New Associate Editor Troy Lilly interviewed Fred Hammond for you guys…

In this chat, he talks with Fred about Life in the Word (the new album that hits stores TODAY), Fred’s new relationship with Universal Music Christian Group, and plans for the future.

It’s a great read, so I won’t delay things any further… here’s Troy with Fred Hammond.

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Troy: How are you doing this morning, man?

Fred: Good, man. How you feel?

Troy: Good, good. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me.

Fred: I appreciate you, doc, for talking to me.

Troy: First off, I want to congratulate you on the new label, fHammond Family Entertainment, and your joint venture with Universal Music Christian Group.

Fred: Yeah.

Troy: Everyone’s really excited about it. Some people are so excited they’ve let their imaginations run wild about what’s going to happen next. I mean really, really wild!

So, tell me how this partnership came about and what exactly this means for future Fred Hammond projects?

Fred: Well, uh, the label is not as new as is kind of being said. It’s fHammond Music, basically, which was on the Verity/Zomba label.

Troy: Ok.

Fred: Verity and Zomba both gave me an opportunity to learn the inside of executive producing …there’s other levels… marketing, and not just finding the talent, but motivating and molding the talent. Verity taught me to do that.

But when we got to the end of our run, Verity wanted to concentrate on less secondary projects and more primary projects. Fred Hammond is a primary and fHammond is a secondary.

Troy: I see.

Fred: Basically, I got dropped! Naw…I’m just kidding! (laughs)

Troy: (LAUGHS)

Fred: And I didn’t really get dropped. We both mutually agreed, you know, it was time to go. It was a good run. We got Joann Rosario [Condrey] out of it, I had the Singletons and Shea Norman … Joann really shined out of that… but I got a chance to learn at each step.

Troy: Right, right.

Fred: But Universal came along. And see, because Universal is not a label – they’re distribution – they can help develop a label, you know.

Troy: Right…

Fred: They don’t have artists to compete with. They were looking for some talented young labels and people who had music and they said, ‘we can help you.’ And when we met up with each other I felt really good about it. I went there and sat down and I felt like this was the place to be.

They allow me, as a businessperson, to say, “this is the plan and this is the direction we’re going.”

Troy: Wow.

Fred: Sometimes I’m almost asking them permission to do something as a label…

Troy: (Chuckles)

Fred: And they’re like… ‘uh, that’s your label. You tell us what to do.’ And I’m like, “oh, ok!” It’s almost like Eddie Murphy in the movie Trading Places when he walked into the house and said, ‘oh, so this vase is mine …so that means I can just throw it down on the ground,’ – POW! You don’t really believe it at the end of the day.

Troy: The first project on the fHammond Family Entertainment label hits stores on July 27th and is titled Life in the Word. What’s the significance of the title?

Fred: It’s interesting that the first CD that comes out is Word-based. It’s what the whole foundation of the company and the label will be based on – life in the Word. So the actual CD itself is a praise and worship devotional.

There’s little narrated scriptures in between most of the music. Some of them are comedic, some are dramatic. But if you just hear them it’ll remind you… that we should go over into the land because we can certainly take it. Whatever your promised land is, go get it.

Troy: Yeah.

Fred: And like I said, some of them are comedic. I play a preacher on one of ‘em, from a store front church, and I scream, “READ!” (Laughs)

Troy: (Laughs)

Fred: And they start reading and I change the words up on ‘em. So they’re reading, ‘for this’ and I say, “No, for that,” then, “no, for this…” (laughs)

Troy: (Laughs)

Fred: It’s funny, but it’s still reading the Word of God.

Troy: Now, I have to say this: the spoken scriptural interludes on the album are a treat and really take me back to the “Inner Court” days with Radical for Christ… stuff like “The Communion Song” where there’s actual reading during the song,

Fred: Yeah!

Troy: And then like “Hear My Cry”…man! That stuff is just ripped from scripture, kind of like hearing people sing the Bible.

Fred: That’s just my style, man.

