Mann became her husband Darrell Blair who is now her pastor, and their pal Kirk Franklin, who helped launch Tamela’s singing career when he recruited her to be part of his groundbreaking group, The Family. Tamela sang on five of Franklin’s albums and has fond memories of those days. “I look at all of us and just how God has blessed us in different areas,” she says. “We’re going on and doing our own things. We’re all still serving the Lord which is really a blessing.”

After her stint with The Family, God continued to open doors for Mann to serve him in the arts. She landed a role in the play “He Say. . .She Say. . .But What Does God Say?” Her stage skills were noticed by actor/writer/producer Tyler Perry who chose her to appear in his play, “I Can Do Bad All By Myself.” From there her acting career escalated as she developed the role of Cora Simmons in Perry’s plays and such films as “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” “Madea Goes to Jail” and 2011’s “Madea’s Big Happy Family.” The Madea films have become one of Hollywood’s most successful film franchises and Mann’s portrayal of ‘Cora Simmons’ has become a cornerstone of the series.

Tamela has also taken ‘Cora’ into America’s living rooms via the television screen, co-starring with her husband David in the #1 TBS series, “Meet the Browns.” Yet even as she’s become increasingly successful as an actress, Mann’s passion for music has never diminished. She’s recorded four highly acclaimed albums, including “The Master Plan,” which won the 2011 Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Album of the Year and was nominated for an NAACP Image award.

Though an award winning project might cause some artists to feel pressure when they enter the studio to record their follow up album, Tamela just felt excited and motivated to take her music to another level, and she does just that on “Best Days.”  “I take no glory. I take no merit for myself because it all comes from Him,” Mann says. “Everything that I am comes from Him. The Lord gives me words and the most fulfilling part is that I can plant a seed of joy and hope for people that I’ve never met.”

Among Tamela’s favorite songs on the new album is “All To Thee.” “That is a worship song that says, ‘Less of me, more of thee, all the glory and all the honor belongs to you .’ The lyrics make me cry because they remind me that it’s not about me,” she says. “It’s all about Him and I just want to be able to give everything that I have to Him.”

“Back in the Day Praise” is a nostalgic tune that takes Tamela back to her roots. “When I was growing up we’d have a lot of tent revivals,” she says, “and it’s talking about all the things we did back in the day and how when people would go to church they would kneel and pray. It’s a reminder of how we used to praise God.”

“Guest of Honor” is a modern worship anthem about treating the Lord as an invited guest. “Some of lyrics say, ‘Here we are Lord. We are waiting for your arrival.’ It’s another one of my favorite songs on this album,” she states. Tamela is also excited about her daughters, Tia and Tiffany, making their recording debut on “Best Days.” “I’m so excited for people to hear them.”

Tamela Mann has been blessed with a busy life filled with faith, family and a rewarding career. She and David have been happily married for 24 years and have four children and seven grandchildren. The couple serves as spokespeople for the American Diabetes Association, helping educate people on healthy food choices and the importance of exercise. They also incorporate tips into “Hanging with the Manns,” a new cooking show the couple is co-hosting. They revel in the opportunity to work together on different projects. “We started out as best friends and we tell each other everything,” she says of what keeps her marriage strong. “Everything that we have accomplished has been together and it’s just really a blessing.”

The Mann’s home base remains in Texas and they are active in their church. “I’m always involved in church when I’m home,” she says. “When we have activities, I’m the decorator. I always decorate the fellowship hall. I really like being involved and I think it’s important because the pastors need laborers. They don’t just need members. They need laborers. It’s very important to come and be a part of actual fellowship and be a part of activities.”

As much as she loves being home, she also loves touring and ministering to people all over the world through her music. “That’s where I find my joy, when I can sing and minister to people,” she says, “because I see the hope and encouragement that it gives people. It’s something that I will do until I die. I will do this until the Lord calls me home because this is one sure way that I know I can tell people about Him so He can be glorified. I’ll never stop because I love it so much.”

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Over the course of an acclaimed career spanning more than a dozen years, Salvador has embraced a veritable rainbow of musical styles, from the Tex-­‐Mex and Latin sounds of the band’s Austin, Texas birthplace, to hip-­‐hop, pop, jam band rhythms, rock and much more. But it took their first album in more than four years, Make Some Noise, to turn Salvador into something they hadn’t been since their earliest days: a garage band.

