God's Music Is My Life

God's Music Is My Life

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MUSIC INTERVIEWS
UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

God's Music Is My Life is a podcast that deep dives into artists and albums from the gospel, contemporary Christian, soul and women's music genres. We discuss their histories, sounds, theological and ideological implications from an intersectional and deconstructionist lens.

02/15/2025

S2 Ep 1: Candi Staton

With her new release, "Back to My Roots," Candi Staton fuses gospel, blues, soul, and country together, looking back at the songs that are a part of her foundation and looking forward with a half dozen new compositions from her own pen. In this candid and revealing conversation, we discuss her memories of the gospel highway in the 1950s, the stigmas on transitioning from gospel to secular, her return to gospel in the 1980s, her experience on Christian television, the subsequent stigma of divorce within Christian culture and her return to mainstream music in the late 90s. Read more about her new release at godsmusicismylife.com.

41 min
06/06/2024

S1 Ep 12: Reba Rambo

There's a lot to be said about Reba Rambo. From 1976-1982, she was one of contemporary Christian music's mavericks, the first to receive crossover buzz from mainstream publications like Billboard and Cash Box. She had the lyrical prowess of Laura Nyro, the vocal power akin to Streisand, and the glamour of Diana Ross. Her 1976 album Lady came from out of nowhere, establishing this member of southern gospel's Singing Rambos as a solo artist in her own right. Lady's lead single, "The Land of Oohs and Ahs," took The Wizard of Oz's concepts and likened them to the salvation experience, an unconventional approach to talking about one's faith that caught on with listeners world round. Fans called her "Reba Lady" and her whimsical and ethereal lyricism served as theological springboards from which listeners broadened their ideas of what being a contemporary Christian could mean. For years, Reba's important contributions to contemporary Christian music went unnoticed. But in 2019, Sony's Legacy Recordings and MNRK began reissuing her long out-of-print solo albums. Lady, Confessions and Lady Live were digitally reissued. Then, this past week, her 1980 album Dreamin' was reissued and quickly hit the #8 position on iTunes. I've been documenting the career of this important artist since 1993, and after many years and many conversations, I am still learning the whole story. We sat down last week to discuss her career, beginning with Lady, her time with Andrae Crouch & the Disciples, and the massive work that she did in 1980 which began with Dreamin', now available on all digital music outlets!

43 min
03/31/2024

S1 Ep 11: A Conversation About Sandra Crouch

I was not at all prepared for the calls I got, back to back, late Sunday afternoon telling me that Sandra Crouch had died. I didn’t know her, but the people who called knew that I loved her and they wanted me to know before the news went all around the world. A world without Sandra (or Andraé) Crouch in it is hard to fathom. Her music has been present in my life since I was born. Her solo albums in the eighties and nineties were companions for me in incredibly hard and lonely times. With her twin brother, Andraé, she innovated the contemporary gospel sound in his early group The COGICS, and simultaneously began a career as a session musician, playing percussion on everything from the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and “ABC” to Janis Joplin’s posthumous Pearl album. When Andraé launched his group, The Disciples, in 1965, she was once again there providing vocal and instrumental support as the group became a driver in the development of contemporary gospel and (what would later become known as) contemporary Christian music. They broke color lines in the Jesus Movement, performing at the seminal Explo ‘72. Sandra co-wrote the Disciples’ anthem “Jesus Is The Answer” which, today, can be found in hymnals. By the end of the decade, she and the Disciples found themselves at the White House, performing for President Jimmy Carter. She stepped into the spotlight as a recording artist in her own right with 1983’s We Sing Praises, which produced monster hits like the Jean Johnson-led “He’s Worthy” and “Magnify the Lord (We Sing Praises).” The album earned three Grammy nominations and took home the award for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female. Musician and social commentator Dara Tucker posted a tribute to Sandra Crouch on her TikTok (@darastarrtucker) that highlights her important contributions to the world of popular music and notes the lack of focus on the weight of her life’s work. Dara has joined me for this episode in which we unpack our thoughts about this amazing woman who will be deeply missed.

