A couple of weeks ago, GospelPundit.com contributing writer Mia Paylor wrote her first editorial in her new series, Purchase Or Pass, regarding Jason Champion.  You guys loved it so much (and so did I), that I figured we need to hear from Mia again, sooner than later.

So, without delay, here’s Mia’s… policy… on purchasing music. *giggling*

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Jesus said we should forgive 77 times. But at $10 each, I can’t afford to forgive $770 worth of disappointing CDs!  Once I hit $20, you’re CUT from my “MUST BUY” list. My most common disappointment is unmet expectations…and my most recent encounter with it involves Byron Cage.

Byron Cage’s self-titled GospoCentric debut is a CLASSIC. With production headed by Kurt Carr, this CD impacted how Praise & Worship was done…PERIOD. What praise team didn’t sing “The Presence of the Lord is Here”…and beg to cut at least two modulations?! The power of God, a seamless flow from high praise to reverent worship, top-notch background vocals, and well-written, perfectly arranged…very church-friendly songs were all present on this CD. Surely, I’d get more releases like this from Byron. My expectations were sealed!

Already familiar with Isaiah Thomas’ “I Will Bless the Lord”, I didn’t rush out to buy Byron’s 2005 release, An Invitation to Worship (produced by PAJAM). After hearing “We Love You”, which sounds like Byron’s a featured guest on J. Moss’ song, I opted to pass on it altogether. Both songs were nice. I just couldn’t imagine how they fit together on the same CD.

But, I did purchase Byron’s 2007 release, Live at the Apollo (also produced by PAJAM), when I found out Kim Burrell was featured on it. It had its highlights…specifically, “Royalty”, “Anyhow” and “If You Never.”  But, where did the seamless flow go? Where were the well-written, church-friendly Praise & Worship songs?

So, this time, my good friend, Cynthia Jones (make-up artist extraordinaire), had to convince me to give Bryon’s most recent release, Faithful to Believe (produced by Aaron Lindsey), a listen. She said that she shared my reservations initially, gave it a shot anyway and was pleased with the CD.

So, I downloaded it…and it’s definitely a step up from the last two releases. “I Give You Praise” is a nice Praise & Worship song. “Simply Yes” and “I Can’t Hold It” are soul-stirring choir selections. And “Lord, You are My Everything”, with Karen Clark-Sheard and Pastor Marvin Winans, is a churchy treat. But, WHERE, OH WHERE is the PLETHORA of songs that praise teams everywhere MUST learn? And why are the background vocals lacking precision?

If Byron hadn’t been marketed as “The PRINCE of Praise”, I’d be at peace with my post Byron Cage purchases. Instead, I’m longing to have my princely expectations met. If my expectations were set in error, tell me!

Artists should use the formula that catapulted their recording career while preparing to record subsequent projects. I think that would decrease the likelihood that CD-buying supporters will be disappointed with what an artist offers as it relates to their future CDs style, flow, lyrics, and overall production.

I’m willing to purchase Byron’s future projects. But, first, I have a question. What should I expect from a Byron Cage CD?! Depending on the answer, I’ll ignore my $20 cut-off limit, tweak my expectations accordingly and prepare to buy the next release.

*     *     *

I hear you, Mia.  I will say that I enjoy his most recent release more than his previous two… but there’s nothing like that first one on GospoCentric!

What do you folks think?

Only one friend of mine has ever been able to demonstrate that they know as much about this album as I do.  And it kinda shocks me cuz it had all the right ingredients for a hit record.

Released in 1994 on GospoCentric, Personal Inspirations is the debut gospel album from Stephanie Mills.  No novice to performance (she was the original “Dorothy” in The Wiz on Broadway and had a wildly successful R&B career), she recorded this project LIVE.  On production?  None other than Donald Lawrence, her long-time musical director.  On background vocals?  The Tri-City Singers.

I won’t say that I adore every track– some are simply nostalgic at this point.  But there’s no denying that she’s got some real gems on this project.  From the album’s opener, “I Had A Talk With God,” to her cover of The Caravans’ ”Sweepin’ Through The City,” Stephanie Mills demonstrates that she’s no outsider to the gospel genre.

My favorite track on the project is “He Cares,” written by John P. Kee (and, on which, he makes a guest appearance).  It’s classic.  As if it weren’t enough on its own, she does a reprise of it and grabs Arnetta Murrill-Crooms (remember her lead vocal on Tri-City’s “I Am God”?) from among the background vocalists… beautiful.

