Donald Lawrence
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Donald Lawrence
Donald Lawrence (born May 4, 1961, Gastonia, North Carolina) is an American gospel music songwriter, record producer and artist. He is best known for his Grammy Award-nominated songs "The Blessing of Abraham" and "Encourage Yourself". He studied at Cincinnati Conservatory, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in music. He has received multiple Grammy and Stellar Award honors and served as vocal coach to the R&B group En Vogue, was the musical director for Stephanie Mills, songwriter for The Clark Sisters, and collaborator with a host of artists including Peabo Bryson, Kirk Franklin, Karen Clark Sheard, Donnie McClurkin, and Mary J. Blige. Biography Lawrence took on The Tri-City Singers after a friend vacated his position as musical director. (The three cities that The Tri-City Singers come from are Spartanburg, SC, Gastonia, NC, and Charlotte, NC.) The group debuted in 1993 with ''A Songwriter's Point Of View'' on a then-brand-new independent record label called Gospo ...
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Gospel Music
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, and as an entertainment product for the marketplace. Gospel music is characterized by dominant vocals and strong use of harmony with Christian lyrics. Gospel music can be traced to the early 17th century. Hymns and sacred songs were often repeated in a call and response fashion, heavily influenced by ancestral African music. Most of the churches relied on hand-clapping and foot-stomping as rhythmic accompaniment. Most of the singing was done a cappella.Jackson, Joyce Marie. "The changing nature of gospel music: A southern case study." ''African American Review'' 29.2 (1995): 185. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. October 5, 2010. The ...
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Cincinnati Conservatory Of Music
The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music was a conservatory, part of a girls' finishing school, founded in 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It merged with the College of Music of Cincinnati in 1955, forming the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, which is now part of the University of Cincinnati. The Conservatory, founded by Clara Baur, was the first music school in Cincinnati. In 1924, Mr. Burnet Corwin Tuthill, General Manager of the Conservatory, instigated the formation of the National Association of Schools of Music together with five other institutions (American Conservatory of Music, Bush Conservatory of Music, Louisville Conservatory of Music, Pittsburgh Musical Institute, and Walcott Conservatory of Music) at a meeting held on June 10, 1924.Tuthill, pg. 1 The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Inc., became an institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music on February 1, 1930. Its certificate was signed by the President, Harold L. Bulter and Secretary ...
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House Music
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago's underground Clubbing (subculture), club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. House was pioneered by African Americans, African American DJs and producers in Chicago such as Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Jesse Saunders, Chip E., Steve "Silk" Hurley, Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Marshall Jefferson, Phuture, and others. House music expanded to other American cities such as New York City and became a worldwide phenomenon. House has had a large effect on pop music, especially dance music. It was incorporated by major international pop artists including Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson ("Together Again (Janet Jackson song), Together Again"), Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys and Madonna ("Vogu ...
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Sparrow Records
Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI in 1992, Sparrow's parent underwent a demerger four years later to become the EMI Group, and the label is now part of the Capitol Christian Music Group. Sparrow Records rose to prominence with the signing of singer, songwriter, Contemporary Christian musician and minister Keith Green. Within a year of his 1976 signing by Sparrow, Green was the top selling Christian artist in America. As of 2009, Sparrow's artists include Britt Nicole, Chris Tomlin, Mandisa, Matt Redman, Matthew West, Steven Curtis Chapman and Switchfoot. Since 1996, a popular production of Sparrow Records has been the annual '' WOW Hits'' contemporary Christian music series. In 1998, the WOW franchise then added the annual ''WOW Gospel'' series of albums. The ''WOW Worship'' ...
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Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populous city in the U.S., the seventh most populous city in the South, and the second most populous city in the Southeast behind Jacksonville, Florida. The city is the cultural, economic, and transportation center of the Charlotte metropolitan area, whose 2020 population of 2,660,329 ranked 22nd in the U.S. Metrolina is part of a sixteen-county market region or combined statistical area with a 2020 census-estimated population of 2,846,550. Between 2004 and 2014, Charlotte was ranked as the country's fastest-growing metro area, with 888,000 new residents. Based on U.S. Census data from 2005 to 2015, Charlotte tops the U.S. in millennial population growth. It is the third-fastest-growing major city in the United States. Residents are referr ...
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Gastonia, North Carolina
Gastonia is the largest city in and county seat of Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest satellite city of the Charlotte area, behind Concord. The population was 80,411 at the 2020 census, up from 71,741 in 2010. Gastonia is the 13th most populous city in North Carolina. It is part of the Charlotte metropolitan area, officially designated the Charlotte Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The city is a historic center for textile manufacturing and was the site of the Loray Mill Strike of 1929, which became a key event in the labor movement. While manufacturing remains important to the local economy, the city also has well-developed healthcare, education, and government sectors. History Gastonia is named for William Gaston, a jurist and United States Representative from North Carolina. The Loray Mill strike of 1929 in Gastonia was one of the most notable strikes in the labor history of the United States. The role of organizers for Communist ...
