I may start calling them The Nelson Twins to save on keystrokes.

You folks already know that Jonathan Nelson recorded his live album a couple of weeks ago.  Word has it that it’ll be in stores on August 24th from Integrity Music.

On Friday, I posted a lil’ video of his twin brother, Jason Nelson, and some of you commented that you didn’t even know of him.

After I the shock wore off and I regained consciousness, I saw that he sent a Twitter message saying that his live recording is taking place on Friday, April 23rd at his church, Greater Bethlehem Temple in Baltimore, MD.

I think the industry’s about to be doubly blessed! LOL

It’s no secret that Jason Nelson is one of my favorite vocalists… like… on Earth.  Even he knows it… I think.

He just has one of those naturally warm tones.  His delivery is confident and in-the-pocket.  He’s a REAL singer… he doesn’t rely on his tricks (though he’s got a BUNCH of ‘em–with precision– up his sleeve).  My dad might call him a “crooner,” reminiscent of gritty-and-great vocalists like Sam Cooke and David Ruffin.

More than that, though, he’s a dude who just CLEARLY loves him some Jesus.

OKAY.  Now that I’ve finished by “Jason Nelson For President” campaign, watch this video of him singing “The Old Rugged Cross”:

PuhLEASE, tell me what you think of THAT!

Remember a few months ago, when I was in the studio with Ashmont Hill as they worked on their upcoming album?

Well, during that session, they were working on a particular song that nearly sent me INSANE… beautiful melodies, beautiful lyrics, beautiful concept.  At the time, I didn’t release the title, but I think I can now…

The tune is called “Your Masterpiece” and it’s written by group member Phil Thompson and Zenzo Matoga.  It’s GREAT.

I just found some video footage of guitar overdubs being recorded this week, by producer Sal Oliveri and guitarist Andrew Ramsey, and I figured I’d share it with you guys.  If you listen closely, you can hear the vamp of the song behind the guitar… it’s a BIG worship ballad that I think you guys are going to love.

From what you could hear, what do you think???

Just found myself enjoying this song and video, so I figured I’d post it for you guys.

It’s Lecrae’s “Far Away,” the lyrics of which present a very real and common-to-man plea– “God, where are you?” I love that, by the end of the track, Lecrae presents an answer– God’s not far away at all.

Lecrae recorded the song to benefit Haiti relief efforts and it’s available for purchase from iTunes.

The message is tight, the video is cool… I love it.

What do you think???

Word has it that another relief song for Haiti is in the works, this time from some singers who gathered in-studio this week in New York City.

Some of the vocalists who’ve laid vocals include Kim Burrell, Nikki Ross, James Hall, Lil’ Mo, Anaysha Figueroa, Nancey Jackson, Michelle Williams, Musiq Soulchild, Tye Tribbett, Anwar Robinson, and more.

I don’t have details on an expected release date yet, but I’ll keep you guys posted…

I saw an ad for a new gospel songbook yesterday– you know, the sheet music for some of our favorite gospel songs… and I thought to myself “are people even buying these?”

Back when I was a young lad pursuing my undergraduate degree, I took classical piano lessons as one of my electives.  The instructor– whose name now escapes me and I dare not try to remember, lest I be called a racist– told me to buy music that I wanted to learn.

So, I said “well, shoot… lemme learn some Kirk Franklin, some Yolanda Adams, some Fred Hammond…”  And I bought songbooks of their music.

Sidebar:  It occurs to me that you guys don’t know that I’ve played piano since I was 2 or 3 years old, so you’re probably like “WHAT?!”  For the sake of brevity in this post–  I know how to play the piano, but I don’t do it much at all anymore.  Moving on…

The problem I encountered was that my playing became so technical that it stripped the feeling out of what I was doing.  Ultimately, I ended up scrapping what was written and just playing by ear, which was precisely what I was trying to avoid doing by taking lessons in the first place.  I just didn’t prefer the sheet music.

It is an incredibly unfortunate reality that many church musicians I’ve encountered cannot read music (and you can forget about music theory), so the songbooks are kinda lost on them, too.  And of the folks who can read music, I’m betting that their experiences would be similar to mine– you get so caught up reading that you forget to spend any time feeling.

So, I’m just curious– who buys gospel songbooks?  Do any of you own some?  Which ones?  Talk to me!

