Getting Back to What Matters
Singer/songwriter Carnell Murrell, the first featured writer of the Lillie Mack Singalong Series
By Lisa Collins, Senior Music Editor, GospelMusicChannel.com
Charting New Territory
She’s responsible for breaking some of the biggest names in the Gospel industry including Kirk Franklin, Kurt Carr, Byron Cage and Trin-i-tee 5:7. Just as many more, including Yolanda Adams, BeBe & CeCe Winans, and Tramaine Hawkins have tapped into her keen marketing skills, and even before the sale of her label – Gospo Centric Records – to Zomba two years ago, Vicki Mack-Lataillade was the most powerful woman in the Gospel music industry.
Now, after a little more than a year out of the spotlight, she is back with a new venture and innovative partnership with EMI Gospel. Originally announced in January, the Lillie Mack Singalong Series keys in on music for congregations and the showcasing of writers who produce great music, is set to make its official Gospel debut at Bobby Jones International Gospel Retreat on Memorial weekend.
“Our first featured writer is Carnell Murrell,” says Mack-Lataillade of the singer/songwriter who first came to light as a soloist for the Dallas-Ft. Worth Mass Choir. “This is his time to shine. With this project we can feature different writers who may also be artists and producers – both new writers or those like Carnell, who may have been off the scene for a while.”
The Lillie Mack catalog is comprised of more than 800 songs written by some of Gospel music’s premier artists and writers, including Franklin, Cage, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Hezekiah Walker, Myron Butler, Kurt Carr, and Trin-i-tee 5:7. The project includes new songs as well successful hits such as "The Presence of The Lord" and "Sanctuary". The first CD – featuring the vocals of the Lillie Mack Singers – is slated for release this summer.
“Our series is focused not on artists, but on writers who produce great music, and congregations who sing and love God's music,” says Mack-Lataillade. “My grandmother, Lillie, was always in the choir. She couldn't sing a lick, but she loved Gospel music, and it's for people like her.”
Seen and Heard
Mack isn’t the only one trying new things. Fred Hammond is providing direct access to his fans with the recent launch of “Fred Hammond’s Warehouse Worship”, an internet-based, pay-per-view concert series for fans.
Meanwhile, hot off the industry grapevine is news that EMI Gospel has signed GRAMMY-nominated, Tony Award-winning actress/singer Heather Headley (The Lion King) for a Gospel CD that is due out late October.
Revival at Angola Prison
With the release of the GRAMMY Award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir’s latest project, The Miracle of Hope DVD, music seems to have become a movement in what was one of the nation’s most dangerous maximum-security prisons. Watch video.
Reportedly, more than 1,200 inmates accepted Christ as a result of the live concert experience that was officially released into the marketplace on April 15. The DVD features the powerful testimonies of some of those inmates, including convicted murderer “Bishop” Eugene Tanniehill, now a born-again Christian who, after spending more than a half-century behind bars, had his sentence commuted by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and was recently released into the custody of the New York-based church to minister to young men at risk.
At a premiere for the video – which features spirited renditions of “My Life Is In Your Hands,” “Amazing Grace” and “Total Praise,” more than 400 pastors committed to re-entry programs that help ex-cons successfully transition back into the outside world.
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About the Writer
Lisa Collins is a syndicated columnist, writer, publisher and former Billboard Magazine columnist. Her career in gospel began in 1988, with her creation of “Inside Gospel”, a daily/weekly syndicated radio series that provided news, profiles and product updates relative to the gospel music community. For the next eight years, she would also serve as executive producer of the show that was broadcast in more than 100 markets nationwide.
In 1995, frustrated by a void in quality publications serving the African-American community and the church as well, Ms. Collins founded L.A. Focus. A community-based publication, L.A. Focus On The Word strives to acknowledge the role of the church – and its growing clout – in the progress, state and politics of L.A.'s African-American community, while spotlighting news and issues of interest to the black community at large. In 1998, L.A. Focus established its first annual First Ladies High Tea, which draws upwards of 1,000 women and 50 churches together each year for an afternoon of inspiration and praise. In April 2005, the newspaper launched its first annual “Ultimate Guide To Churches In Los Angeles.”
Collins, a Los Angeles native and resident, has also served as a segment producer for BET and authored well over 300 articles on a variety of issues for a number of national publications from Essence to Upscale, including a 12-year stint at Billboard magazine. Her background in the field of entertainment reporting is extensive, featuring cover stories and interviews with the likes of Richard Pryor, Michael Jackson and Prince.