Other stand-outs for me is her remake of the Winans’ classic “Everything You Touch,” “Everybody Ought To Know,” “I’m Gonna Make You Proud,” and the gospel version of her own R&B hit, “Power Of Love,” re-titled “Power Of God.”

I’m not saying that it should’ve been #1 on Billboard for a year.  But I am saying that it was good initial effort, with great production, nice songs and arrangements…

I couldn’t find many clips online from the project, so bear with me on the YouTube video below (audio only). And also, click here to hear that reprise of “He Cares” (the person disabled embedding, so I couldn’t post that video).

Whatd’ya think???

I was very blessed to have an open, honest convo with the staggeringly gifted J Moss.

His newest project, Just James, is due in stores this coming Tuesday (the 25th).  It’s his most transparent to date, I think (click here to read my full review) and I urge you guys to buy it when it hits stores.

In this interview, I didn’t hold back and neither did he… he’s a great guy whose sincerity doesn’t end with his music.  No need for intros… here’s the one and only J Moss.

*     *     *

EJ:  Hello!

JM: EJ!

EJ:  *laughs* How’s it going, man?

JM:  Man, I’m absolutely wonderful!

EJ:  That’s a good way to be.  I really appreciate you for taking a minute to chat with me.

JM:  No doubt.

EJ:  Well, let’s jump right to it by talking about this new album, Just James.  I think it’s incredible.

JM:  Do you, man? C’mon EJ!  C’mon, man.  Go’n and be real with your boy!  Let’s have a real session.

EJ:  For real!  I’m tellin’ you… and I said it in my review.  I’m pretty sure that I love it more than any other album you’ve done.  You have a way of taking pretty familiar ideas and just makin’ them completely different, completely fresh and completely relevant.

I mean… it made the car.  And when we put a CD in the car, that means it’s something special.

JM:  You sound like me. *laughs* Yeah!  If it can make the car, it works.  So, okay, I’m talking to real folk right now.  Ok, I’m good! *laughs*

EJ:  *laughs* Talk to me about this project– what does it mean for you?

JM:  Awww, man… God’s heart.  If I can put it in two words– it’s God’s heart.  The first record, I was hungry, I was a rookie.  I just wanted to be out there.  I had a great machine behind me with Vicki Mack & GospoCentric, and PAJAM.  And it took off.  And I thank God for them because it was really the truth.

EJ:  Sure.

JM:  But then the next record, V2, was coming off of the success of V1.  So, now I’m feelin’ myself.  I’m calling all my friends–  I got Steve Harvey, Anthony Hamilton, the list goes on.  Great record– live strings, live band, all kinds of stuff.  But that was MY record.

THIS record, V3, is God’s record.  It’s the heart of God.  It was probably the record I was supposed to do first.  But, it didn’t happen that way.  And I can really say that I’ve moved J outta the way, PDA [Paul "PDA" Allen] was able to move himself out of the way, and we just allowed God to quarterback and drive the whole thing.

EJ:  Yeah.

JM:  And every song, every chorus, every lyric, every stanza was just straight from the heart of God and I’m just glad I was able to nail it with His help.

EJ:  Most definitely.  Do you have a favorite track on this album?

JM:  Man… so many at so many different times.  Most of my life right now is dedicated to “Restored,” y’know?  It’s portrayed through that song on many facets– financial has been restored, strength has been restored, personal issues at the crib and stuff, that’s restored.

And then, spiritually, when we fall off, God can restore you back to His good graces, so I think “Restored” says the most to me.

EJ:  Quick question, outta curiousity: did you write “Anointing” for the Clark Sisters?

JM:  No.  No, actually I didn’t.

EJ:  It sounds soooo much like them to me, especially at the end, when you close it out with “the anointing.”  It sounds just like something Twinkie [Clark] would do.

JM:  Oh, dude!  It was definitely in TRIBUTE to Twinkie.

EJ:  *laughs*

JM:  I love Nat King Cole and I’ve always wanted to do a loungy, big band, big ballad kinda joint.  And I said “I wanna kinda take a little bit of Twinkie’s vibe,” which is in me anyway because of the bloodline, “and mix it with a ‘We Must Praise’, Nat King Cole kinda thing and see what we come up with,” and there it was, you know?  But it was not written for the girls, it was actually written for me.

EJ:  I love it.  Listen, I want to, respectfully, talk about what’s happened over the past year or so for you, because it seems to provide a strong basis for really understanding your album.  And I think that if people get that, then the healing that is in this album is more apparent and potent.

