At the True BJCC Saturday, September 23, 2006 @ 7 PM in Birmingham
Tuscaloosa’s groundbreaking choir, L. Spenser Smith & Testament, will headline at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center , 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. North, Birmingham, AL 35203. Phone: 205-458-8400. Opening will be Blanche McAllister, Tony Gaines & V.I.P. and Greater Movement. All Tickets are Free.
The group will spotlight their sophomore project, Statement: The Assignment Continues (Emtro Records), which debuts nationally on Tuesday, September 26, 2006. From the opening electric guitar pluckings of “The Star Spangled Banner” which segues into the funky foot-stomper “I’m Free” to the ragtimey “You Bring Me Joy” and the jazzy “In Your Presence” to the pseudo-classical closer, “He’ll Come,’ the project buzzes with neo-soul fervor.
The group’s leader, L. Spenser Smith, has been singing since the age of four. After college, he took a gig as a music minister at a church in Jacksonville, FL before taking over his father-in-law’s Tuscaloosa church after his death in 1996. His Greater New Testament Church birthed the Testament Choir and produced their 2004 debut CD The Assignment No. 1 on Emtro Records. It resulted in the radio hits, “What A Friend” and “God Will.”
In spite of his contemporary grooves, it’s no question of the subject matter of Smith’s songs. “I guess it’s the preacher in me,” he continues, “but it bothers me when the Gospel message of a song gets buried behind all the production. Content is what makes a Gospel song Gospel, and it’s very important to me that people hear what our songs are saying lyrically, as well as to feel it musically.”
Media contact: Bill Carpenter at 202-636-7028 / carpbil@aol.com
Church website: www.greatnewtest.org
Label website: www.emtro.com
No comments:
Post a Comment