In stores today is Kierra Sheard’s Free, an urban and pop-themed praise and worship album featuring tons of energy, inimitable vocal acrobatics and Kierra’s BRL Choir. With it, she stands firmly in a space of gospel music that may not have even existed previously, and she sets the bar for others to follow, if they can.

Kierra’s first release on her parents’ label, Karew Records, Free is intricately produced by her brother, J Drew Sheard II, and was recorded live in Chicago earlier this year.

Fans will appreciate her cover of Chris Tomlin’s ”Indescribable,” the playfully melodic “People,” and the whimsical choir cut “Victory,” which features James Fortune (it’s my personal fave on the project).

Other standout tracks include the hard-driving single “You Are,” the pop-flavored “War,” with a chorus that reminds me a bit of something the Black Eyed Peas might do, “Since I Found Christ” with Mali Music, and the title track, “Free.”

Kierra Sheard has said that this album is her best to date, implying that it represents her better than any other. Consumers may be surprised to hear that, as many considered her 2006 sophomore album, This Is Me, to be sonically definitive of her artistry. Or, at least we want it to be.

But it’s clear– on Free, Kierra is probably most “herself.” She is vulnerable and transparent, at times absolutely overcome with emotion and tears as she worships God or challenges the crowd to a lifestyle of holiness.

Undoubtedly, Free is a musical wonderland with plenty to take in. I had to listen repeatedly to even get a sense of all that was happening. Still, I can’t help but wonder if a segment of her earlier audience will feel a bit lost among the complicated melodies and arrangements.

For those expecting an urban album, this isn’t it. For those expecting a churchy project, it isn’t that, either. Free is the recorded result of a live worship experience featuring Kierra and the BRL Choir singing songs as imaginative as they could dream, reaching out to a God as mighty, but as personal, as He is.

Free is in stores NOW. Listen to snippets and/or buy it right here–

As you probably know, Kierra Sheard returns to the marketplace with a new album, Free, on October 18th.

With production by her bro, JDS, and backed by the BRL Choir she formed several years back, the project promises to showcase her incredible vocals, along with great songs and high-energy delivery.

Her final album cover was recently made available, as well as the final track listing.  Check it out!

1. Intro
2. War (Free Album Version)
3. Mighty
4. You Are
5. Interlude
6. Desire
7. Free
8. Indescribable
9. People (feat. S.O.M.)
10. Victory (feat. James Fortune)
11. Back 2 Earth
12. Believers Evolved
13. Lane (feat. JDS)
14. Since I Found Christ (feat. Mali Music & JDS)

I’m looking forward to it!  How about you???

Word has it that Kierra Sheard will be having a live recording at the end of this month, featuring her BRL Choir, on Monday, February 28, 2011 at the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Chicago, IL.  The recording is for her upcoming project, titled Free, which is set to be released on Karew Records, the recently formed label of parents Karen Clark Sheard and Bishop J Drew Sheard.

BRL, which stands for Bold Right Life, is the youth initiative she began years ago, through which she’s hosted conferences, concerts and skating parties.  Tapped to produce the project is none other than Kierra’s brother, rising producer J Drew Sheard II (“JDS“) who’s already earned a more than impressive list of production credits.

Admission to the recording is free, but for $35, you can grab the VIP Experience Package, which guarantees preferred seating, a meet & greet with Kierra, and a pre-order of the recorded album.  To purchase the VIP package, contact Juan Kirkman at (312) 545-4775 or info@juanandonlyevents.com.

Famed and legendary gospel vocalist Karen Clark Sheard returns to the marketplace with her newest solo project, All In One, tomorrow, April 6th.

I want to start out and by being verrrry clear– the album is NOT in the same style, musically, as her heralded solo debut, Finally Karen.  So, don’t expect that type of project.

Fortunately, you won’t  be disappointed– the project absolutely stands strongly on its own.  In fact, I may go so far as to say that it is one of my favorite solo albums from Karen Clark Sheard to date… it’s just a lil’ different.