JM:  Absolutely.

EJ:  By now, many people know that there was an extramarital affair that took place, and that a child was conceived from that.  When I reported what was happening, I wanted to preempt the rumors and kinda stop people from condemnation.  And I said, “guys, don’t knock him, just cover him and his family in prayer because that’s the best thing we can do right now.”

JM:  Right.

EJ:  But one thing that I said at the time is that your music talked about, or kinda foreshadowed, these struggles and these temptations… like on “Livin’ 4″ and “Florida,” your lyrics talked about how rough it is.  Were those songs real for you?

JM:  Not at the moment.  They were just me being a great writer.  A lot of that stuff wasn’t necessarily where I was, it was just me being able to paint the picture.  God has given me that gift.

EJ:  Absolutely.

JM:  But when it actually happened, you get the Just James project.  You can feel the heart.  It’s not just a story going forth– it’s you.  So, I think that when I went through that affliction, it beefed up everything.

I think the writings, at the time, were more prophetic than anything else.  With “Livin’ 4,” I was just coming into the game.  But after I went through it… And a lot of what I went through, EJ, was my OWN doing.  This wasn’t peer pressure, it wasn’t industry pressure… it wasn’t groupies flocking around.  This was just J Moss feelin’ himself.

EJ:  Wow.

JM:  PERIOD.  This was simply coming off of “We Must Praise,” being a big dawg, V2 over 100,000 [units]… this was just J being “the man.”  Being told he was fine every day, being told he was sexy every single day, being told that people wanted him to be their baby’s daddy… you know?  EVERY DAY.  You think the R&B people have it hard?  The gospel people do too.

EJ:  I know it.

JM:  So, I began to move further and further away from Christ, and got further and further involved with those temptations.  And it led to that situation.  And I have to tell you– when I get up now to talk about it, a lot of people say “J, you’re talking too much, we’ve moved on, we’re good.”  And I say “nah, man.  There are people out here DYING from this stuff.”

EJ:  Absolutely.

JM:  The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but I gotta get up and tell people that the wages of sin almost KILLED me, in terms of suicidal thoughts.  I was plotting it out, thinking it out… all kinds of depression.  I was going through the scrutiny in the media, the blogosphere, everywhere… that stuff was rough!

And when we sin, we chip away at salvation.  Every time, we KILL something– we kill faith, we kill credibility, we kill relationships, we kill families… every time, we kill a piece of something.

I realized that people who are not going to Bible class, or to church on Sunday morning, will listen to me at a concert because they love me or they love my voice.  So, NOW is my chance to say “you know what?  Now that I’ve got your attention, let me tell you what’s really real.  Let me stop making you feel good all the time, and let me tell you what’s real.”

EJ:  Amen.

JM:  It’s been a great ride.  I know that’s sort of a paradox, but it’s been a great ride.  Very painful, but it’s been gratifying to know that my ministry has been propelled to a different level.

EJ:  I hear that.  Someone told me, recently, that conflict is just an opportunity, if we can embrace it as such.  There’s something to learn from everything.

JM:  Yeah.

EJ:  Lemme ask you– would you have talked about what you went through had it not been publicized?  For you, we saw newspaper reports where a woman was coming forward, charges were being filed in courts… but there are other artists in gospel who are doing the same dirt.  They just haven’t been exposed in that way.

JM:  Yep.

EJ:  Would you have embraced this reality?  Would you have talked about it, had it not been publicized?

JM:  Well, I’ma be real with you.  I tell my wife every day, I say “babe, had it not made the paper, I would’ve never said a word.”  You know?

EJ:  Wow.  That’s real.

JM:  For one, I didn’t want to leave that lifestyle because it felt good.  And, you know, people say “affair” and they think it was some long-term thing.  This wasn’t that.  It was something that I got caught up in.  But I wasn’t afflicted until it became public.

So, I feel like it was GOOD that it came out like it did because had it not, I wouldn’t have been able to learn His statutes even better.  I don’t think I would’ve stopped because I was enjoying what I had.

EJ:  Yeah.

JM:  But being broken from that– when God broke the chains and broke me from it, I see the importance of making sure I stay on top of it and remain verbal about it.  And to say it over and over again.

EJ:  Absolutely.  How much of this album had you finished before all of this broke… I mean, the album is transparent and reflective, but what direction were you going in?  How much of this album had you done before and what did it sound like?

JM:  None really.  With the exception of a few choruses or some unfinished stuff that we had, I think “God Happens” maybe, but other than that, nothing.