Yet if “Make Some Noise” blazes a new trail for this seven-­‐piece band, it’s delivered them back to where the journey began. In energy and enthusiasm, joy and abandon, infectious groove and inviting love, the new album traces a laser-­‐straight line to the band’s first full-­‐length, self-­‐titled release in 2000. Long before their Billboard Latin Music Award nominations or their Dove Award for Spanish Language Album of the Year, “Salvador” put the band on the map with festive, breathtaking songs such as “Lord, I Come Before You.” The album marks a full-­‐circle moment for a band that has toured with Third Day, worked with producer Chris Rodriguez, and performed at Dr. Billy Graham’s final New York City crusade in 2005.

–A life full of music.  That’s the story of Ricky Skaggs.  By age 21, he was already considered a “recognized master” of one of America’s most demanding art forms, but his career took him in other directions, catapulting him to popularity and success in the mainstream of country music.  His life’s path has taken him to various musical genres, from where it all began in bluegrass music, to striking out on new musical journeys, while still leaving his musical roots intact.

In 1997, after Ricky’s then-current recording contract was coming to an end, he decided to establish his own record label – Skaggs Family Records.  Since then, Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder have released an amazing 12 consecutive Grammy-nominated classics, (8 of which went on to earn the revered award) while also opening the label to a variety of other musical artists, all the time keeping emphasis on bluegrass and other forms of roots music.  Ricky and Skaggs Family Records have had the privilege of working with many musical talents including The Del McCoury Band, Jerry and Tammy Sullivan, Blue Highway, The Whites, Mountain Heart, Melonie Cannon, Ryan Holladay, Keith Sewell, Cherryholmes, and Cadillac Sky.

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Mark Lowry is known and loved around the world as a trusted voice in the realm of gospel music and beyond. He started making music at age 11 and now, more than four decades later, his legacy is forever sealed as an innately entertaining communicator who can, at once, make audiences laugh, cry, and think.
Mark is a singer, storyteller, humorist, author and songwriter, whose lyric to “Mary Did You Know?” resulted in one of the most loved modern Christmas songs of this century. This captivating song, which he co-wrote with Buddy Greene, has been recorded more than 400 times by artists from every genre including: Reba McEntire, Cee Lo Green, Clay Aiken, Michael English, Kenny Rogers, Wynonna Judd, The Gaither Vocal Band, and a long list of others.
Mark has spent more than 20 collective years as the baritone singer for the Grammy-award-winning Gaither Vocal Band and serves as the sidesplitting comedic sidekick for Bill Gaither through live concert tours and the best-selling Gaither Homecoming video series and television airings (now more than 150 volumes strong).
A deep thinker and student of theology with an outrageous sense of humor (for which he often credits his diagnosis with Attention Deficit Disorder), Mark’s life work includes a long list of recordings and DVDs reflecting a wide range of influences, including: Mark Lowry On Broadway, Mark Lowry Goes To Hollywood, Life Gets Loud, I Love To Tell the Story (his first all-hymns recording), Unplugged and Unplanned, Whatcha Need, Unforgettable Classics, How We Love, and most recently … DOGS GO TO HEAVEN.
In spite of the broad range of musical inspiration found in Mark’s discography, there is one element that never changes: his gift for communicating profound truths through music and storytelling that keeps audiences of all ages on the edge of their seats. Mark maintains a full schedule of solo concerts with special friends such as Stan Whitmire, The Martins, and Cana’s Voice as well as a few Gaither Homecoming tour dates across North America.

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Russ Taff was born the fourth of five sons to a fire-breathing Pentecostal preacher father and a gospel music-loving mother. He learned early on that when he sang, people responded. Some of his earliest memories are of being balanced on the church altar by his mother’s strong arms while he belted out a gospel chorus to the rollicking encouragement of the tiny congregation. His trademark rich, emotion-drenched vocals were formed in that fertile environment.