Troy: You’re credited with creating the sub-genre Urban Praise and Worship, but you described the Life in the Word project as “the other side” of your style. Do you feel this style and sound will appeal to a new, wider audience, or…?

Fred: On this one… it’s a little departure, but it’s not theeeee departure, you know what I’m sayin’? I didn’t wanna shock people too bad. But if they got to listen to “You Are My Dwelling Place” – which I sing on – they’re gonna hear a little alternative and rock edge to it.

Troy: The album features an ensemble of gifted singers such as Lowell Pye, Ericka Warren, Candace Laster, Michael Bethany, and Faith Anderson. What caused you to choose this particular group of singers?

Fred: Man, it’s like these cats…they can really sing! I reached out to Lowell because he’s a friend of mine. I think Lowell has an [amazing] voice. Some people I sit there and like everything they do. Lowell, when he sings, that’s me. He reminds me of John P. Kee, who’s my favorite male vocalist.

Troy: Yeah, probably for a lot of us. (chuckles)

Fred: So at the end of the day, Lowell was a no brainer. And when I asked him he was like, ‘yeah, man, yeah…I’ll do it.’

And then the rest of them kinda sing with me. They go out on the road with me, except Faith, who sings with Kirk [Franklin]. But it was an opportunity and they all jumped at the opportunity. I’ve always had a heart to help people

Troy: How much will we hear you, Fred, vocally on this new record?

Fred: I’m actually singing two songs on there. One of them is a remake, the full version of “Just to Be Close to You” with the verses and everything.

Troy: Yeah, I saw that. So, it sounds like this new album is really similar to the In Case You Missed It… project, which primarily featured and introduced a plethora of guest artists.

Fred: Absolutely. It’s just the same concept. I may even do an In Case You Missed It 2…  on this label. I may take some of my old music that people didn’t’ really catch onto, songs that I thought were great and nobody really listened to…

Troy: (Laughs)

Fred: And let somebody else do it. Folks will hear it and say, “Wow! I didn’t hear that song that way when he sang it.” So there’s an In Case You Missed It 2… coming, a Life in the Word 2 coming.

Troy: Should we expect to see solo projects on this new imprint by some of the guest artists you’ve introduced over the years…perhaps even solo work from Fred Hammond in the future?

Fred: Well hopefully, all of them. Hopefully all of them will get a chance to be able to do their own projects from this – especially in my camp.

And I’m looking to expand this into different voices and different topics.

Troy: Ok.

Fred: My daughter, BreeAnn, is a great vocalist, but I don’t think I should put her out there in the way where she has to go to churches and stand up, and do this and do that. But she can go to youth groups and sing to other 18- and 22-year-olds about what it feels like to be in love and lose love.

They don’t necessarily have to hear it from all from Rihanna, you know what I’m sayin’?

Troy: Yeah!

Fred:  But they can hear it from a woman with “this” instead of that perspective.

Troy: Wow.

Fred: So I want to have new voices. Then I have another guy who’s been out there, another brother. He has a great album. His name is Steve Huff.

Troy: Oh, yeah man! Steve, definitely.

Fred: That’s my dude. We just hooked up and I’m putting him out. He’s got a great album and I believe in it. He’s super urban. – I mean he’s got like 10, 12 songs of “God in Me,” and they’re all killin’! I mean they’re all killin’.

And then there’s another younger guy I got named Silas. He has another sound with another voice, and he’s talking about life. It sounds like a mixture of Hootie and the Blowfish meets…somebody else.

Troy: (Chuckles)

Fred: Honestly, it’s just different sounding music, and it may not all get radio, but there’s a way to get it out. People are getting 50 million hits on YouTube, and you’ve got Pandora radio and Fred radio…

Troy: Yeah, the game is definitely changing.

Fred: Right, the game is changing, and I love gospel radio but I understand that they just don’t have all the room to put everybody out there, so…

Troy: That’s true.

Fred: I’m gonna put out different forms of music.

Troy: Ok.