Everything about this project– it’s not dedicated to that situation, but it’s just a celebration of actually being down in the valley, down in the slums, and being able to somehow claw your way out of it and get back to being a person again, back to being a vessel again.

EJ:  That’s powerful.

JM:  Yeah.  Because I gotta tell you– when I was down there, I felt like “why bother?”  And that’s why I wanted to kill myself– it was like “ok, all is lost… all is over, I can’t recover from THIS.”  And there’s so many people out there going through the same stuff.  And that’s what God showed me in that affliction– He said “what you’re feeling right now is who I need you to speak to.  I’m going to put you back on your platform, back on the market, to now tell people who won’t listen to anyone else.”

EJ:  How are you maintaining this newfound perspective or this clarity?  Do you have accountability partners in place?  How do you prevent a “V2 mindset” from happening again?

JM:  It’s effortless, man.  Effortless.  Once you go through a deliverance process like I did, the taste I had in my mouth for certain things is just simply gone… where I am, how I greet people now… I’m just very cautious about my anointing, who I hang with, who I walk with.  Having to almost have LOST it all, it gives me that much more drive to do this right.

I’m a lover a righteousness and I’m trying to stay on this horse and do it right.

EJ:  That’s great, man.  One more question on this topic before we move on– we talked earlier about other artists going through similar stuff.  It’s not just “the talented J Moss” who fell prey to something… it’s more common than that, where other artists are finding themselves in the same situations.  RECENTLY.  It’s just not in the newspapers yet.  And maybe it won’t be.

But having gone through that, how would you now petition OTHER gospel artists to govern themselves?  What is your word to the wise?

JM:  Learn from me.  I always say this– my brother, 3 years older than me, went through so much stuff that it actually shaped me into a better dude.  I knew what not to do because I wanted to avoid those consequences.

So, hopefully, I can be that beacon for them.  I’d tell people “you may be in something, it may feel good, but God sees and knows all.  When He’s fed up, He’s gonna come and get you.”

EJ:  Wow.

JM:  So my prayer is that you can use your big brother, your little brother, whoever might be reading… and use me as an example.  You can even call my name if it helps you– “I don’t want to be another J Moss.”  And you DON’T.

You don’t ever wanna go through what I had to go through with my wife… telling her and seeing her reaction.  You don’t ever wanna have to go through what I read daily on the internet screens, y’know, after giving so much to people.  You don’t ever want to have to go through people looking down their noses at you as much as I had to.  And you don’t ever want to fall out of grace with God.

So, if you can, use your boy’s life as an example and get out.  Walk away.  It’s not worth it.  You’re hurting way too many people and it’s not a good feeling.  But thank God for victory.

EJ:  Dude.  Amen to that.  Good stuff.  Hey, you’re on Twitter now.  You enjoying it?

JM:  Yeah!  I’m afraid of the internet– and I know that God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear– but the human side of me is very leery and hesitant about the internet because of what I went through.  I can’t even Google a movie without feeling like I might see my name pop up and see something negative.  That’s how much I was scarred.

EJ:  Aww, man.

JM:  But on the other hand, it’s been good.  I can honestly say that people have really shown love– people like you and other sites, pastors, well-wishers… everyone has just embraced me and said “we’re good.”  It’s still a bit of a struggle, but it feels great to be back.

EJ:  Well, we’re glad you’re back, man.  Any tour plans in the works for this album?

JM:  We’ve got a promotional run that’s on the website at InsideJMoss.com, we’re closing up the tour I did with CeCe [Winans] with McDonald’s– we’ve got one more date for that in DC, and that’s just been crazy, man.

EJ:  Yeah?

JM:  Every night– sharing my testimony with people.  And GUYS… lemme tell you, EJ.  It was prophesied to me that the trajectory of my ministry would now be at the hearts of MEN– strong men.  And that’s who I’ve seen coming up to me after each show or writing in… saying that they’ve been delivered or that they feel better about where they are because of my situation.

So, I just thank God.  I’m sitting on top of the world right now.  And I don’t say that with arrogance… I’m saying it in a spiritual sense.  God has me on something else and I absolutely love it.

EJ:  That’s great.  I’m so glad to hear that, man.  What else?  You did Gospel Dream a second time around on Gospel Music Channel… how was it for you, especially compared to last year with Melinda Watts?

JM:  Well, I think that what the producers tried to add– with the boot camp, the on-screen sessions with the professionals, the TV portion– all of that was great.  I think they really stepped up the show.

EJ:  Sure.