You guys already know that I love you, but I’m always looking for new ways to show it.  Here’s yet another…

10 people will win Marvin Sapp’s new album, Here I Am, before it hits stores on March 16th!  The project features some great new music, including my faves “Comfort Zone,” “Keep Holding On,” “Fresh Wind,” and the unstoppable single “The Best In Me.”

HOW TO WIN:

1.  This contest will be run exclusively on Twitter, so you must have a Twitter account to participate.  Sign up here if you don’t have one yet!

2.  Follow me at http://www.twitter.com/gospelpundit.

3.  When you see the following message every day, simply RE-TWEET it and you’ll be entered to win:

I wanna win MARVIN SAPP’s new album, HERE I AM, from GospelPundit.com! RT to Enter! http://bit.ly/cSQAA7 | #punditsapp

4.  You can enter as many times as you want each day– just re-tweet to enter again.  Or you can copy and paste the message, on your own, and send it as often as you’d like, but make sure that you begin your message with “RT @gospelpundit”!!! The more you do it, the better your chances of winning a copy of Marvin Sapp’s new album, Here I Am!

5.  On Monday, March 8, 2010, ten (10) names will be randomly drawn from among those who sent the message during this week.  I will notify that person, via Direct Message on Twitter, that they have won.  I will also announce the winners here, at GospelPundit.com.

THE RULES:

1.  This giveaway runs until Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 11:59pm CST.

2.  This giveaway is restricted to residents of the U.S. and Canada.  Sorry to all my intercontinental buddies!

3.  The altering of the daily Twitter message, in any way (including additions, abbreviations and shortening of words), may be grounds for disqualification.  Further, GospelPundit.com reserves the right to disqualify any entrant, at any time, for any reason whatsoever in its sole discretion.

5.  The re-tweeting and/or sending, via Twitter, of the giveaway message above shall constitute consent of the individual to the rules and terms of this contest as discussed above.

That’s it!  See you in the Twitterverse!

In case you haven’t caught the many local broadcasts of the 25th Annual Stellar Awards yet, now’s your chance to catch the program on cable, at gmc.  The show will air this Sunday, February 28th at 8pm ET.

During the show, gmc will also be sponsoring an interactive “Stellars Watch & Win” contest in which you can answer trivia questions for a chance to win a free HD Flip video camera.  I got one for Christmas and I’m lovin’ it!

For more info on the Stellar Awards at gmc, visit http://www.gmclife.com/stellars.

If you recall from my recap of the awards show, it was one of the best Stellar Awards tapings I’ve ever attended… I think you’ll QUITE enjoy it, if you haven’t seen it already.

Who’s tuning in???

I needed some workin’ music yesterday and I didn’t feel like pulling up iTunes on my computer… it can get a little temperamental when I’m doing too much at once and I wasn’t in the mood.

SO, I went to YouTube and landed on an oooooold favorite of mine– it’s Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Crusade Choir (back when they had that “Crusade” in the name!) featuring Kervy Brown on “The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow.”  After I had played it 14 times, I figured “I may as well just go ahead and post it.”

Now, I know some of you are partial to the remake with Kim Burrell from the Family Affair II: Live At Radio City Music Hall album, but don’t sleep on the original.  She definitely made it her own, but she had a melodic foundation from which to do it… that’s all I’m sayin’.

Back when I was a member of Love Fellowship Tabernacle (didn’t know that, did ya?), there was NOTHING like hearing Kervy Brown sing on Sunday morning… and here’s one of the reasons why:

A little piece of trivia I like to tell every time this song is mentioned– did you know that Benjamin Jeffrey Grant Clark (VP of Radio Promotions & Artist Relations at Verity Gospel Music Group, and one of the funniest dudes around) wrote this arrangement?

Choirs just aren’t singin’ like they used to!  Whatd’ya think???

EXCLUSIVE LEAK!!!   EXCLUSIVE LEAK!!!   EXCLUSIVE LEAK!!!

Okay, folks.  You know how 21:03’s been sharing, bit-by-bit, some of the music they’re working on?  Well, if you’re like me, you’re sick of bit-by-bit…

So, just for you guys, I nabbed the full track of their could-be-a-new-single: “Favor“!

This track is straight from the lab to your ears– I dunno if Verity even knows I’m doin’ it (don’t be mad at me guys, okay?!).

Don’t ask, but do tell… CLICK HERE to listen NOW!

This is such a catchy track to me… I can’t stop singing the chorus.  Talk to me, folks… what do you think?