Fred: I have a jazz CD I’m putting out, but I’m not gonna do “Lord, Help Me to Hold Out” over a piano solo. No, I’m doing a straight-up smooth jazz album. It’s a musician album. I got a group and it’s a jazz CD, just with a Christian guy who happens to be playing jazz.

We’re going to talk about some regular stuff AND still have God and the gospel going in, because believe it or not, God cares about all of that.

Troy: He does.

Fred: He said “cast all your cares,” not your “gospel” cares or your “Christian cares,” but he said every care that you have cast on me, because I care for you.

Troy: After almost 30 years in the business producing, arranging – playing – are you ready to focus on something other than music, or is it still “all about the music?”

Fred: Music is the base, but man, I’m writing books. I figure the world has enough self-help books, so my books are fictional. They’re stories that I’ve met and seen in my lifetime – people dealing with childhood issues, murder. These are things that I’ve seen. Several of my friends have been killed, executed.

Troy: Man! (gasps)

Fred: That’s the kind of life I’ve dealt with, you know. I’ve been in the church and in the streets, so I’m gonna tell the story. But, I’m going to tell you where God shows up, how God heals that moment!

Troy: Right!

Fred: And it doesn’t have to sell a billion books. But it’s going to be unique.

Troy: I’m excited.

Fred: It’s a start, you know? One day, Commissioned had a record called “I’m Going On,” and people were excited. But, we also heard the other side: “it’s not as good as the Winans,” and “you guys aren’t big time…” I heard all of that.

But you still put something out, and you do another one and another one, until you look up and you’ve sold millions of records and you’re doing an interview talking about your first label. (Laughs)

Troy: (Laughs) That’s how it happens.

Fred: That’s it.

Troy: I want to say congratulations again. I hear the vision and I see that you are really taking the reigns, creating opportunities, not only for yourself, but for other people as well. I enjoyed the talk, man, and I hope you did as well.

Fred: Yes sir. Yeah, I appreciate you, man. Keep doing what you’re doing and anything you need to ask, just hit me up. We gotta work together.

Troy: Definitely.

Fred: Very good, man. Thanks.

Troy: You’re welcome. Take it easy.

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Niiiiiiiiice!

Glad to hear, officially, what all the fuss is about over Fred and Universal Music.  And, I’m glad to know more about the direction he’s heading, musically– some of those projects (especially that jazz one)… I want them NOW!

So, what did you guys think of Troy’s interview with Fred Hammond?

THIS series is so good that GospelPundit is teaming up with two other new media heavyweights to cover it– GospelFlava.com and The Gospel According To Torrence at BET.com.  It’s THAT major.

I wanna introduce to some, and present to others, the one and only Jojo Pada, gospel’s publicist extraordinaire.  She is probably one of the BIGGEST personalities in the gospel music industry.  She knows everyone and everyone knows her.  Now 15 years into this biz, she is THE go-to person for PR (public relations) in this game and she has worked very hard to be where she is.  On a personal note– I was her intern at Verity many moons ago and she is one of the people that laid the foundation of my knowledge and know-how in this business.

FINALLY, she’s sharing her PR prowess with the masses– pay close attention, take notes, and be educated in this historic three-part series across multiple media platforms.

Your roadmap:

1.  Visit GospelFlava.com to read more about Jojo and what motivated her to write this editorial– http://www.gospelflava.com/articles/confessionspublicistpart1.html.

2.  Read the section below, in which Jojo shares 5 tips for becoming a great publicist.

3.  Hop over to The Gospel According To Torrence to read the conclusion of Jojo’s PR advice.  She’s giving 5 amazing tips for anyone who’s seeking help from a publicist– http://blogs.bet.com/ontv/thegospelaccordingto/2010/02/confessions-of-a-gospel-publicist-part-3/.

Make sure you visit all three websites to read everything Jojo’s got to say– it won’t make much sense if you don’t.  She wrapped up at GospelFlava by saying “I know that I’ve been called to be a publicist.  But have you?”