JM:  Talent-wise, I think it’s just like [American] Idol or Sunday Best.  You’re gonna have some years where the talent is through the roof, and you’ll have some years where you have to go with what you’ve got and maybe the talent is not as good as the previous year.  I think everyone on the first year that I did it– they were just phenomenal.

And that’s not to slight any of the contestants from this year– they were all good in their own right.  I think the winner this year was actually the real winner.

EJ:  Yeah, I like him… Tony LeBron.

JM:  But I enjoyed it– just to be apart of something like that.  Especially in the midst of what I was going through at the time, for them to still back me and say “we’re still gonna use J… we heard he’s accountable and doing what he’s supposed to do, he’s gotten right with his church, his pastor still endorses him” (because I did what I was supposed to do by my church and the Church Of God In Christ).  I just thank God that He sustained my TV contracts and my tour contracts, my record contracts… man, it couldn’t be any better.

EJ:  That’s a beautiful thing.  Man, I am honored that you took the time to speak with me.  And thank you for your honesty and your candor.  I really believe lives will be set free through your album and your ministry.

It really speaks to the scriptures that say that the steps of a good man are ordered by God, and that all things work together for good… I bet that if someone told you back in October that all of this would work systematically for God’s glory, you probably wouldn’t have believed it.

JM:  Right!  Yeah! *laughs*

EJ:  But, I thank God that He’s all about glorifying Himself through all things.

JM:  And you know, man, I’m just assignment driven.  I wanna say to your readers– well, to you first of all– thank you.  You have been more than helpful in supporting me and letting the public know “hey, we’ve got J’s back, we’ve got PAJAM’s back.”  Words cannot express enough how much I appreciate that, man.

Plus, one of the things that helped smooth out the rough edges for me– I have GREAT people around me.  I can’t say enough about the PAJAM crew who did not justify what I did, didn’t condone what I did… PDA and Walter [Kearney] are my big brothers, they’re older than me, so I had to take my beatings from them.  But at the same time, they covered me.

EJ:  Good!

JM:  They kept my spirits up because they saw me fall into that state where I wanted to take myself out.  People like that, and then my siblings… and my LOVELY wife who, I mean… the interview wouldn’t be appropriate if I didn’t mention that SHE is the one who, ultimately, helped me out of depression.

She is the one who came to me and said “hey, I’m gonna stay with you, honey, even if it’s against my own carnal better judgment… the Lord told me to stay with you because I see where your ministry is going to go.  God has spoken to me.”  She spoke with my pastor, we prayed together…

EJ:  That’s encouraging to hear.

JM:  We just have a wonderful, lovely marriage, man.  My children love me… and I don’t talk about that much because I don’t want people to go and take that the wrong way, but I just thank those who are responsible for encouraging me and keeping me uplifted.

EJ:  That’s real.  God is a restoring God, for sure.

JM:  Yeah.

EJ:  Well, definitely keep in touch, man.

JM:  You got it.  Thanks, man.  Now can I get up on the TwitterRoll?  Can I get up on the TwitterRoll, dawg?! *laughing*

EJ:  *laughs* You’re on the TwitterRoll, no?!  I’ma make sure you’re on it.  And I’ll tell some folks to follow you today, cuz I know you just got on.

JM:  Yeah, I just got on it.

EJ:  Alright.

JM:  Ok, cool.  Thanks man.

EJ:  No doubt.

JM:  I’ll holla at you.

EJ:  Cool.

*     *     *

So how about that?!  I’m tellin’ you– bump what you heard… good guy, for real.  He’s not perfect, but he definitely ain’t claiming to be.  And I think he’s in a good place.  PRAY FOR HIM and his family, ok?

And make sure you stay connected with him at http://www.InsideJMoss.com and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/InsideJMoss.

And uhhh… what did you guys think of the interview?

Word has it that the whole Clark Sisters Live: One Last Time, wasn’t their “last time” by ANY means!

Apparently, the ladies are slated to release a CHRISTMAS album at the end of this year AND another full project in 2010, both to be released on EMI Gospel.

And, you know how I mentioned that Karen and her husband, J. Drew Sheard, have started Karew Records?  Well, the label is an imprint of EMI Gospel and the intention is that the sisters will, one-by-one, be added to the artist roster as solo artists AND have ownership of their own masters.  Plus, their son, J. Drew, is slated to be A&R rep for Karew.  Coolness!

AND, don’t forget that they’re performing “Higher Ground” (which I featured on this site last week) and “You Brought The Sunshine” on ABC’s The View this morning!!!