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Spartanburg
Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) grouped Spartanburg and Union Counties together as the Spartanburg metropolitan statistical area, but as of 2018,the OMB defines only Spartanburg County as the Spartanburg MSA. Spartanburg is the second-largest city in the greater Greenville–Spartanburg–Anderson combined statistical area, which had a population of 1,385,045 as of 2014. It is part of a 10-county region of northwestern South Carolina known as " The Upstate", and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, North Carolina, and about northeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Spartanburg is the home of Wofford College, Converse University, and Spartanburg Community College, and the area is home to USC Upstate and Spartanburg Methodist C ...
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Mary J
Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blessed Virgin Mary * Mary Magdalene, devoted follower of Jesus * Mary of Bethany, follower of Jesus, considered by Western medieval tradition to be the same person as Mary Magdalene * Mary, mother of James * Mary of Clopas, follower of Jesus * Mary, mother of John Mark * Mary of Egypt, patron saint of penitents * Mary of Rome, a New Testament woman * Mary, mother of Zechariah and sister of Moses and Aaron; mostly known by the Hebrew name: Miriam * Mary the Jewess one of the reputed founders of alchemy, referred to by Zosimus. * Mary 2.0, Roman Catholic women's movement * Maryam (surah) "Mary", 19th surah (chapter) of the Qur'an Royalty * Mary, Countess of Blois (1200–1241), daughter of Walter of Avesnes and Margaret of Blois * ...
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Donnie McClurkin
Donald Andrew "Donnie" McClurkin, Jr. (born November 9, 1959) is an American gospel singer and minister. He has won three Grammy Awards, ten Stellar Awards, two BET Awards, two Soul Train Awards, one Dove Award and one NAACP Image Awards. He is one of the top selling gospel artists, selling over 10 million albums worldwide. ''Variety'' dubbed McClurkin as a "Reigning King of Urban Gospel". Early life McClurkin was born in Copiague, New York in the United States of America. When he was eight years old, his two-year-old brother was hit and killed by a speeding driver. Soon after the loss, McClurkin experienced family turmoil due to the loss of his brother, and shortly thereafter, he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his great uncle, and years after that by his great uncle's son. Two of his sisters dealt with substance abuse problems, and that's when the young McClurkin found solace in his going to a church; and, also through an aunt of his who sang backg ...
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Karen Clark Sheard
Karen Valencia Clark Sheard (née Clark; born November 15, 1960) is an American Grammy Awards, Grammy Award–winning gospel music, Gospel singer, musician, songwriter, and businesswoman. Clark-Sheard is the wife of the current Church of God in Christ Presiding Bishop John Drew Sheard, Sr., J. Drew Sheard and she serves as the current First Lady of the COGIC denomination. Clark–Sheard is the youngest member of gospel group the Clark Sisters. She is also the mother of Urban contemporary gospel, contemporary gospel singer and actress Kierra Sheard, Kierra "Kiki" Sheard. She has released five solo albums, seventeen with the Clark Sisters, and collaborated with her son J. Drew Sheard II and her daughter Kierra Sheard. During the hiatus of the Clark Sisters, Clark–Sheard recorded her critically acclaimed solo album ''Finally Karen (album), Finally Karen'', which spawned her hit, "Balm in Gilead" (a re-recording of a song she originally recorded as part of the Clark Sisters in the 19 ...
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Kirk Franklin
Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American songwriter, choir director, gospel singer, and rapper. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel ensembles such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) among many others. He has won numerous awards, including 16 Grammy Awards. ''Variety'' dubbed Franklin as a "Reigning King of Urban Gospel", and is one of the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. Early life A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Franklin was raised by his aunt, Gertrude, having been abandoned as a baby by his mother. Gertrude recycled aluminum cans to raise money for Kirk to take piano lessons from the age of four. Kirk excelled and was able to read and write music while also playing by ear. At the age of seven, Franklin received his first contract which his aunt turned down. He did join the church choir and became music director of the Mt. Rose Baptist Church adult choir at 11 years of age. ...
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Peabo Bryson
Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson (born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the 1983 hit "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Roberta Flack. Bryson has contributed to two Disney animated feature soundtracks. Bryson is a winner of two Grammy Awards. Early years and career Born Robert Peapo Bryson in Greenville, South Carolina, Peabo Bryson spent much of his childhood on his grandfather's farm in Mauldin, South Carolina. His love for music stemmed from his mother, who often took the family to concerts of well-known African-American artists at the time. Bryson marked his professional debut at age 14, singing backup for Al Freeman and the Upsetters, a local Greenville group. It was Freeman's difficulty in pronouncing Bryson's French West-Indian name, Peapo, that led Bryson to perform as Peabo. Two years later, he left home to tour the Chitlin' Circuit with another local band, Moses Dill ...
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