Let’s pick up there…

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5 helpful hints if you want to be a publicist:

1.  Learn how to write.  I’m lucky – I actually went to college and got my degree in Public Relations.  I was taught how to write for newspapers and news releases; I was taught how to analyze media and media trends and I was taught how to pitch.  And I’ve had excellent training.  My first real job in the biz was with the legendary Terrie Williams.  Ms. Williams was probably the preeminent Black publicist for years.  In her heyday she was simultaneously handling Eddie Murphy, Johnnie Cochran and Janet Jackson.

The most important thing that was constantly drilled in my head was LEARN HOW TO WRITE.  Writing is our lifeline.  Bios, press materials, sales pages and creative copy – it’s all something PR people must know how to do.  If you want to work in Music PR, writing bios is probably the best thing to do. For me, when I write a bio, I take the time to interview the artist and listen to the CD over and over.  That gives me a hands-on, intimate sense of what the artist likes to talk about as it pertains to that particular project AND what the music really sounds like – both are essential items in being able to pitch the artist and the project to different media.

After I write a bio – I know exactly what the highpoints of the CD’s are, I know what things are important to the artists – I know how to craft what media should ask.

2.  Understand the story you’re pitching.  One of my strengths is knowing the right story for the right media outlet.  I love creating just the right pitch that works.  If a gospel client says to me, “I want to be in non-traditional gospel magazines,” I have to think of a way to make it work.  I wouldn’t pitch Black Enterprise with a new-CD-release pitch; I would find out if the client has a businesses or entrepreneurial ideas that would make sense for a magazine like Black Enterprise.

3.  Know your media (Part 2 of understanding the story).  Befriend your media compatriots.  Learn their dislikes, likes, when they like to be pitched, when their deadlines are, etc.– it will help make you a better publicist.  When I was doing celebrity events for the Motown Café, our job was to bring celebs in and get as much press surrounding their appearance at the restaurant.   A good friend Richard Corkery, was THE celebrity Photographer for the Daily News in New York City.  We all knew that if he came to one of your events and took pictures, there was a good likelihood the photo would run in the paper the next day.  One thing about him is he LOVES to drink Amstel Light.  The minute I saw him walk in to the restaurant, I’d have one ready for him.  I know it’s a little thing … but he’d always remembered that and made a point of coming to ALL my events.

And don’t just reach out to media people just for a pitch.  Actually care about their lives outside of “what can you write about this week.”

4.  Specialize. Create a niche for yourself that makes you the BEST in your area of specialty.  Publicity is contact and network-driven.  If you start in TV publicity and stay in that field, in a few years you will know all the key players, writers and media outlets.  Like in any profession, making a name for yourself is important to success.  Once you’ve established yourself as a knowledgeable, experienced publicist in that particular field, your reputation will spread – a publicist’s value is based in what other people (potential clients, press people, artists) think of you.

Also, create camaraderie with other publicists in your area of expertise.  So often, people try to pit PR people against each other but you never know when you’ll need to call upon other people for help on a particular project or you might even garner work from another publicist.  For example, veteran publicist Bill Carpenter (Capital Entertainment) provides links to different publicists (including me) on his website.

5.  Network with media and with other publicists.  I know I just said pick one field and stay there, but it doesn’t hurt to get to know and connect with publicists in different genres.  You can learn tips on strategies for media pitching, social networking campaigns, find out about upcoming events and TV specials.  Knowing what other publicists are doing can elevate your game.  Join PR societies and groups. One great example is run by another awesome veteran Publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn of GQ Media, who runs the PR listserv – a database to whom she sends all things germane to PR (job opportunities, upcoming events for clients, media stories, etc).

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I LOVE THAT INFORMATION!  Kinda makes me wanna be a publicist. LOL

Okay, now head over to The Gospel According To Torrence RIGHT NOW for the conclusion of the matter (churchy!), where Jojo gives FREE advice to aspiring artists in search of a publicist.

And, leave a comment here to let me (and Jojo) know what you think of this advice!!!