Shout-out to Jawn Murray for sharing ALL of that Clark Sisters info with the industry (and, Happy-Day-After-Your-Birthday, dude!).  And props to our loyal reader, Curtis, for nudging me to talk about it all.

Ok, talk to me:

(1) How do we feel about the Christmas album idea– hit or miss?

(2) Are we excited for the 2010 project, and can Donald Lawrence produce it again, please?!

(3) When/how is Dorinda gonna be added to Karew Records?  Is her GospoCentric contract gonna be up???

Thoughts???

Earlier this week, Byron Cage took a minute to chat with me to discuss his upcoming LIVE recording in Detroit on March 13th!

We had a great convo about what folks can expect from this new album, how he’s developed as an artist, and I even got a couple of tidbits of random trivia about him.  He’s a personable and friendly guy… I rather enjoyed him.  I hope you enjoy the interview…. Here’s Byron Cage.

*     *     *

EJ:  How are you?

BC:  I’m good,  how about you?

EJ:  I’m great.  Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.  I really appreciate it.

BC:  Oh yeah, thank you.

EJ:  I wanna jump right in and talk about this upcoming recording that’s got everybody buzzing.  I wanna know what you’ve got planned for the people!  You’re going to Detroit, March 13th…

BC:  Yes!  March 13th.

EJ:  Talk to me about returning back there.

BC:  Oh man, you know, that’s my hometown.  I was born in Grand Rapids, but Detroit is where I consider home.  I was there for junior high school, high school, college… and I grew up in Detroit during the “golden era” of gospel music.  You had people like Donald Vails, Thomas Whitfield… I sang background for Thomas Whitfield.  Donald Vails was the minister of music at my church, Fred Hammond played the bass guitar there, I directed the choir.  Then, you have the Clark Sisters, the Winans, Rudolph Stanfield, Esther Smith, so many incredible artists… Rance Allen.  The concerts used to be amazing!

EJ:  I can only imagine!

BC:  Yeah, I grew up in that.  And even once I started in the industry… a lot of people don’t know that I sang background vocals on one of Commissioned’s albums, Will You Be Ready?

So, I look at the history of all of that, you know, the whole Detroit connection… and now I’m going back home to do my 6th recording.  I’m just so thankful that I’ve lasted in this time and people still wanna hear the ministry.

EJ:  What’s the direction of this album?

BC:  It’s a hard-hitting, praise and worship, Sunday morning, Wednesday night Bible Study, revival, on the treadmill, in your car… it’s all of that.

EJ:  I love it!

BC:  Yeah, it’s gonna be one of those CDs that you’re going to want to just get your groove on, get your worship on… there’s just such a wide variety of music on this one.

EJ:  Awesome.  Do you have any guest artists coming?

BC:  I do, indeed.  One, I can’t name yet.  We were trying to work out Pastor Marvin Sapp, but it didn’t work out for this one.  But, thank God, Pastor Marvin Winans is doing a song with me, my boy Tye Tribbett is coming to do a song I wrote called “In The Midst” with me… it’s gonna be a great time.

It’s being produced by the 2009 Stellar Award Producer of the Year, Aaron Lindsey.

EJ:  Well, we KNOW that’s gonna be hot.

BC:  Yeah, and we’ve got some great writers.  And the songs are just phenomenal.  I believe it’s gonna touch the lives of people in a special way.

EJ:  Nice, do you have background singers already lined-up?

BC:  Yeah, I’m using 3 of my background singers and I’m pulling 9 singers from Detroit.  You know, they say “it’s in the water in Detroit,” *laughs* so if I’m going home, there’s no sense in me bringing a whole aggregation of singers with me, ’cause there are so many great singers there in Detroit.

It’s gonna be like a big homecoming there, you know?  On March 13th, all roads are leading to Second Ebenezer Baptist Church and we’re just  looking forward to the Lord doing something magnificent through the praise and worship that evening.

EJ:  You have a title yet?

BC:  You know, we’re teeter-tottering.  I was thinking about calling it ”In The Midst,” but then I wrote this song with Aaron Lindsey… I just wanna do cartwheels when I hear that song!  So, I don’t know.

EJ: *laughs*

BC: *laughing*  I’m just grateful that it’s on MY record, you know what I’m saying?   Because if I heard it on someone else’s record, I’d be like “maaan…” *laughs*

EJ: Right!

BC:  But, I’m really looking forward to it.