His mother’s extensive collection of gospel records was the only form of entertainment their strict upbringing allowed, so after school Russ would rush home to listen to his favorites. Lying on the floor between two old stereo speakers, the plaintive, powerful sounds of artists like Mahalia Jackson and the Five Blind Boys From Alabama literally filled his head with music. “It really spoke to me,” Taff says. “I would close my eyes and just float away with those voices.” A natural harmony singer, Russ often teamed with his brothers to perform songs by the great quartets of the day—The Statesmen, The Gospel Echoes, and The Blackwood Brothers. “Those guys were like the Beatles or Elvis to me,” Russ laughs.

When Taff moved to Arkansas in his teens, he began listening to popular music for the first time in his life, and found inspiration there, too. Contemporary Christian music was gaining prominence and the traditional lines between ‘secular’ and ‘sacred’ were starting to blur. Russ formed a local band called Sounds of Joy, and began writing songs that combined the spiritual truths of his childhood with the music of his generation.

Two years after his band served as an opening act for the legendary Imperials, Taff was invited to join them as lead vocalist. “I was so green,” he remembers fondly. “But Joe Moscheo and the Imperials handed me the opportunity of a lifetime, and I was thrilled to be able to do what I loved to do and have it count as a real job!” With the Imperials he toured extensively and gained recognition as ‘the voice’ behind the award-winning songs such as “Praise the Lord,” “Trumpet of Jesus” and “I’m Forgiven.” These pivotal recordings successfully completed the group’s transition from traditional to contemporary Christian.

Eager to experience and explore all aspects of music, Taff left the Imperials after four and a half years to pursue a solo career. He captured the imagination of the industry by successfully releasing a series of innovative works that delved into his musical heritage while pushing the boundaries of contemporary Christian music. Taff’s lyrics, often co-written with his wife Tori, chronicled his personal spiritual path. Soaring, aching, raucous or tender, the songs Russ chose to wrap his one-of-a-kind voice around were unflinchingly honest.

Artistically, Taff was always authentic but never predictable. His eclectic taste was reflected in his recordings and live concerts, as he drew from all genres– rock, pop, blues, Southern gospel, Black gospel, country, even big band. “I guess I’m just not a right-down-the-middle kind of guy,” he cheerfully admits. “I’ve been influenced by so many styles that I try to never place restrictions on myself. If it moves me, I figure it will probably move other people too.”

In 1991, Russ was invited by his long-time friend Bill Gaither to be part of one of the fledgling Homecoming videos, which honored and celebrated the Southern gospel part of Taff’s musical roots. He eventually became a regular artist on the Homecoming Tour, and in a surprise move, joined the famed Gaither Vocal Band as a baritone in 2001. He was a member of the group for almost three years, and the two projects recorded during his tenure earned unprecedented back-to-back Grammy nominations. Early in 2004, Russ decided to step down from the Vocal Band and return to his solo artist status. A perennial favorite, he is still featured in Gaither videos and makes frequent guest appearances on the Homecoming tour.  His solo concerts literally take him all over the world—his latest CD, the multiple Dove Award-nominated “Faroe Islands” project was actually recorded in that mysterious, remote country of islands located in the North Atlantic between Norway and Iceland.

However you choose to label it, Russ Taff’s music has won him a wide audience and critical acclaim, as well as a total of six Grammy awards and eighteen Gospel Music Association Dove awards. He has been hailed by Billboard Magazine as “the single most electrifying voice in Christian music,” and cited as a musical influence by artists as diverse as Bart Millard of Mercy Me, Jason Crabb, Michael Tait and the Kings of Leon. He’s been inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Fame, Christian Music Hall of Fame, and was honored for his lifetime achievements in the industry at the 2012 GMA Dove Awards. Of equal importance, he is quick to add, is the title bestowed on him this year at the annual Moon Pie festival in his tiny new hometown of Bell Buckle, TN. “I’ll have you know that you are talking to the 2013 RC Cola King,” he says with great satisfaction.

Taff’s musical journey is far from over. Whether looking back at a career that spans three decades, or excitedly looking forward to his upcoming recording project, Russ Taff is the picture of a man filled with gratitude and grace. ”God called me to sing when I was just a little preacher’s kid in Farmersville, California,” Taff says with a smile. “And He’s still calling.”