On Friday, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the offices of EMI Gospel, where the INCOMPARABLE Karen Clark-Sheard visited with the execs of the company to share some music she’s been working on. (I also interviewed her, so check back here in a couple of hours to read what she had to say in our one-on-one!)
After she shared a bit about her heart, her vision and her new label (Karew Records), she played some tracks for us– REALLY GOOD STUFF.
Some info about the album…
The upcoming album, her fifth solo project, is titled All In One. Her daughter, Kierra Sheard, came up with the title as a way to represent all that her mother does– she’s a wife, a mom, an artist, a pastor’s wife, and now a label president… and she wears each hat well.
Karen played several tracks for us and all were really good. “Take Me,” which features her daughter, Kierra, and her niece, Angel Chisholm (Jacky’s daughter), has a sort of urban/acoustic feel to it. Her son, JDS, produced the track and it captures a great performance from all three ladies.
The styles of music are varied, but she handles each genre well. For example, “Never Let Me Go” is a strong praise & worship track, while another tune, ”Crazy Praise,” starts with an urban vibe before going straight churchy. A sure favorite for the album will be “He Knows,” which is written by J Moss and features Dorinda Clark-Cole. It’s kinda got an ol’ skool soul vibe to it. “What He Did” is J Moss-written, PAJAM-produced, and has so much ear candy that you’ll wanna repeat it just to make sure you didn’t miss anything.
The single from the album, which has hit radio as of last week, is “Prayed Up.” It’s got a tight sound and is written by Karen & her son, JDS.
AS IF that wasn’t enough, Larry Blackwell (VP of EMI Gospel) convinced Karen to do a little impromptu performance in the board room. She kinda tossed out the first verse of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” like it was NOTHING, but managed to leave all of us speechless. I tried to clap for her, but I was all late… mesmerized and what not. LOL
In any event, that’s the deal on the album. It’s expected to drop in early 2010, so save up NOW. It’s Karen Clark-Sheard… it’s worth it.
Major shout-out to Ken Pennell, Larry Blackwell and Cameron Hilson for the invitation and hospitality. Thanks also to Karen Clark-Sheard & Cynthia Ellis for sharing with me.