EJ:  That’s great, man.  Tell me: how do you feel that you have evolved as an artist?  What, if anything, is different about you on this album, musically or ministry-wise?

BC:  Well, you know, I started out in the industry pretty much as a very creative artist.  I produced my first two records and I thank God for them because they kind of established me as an artist.  Both projects were nominated for Stellars, though neither of them won.  But when I got to GospoCentric, Vicki Mack Lataillade wanted to move me out of the “Byron Cage & Purpose” era and she just wanted to sign me as a solo artist, a praise and worship leader.  I said, “I don’t know if the church is ready for praise and worship,” and she was like “are you kidding me?  Did you see what happened when you did ‘Shabach’ with Full Gospel Baptist?  All the Baptist churches had praise teams the next year!”

EJ: *laughing*

BC:  So, the next song I wrote was “Yet Praise Him,” and she signed me.  We were having creative battles at first because I wanted to stay in that group setting and she didn’t want that.  She brought in Kurt Carr, a phenomenal writer and great producer, and he wrote “The Presence of the Lord Is Here” for me and the rest is history.

The next record had “I Will Bless The Lord” and, though that record was wonderful and it was a blessing, it was somewhat hurtful to me as well.  Brother Isaiah Thomas, who is a very talented writer, his original form of that song had different words.  I wrote all the words over because I wanted to add more scripture to it.  And when it won “Song of the Year,” of course I didn’t get any accolade as being co-writer of the song.  But the Lord showed me something, as I evolved in the music business of what we do, and I understood that there are just certain things that you don’t do.  If you wanna change the words to a song, you gotta let people know, you gotta sign agreements… so that was something that I learned from it.

With The Proclamation, I wrote the majority of the songs on that one and I’ve just watched this whole musical ministry go from writing for a group to praise and worship… For this upcoming album, I wrote a song called “Goodbye,” which just deals with relationships and people and strongholds that have tried to hinder you… I’m saying ”Goodbye” to them in 2009.  And that’s a growth for me, because I’ve never written a song like that.

EJ:  Wow.  That’s awesome.  You’ve also managed to feature a bunch of incredible guest artists on your albums.  Who have you NOT yet worked with that you are dying to have on one of your albums?

BC:  Hmmm… Man, I have so many favorites.  Of course, Karen Clark-Sheard has been one of my favorites of all time.

EJ:  Absolutely!

BC:  I love her ministry.  I think if there was someone I would have loved to have on this upcoming record, it would have been… like, Vanessa Bell Armstrong.  Some of these up-and-coming singers are really incredible, too, like Nikki Ross.  Oh, and I would love to get up there and go toe-to-toe, although I couldn’t, with Kierra Sheard! *laughs*

EJ:  Oh, she’s ridiculous.  I just saw her on the BMI Trailblazers thing and I just had to stare at the screen, like “this is unreal.”

BC:  Yeah, and she did a hard song.  I think she did “Jesus Is A Love Song,” right?

EJ:  Yeah, man.  It was incredible.

BC:  Oh, she ABSOLUTELY tore it up.

EJ:  Most definitely.  After your break-out hit, “The Presence of the Lord Is Here,” you were practically swept up into a whirlwind of success– tons of performance spots, a bunch of awards.  On the more personal side, how do you stay grounded?  Are you the same “Byron”?

BC:  You know what?  I stay grounded because I’m a minister of music of a church.  I’ve been here at Ebenezer AME, in Fort Washington, Maryland, for 11 years and these jokers know how to keep me grounded!

EJ: *laughs* It’s like THAT?!

BC:  *laughing*  They don’t consider me “The Prince of Praise,” or “Byron Cage the Artist.”  Some visitors come to church and they want to take pictures or get autographs, but for the most part, like… I’m at church now and getting ready to go to choir rehearsal in a few hours.

EJ:  Really?

BC:  Yeah, my Male Chorus rehearsal is tonight and those brothers, they don’t even consider me an artist.  They just consider me “Byron” and we have a blast.  So, I think that having pastors and a church where I can stay grounded, work, and be connected while serving God’s people, it all helps me to be appreciative when I can go out and do concerts and meet people.

That’s what keeps me humble.  And to know… first of all, I didn’t record “The Presence of the Lord Is Here” until I was 41.

EJ:  What?!

BC:  Yeah, man.  So to know that the Lord can bring you to a place, after holding you back in a certain area… when it was His time to really bring me forth, it took no time at all.

EJ:  That’s the truth.

BC:  And you sit there and it becomes surreal.  You just say “God, thank you so much because I don’t know that I could have handled it in my twenties.”