37 min
03/10/2024

S1 Ep 10: In Memory of Debra Byrd

This past Tuesday (March 5, 2024), the world learned of the death of singer-actress-vocal coach, Debra Byrd. Many first saw Debra Byrd in the seventies as part of Barry Manilow's backing group, Lady Flash, but she found herself in the living rooms of America when she was hired as the vocal coach for American Idol where she nurtured the talents of Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino, Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and so many more. I was privileged to interview Debra in 2007 for my radio show, Out the Box with Tim Dillinger. I wanted to honor her life, work and legacy by re-editing our conversation for this week's podcast episode where we talk about her beginnings in gospel, training in opera, her career with Manilow, on Broadway and, finally, her life as a vocal coach. You will be missed Ms. Byrd. Thank you for the incredible music and all that you invested into multiple generations of artists. To read more about Debra's life, go to https://godsmusicismylife.substack.com/

27 min
03/01/2024

S1 Ep 9: The Twenty-First Century Singers Reunion/Sunday Night Fever

In this episode, I talk with Charles Miller, Frankie Henry, Robin Johnson and Everett Drake of the Twenty-First Century Singers about their 1978 album "Sunday Night Fever" and their memories of their founder, the incredible male soprano, the late Johnny Whittaker and original group member, the late Lula Jordan. Who were the Twenty-First Century Singers? A Nashville group founded in 1972 that would become the first Black group from Nashville to earn a Grammy nomination for their 1975 recording "The Storm Is Passing Over." When Johnny Whittaker, Charles Miller and Robin Johnson joined Bobby Jones' New Life in the early 80s, appearing weekly on Bobby Jones Gospel throughout the decade, they became a part of re-shaping the standard for gospel's presentation and sound. To read my essay on the group and a deeper look at their history, join me at Substack: https://godsmusicismylife.substack.com/p/with-him-everybody-could-sing

57 min
02/20/2024

S1 Ep 8: Tori Taff on Songwriting, Russ Taff's 'Medals' & more

Tori Taff is an under-celebrated talent whose pen played a major part in birthing a number of innovative songs that have been a companion and comfort to many of us over the last four decades via the Imperials, her husband Russ Taff's body of work, and First Call, among others. I centered our conversation around Russ' blockbuster 1985 release, "Medals," but we discuss her life as a songwriter and the unique period of time in CCM in which many of us first heard her work. To read my own homage to 'Medals,' go to my Substack: https://godsmusicismylife.substack.com/p/not-gonna-bow-an-outsiders-take-on

46 min
02/13/2024

S1 Ep 7: A Panel Discussion on Gospel, Henry Louis Gates PBS History Series

Last night (2/12/24), I was part of a vigorous panel discussion at the National Museum of African-American Music for WPLN, Nashville's local news and NPR station, curated and moderated by WPLN's LaTonya Turner. Myself, Nashville music legend Odessa Settles, daughter of Walter J. Settles of the Fairfield Four, Patrick Daily, countertenor, director of the W. Crimm Singers and professor at Tennessee State University, and Dr. G. Preston Wilson, the new director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. We gathered to talk about the gospel sound, Nashville's connection to a vital history that was not included in Gates' documentary, and the current state of gospel music.

51 min
02/08/2024

S1 Ep 6: Donna McElroy/From Background to Center Stage

Many first became familiar with Donna McElroy when they saw and heard her on tour with Amy Grant between 1982 and 1992. But her career began before that as a student at Fisk University when she became a part of Nashville community of session singers on hits like Kenny Rogers' "You Decorated My Life," Barbara Mandrell's "If Loving You Is Wrong" and others. In 1990, she was signed to what would become known as Warner Alliance Records, a CCM/gospel division of Warner Brothers Records. She made an album that colored outside of the lines musically and lyrically. Launching a solo career was a challenge and, despite a Grammy and Dove nomination, the album failed to launch Donna into the kind of solo career that had been predicted for her. In this interview, we discuss that experience and much, much more. To read more about Donna's career, don't miss my Substack feature about her: https://godsmusicismylife.substack.com/p/her-way-donna-mcelroys-vision-of

51 min

God's Music Is My Life is a podcast that deep dives into artists and albums from the gospel, contemporary Christian, soul and women's music genres. We discuss their histories, sounds, theological and ideological implications from an intersectional and deconstructionist lens.

Creator

God's Music Is My Life
Years Active

2024 - 2025
Episodes

14
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© God's Music Is My Life
Show Website

God's Music Is My Life