EJ:  That’s incredible.  I had no idea that you were 41 when that song took off.  That means you’ve been doing this for a while now.

BC:  Absolutely.  People don’t understand that I was a background singer first.  I was in Michael Matthews’ first play back in 1984, I was in Tyler Perry’s very first play, “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”

EJ:  No way!

BC:  Yeah, man.  It was starring me, Shun Pace and Ann Nesby.

EJ:  You know, it’s funny that you mention stuff from back in the day cuz I VIVIDLY remember a certain episode of The Cosby Show…

BC: *laughing*  Yep!

EJ:  And I’ve got proof of it on my DVD box set, where you were singing in a choir behind good ol’ Claire Huxtable!

BC:  You know what’s so funny about that, man?  It took us all day to film that scene and they originally had me in the last row to the right.  They dismissed everyone but the choir because they wanted to do the song over again, I was the only person they moved and they moved me right behind Phylicia Rashad!  I just think that was the favor of the Lord because even back then, and that was back in 1986 *screams*, but I think “God, Almighty!”

The journey that I have had to go has not always been easy.  But I am so thankful to God that I stayed and I didn’t lose heart when everybody else counted me out and said “he’s not this, he’s not that,” and… just know that if you’re faithful to the Lord, He will make you the ruler over many so that no one else can take credit for what God does.

EJ:  That’s great stuff, man.  I’m trying to be mindful of your time… do we have time for some quick getting-to-know-you questions?

BC:  Yeah, sure!

EJ:  Okay, fill in the blanks.  Many folks would be surprised to learn that Byron Cage loves __________________.

BC:  to ride my motorcycle.

EJ:  Seriously?

BC:  Yeah, I’ve got a Harley Davidson Soft Tail Classic.

EJ: Ok, that’s dangerous…

BC:  *laughing*

EJ:  What’s with the Detroit people and motorcycles?  You, Fred Hammond…

BC:  Yeah, but he’s got more than I have.  I’ve just got that one big hog.  He’s got like four or five.

EJ:  Okay, next one.  Byron Cage is at the airport, on his way to his dream vacation.  He’s on a direct flight to __________________.

BC:  Whoooooo!  TAHITI!

EJ:  *laughs*  Yeah?

BC:  Mmm-hmmm!  Never been.

EJ:  Ok.  When the dessert menu comes around, Byron Cage hopes it’ll have __________________ on it.

BC: *quickly* ICE WATER cuz I don’t need the carbs, or the sugar, or the fat grams!

EJ:  What?!  No.  That’s not dessert!

BC:  *laughing*  I am just not a “sweets” person anymore.  Sweets don’t agree with me– they cut off the blood circulation to my belly button when I put my belt on, so I had to let it go.  If it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas, I might do some red velvet cake or peach cobbler.  But for the most part, I’m not a “sweet” person.

EJ:  I hear you.  I wish more gospel artists would preach THAT!

BC:  Right, exactly.

EJ:  Ok, last one.  Let Byron Cage loose in a shopping mall and the first place he’ll be is __________________.

BC:  Oooh.  The first place I’ll be in a shopping mall will be Neiman Marcus.

EJ:  They’re kinda expensive aren’t they?  Their catalog has, like… cars for $50,000 in it.

BC:  I know, they’re crazy but you can catch them on some good days, too.  Catch the “20 or 30 percent off” sales.  I paid full price for a couple of Paul Smith jackets that were kind of expensive, but for the most part… yeah, man… I’m a sales king.  I don’t like payin’ full price!

EJ:  I ain’t mad at that.  One last question, on a more serious note, what is your message as an artist?  At the end of the concert, or when the last track on the iPod is over, what do you hope people will know about you as it relates to your ministry?

BC:  I pray that, when it’s over, people will know that I am a man of God who loves to worship the Lord, and my heart’s desire is that whatever has been given to me, I want to be a blessing to God’s people.  Whether that’s through salvation, healing, encouragement, I want people to leave with the authentic feeling that God has spoken to them right where they need it.  And they’re encouraged to go on in the journey.

EJ:  Sounds good to me.  Man, I’m excited for this album.  I think it’s going to be good and I hope the recording goes well.

BC:  I appreciate it, EJ.  And I appreciate you for doing this for me.

EJ:  It was my pleasure and, hopefully, we’ll talk soon.

BC:  Okay.

EJ:  Take care.

BC:  Alright, bye-bye.

*     *     *

Click here for more information about Byron’s upcoming recording.

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