With production from her son, J Drew Sheard II, and her cousin, J Moss, the album definitely offers a more contemporary/urban vibe, as a whole, than her previous projects.  But it works well, as Karen Clark Sheard, one of the greatest vocal influences across genres of the music biz, commands in-the-pocket performances on each of the album’s 11 tracks.

All In One opens with the single “Prayed Up,” which continues to gain airplay at radio across the nation.  I loved it from the moment I heard it, though I must admit that it is not the strongest track on the album.  The single is followed by the energetic “Hold On,” before landing at the quartet-reminiscent “Blessings.”  Karen soars on its vamp as the background vocals just repeat a heart-resounding “thank ya.”

The project then moves to what may be my favorite song on the album, “I Made A Choice.”  The track is urban in all of the right ways– a soulful melody laid over a great beat with straightforward instrumentation… and another killer vamp.  It’s got such a mellow vibe to it that you’d almost think it was her daughter, Kierra Sheard, laying the smooth vocals.  Up next is “Take Me,” a catchy song that does, in fact, feature her daughter, Kierra, along with niece Angel Chisholm, daughter of Jacky Clark Chisholm.

From there, the album continues– great tune after great tune– with solid performances on “Good,” “Because Of You,” “Crazy Praise,” and the musical ear candy offered on the PAJAM-produced “What He Did.”  The album slows again with Karen’s duet with sister Dorinda Clark Cole on “He Knows” before the album wraps up with “Have Your Way.”

I would be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that, in listening, I had a couple of moments where I hoped the next track would be a good ol’ churchy tune like “I Couldn’t Tell It If I Tried” or “Heaven.”  But, I’m rather glad there weren’t any to be found.  The project is a cohesive unit on its own… an awesome urban addition to her solo library, replete with great songs, great production and staggering vocal performances, “all in one.”

Again, the project drops tomorrow, but you can click here to click here to pre-order now.  And I STRONGLY advise you to do so.

Word has it that Karen Clark Sheard’s fifth solo album, All In One, will be available for pre-order from iTunes beginning on March 23rd.  The project will be in-stores everywhere on April 6.

Featuring guest vocals from her sister, Dorinda Clark Cole, daughter Kierra Sheard and niece Angel Chisholm, keys by her cousin Bill Moss Jr., and production by both her son, J Drew Sheard II, and cousin J Moss, this project is definitely a family affair.

The lead single, “Prayed Up,” is already doing well at radio (and you can hear it on the Pundit Player here, too).  Make sure you call your local stations to request it.

What do you think of the album cover?  What do you think of the single?  Who’s gettin’ excited???

I interviewed Karen Clark-Sheard on Friday.  I’m telling you guys, but I’m partly reminding myself, because it was just a little incredible.

She had just shared advance music from her upcoming album (click here for that recap), so life was already feeling a little surreal.  But to realize that we now sat across from each other in a conference room, me with a BUNCH of questions and her with a willing heart to answer ‘em… FOR REAL?

I’ll admit that I kinda broke protocol and became the UBER-FAN for a minute before launching into the interview, telling her how I used to watch her when I was a kid and blah blah blah… whatever!  I have no regrets EXCEPT for the fact that I totally forgot to grab a photo with her.

So, what did we chat about?  LOTS.

The Clark Sisters were in Nashville on Thursday night for the taping of a TBN Christmas special.  It was actually historic for them because it was the first time that The Clark Sisters have ever had their own TBN program (she shared that they’ve always been invited by other hosts, but never had their own special).  The 30-minute musical program will PROBABLY air sometime next week– I’ll let you know details when I get ‘em.

We chatted briefly about her new album and its direction.  Karen went the studio route for her upcoming album, All In One, instead of doing a live album because, as she explained, “it was just time” to do it this way.  She’s been writing more and the studio afforded her the opportunity to really take her time and put her heart into her writing, a gift that she’s not always felt comfortable with.

Compared to Twinkie Clark, and more recently to Dorinda Clark-Cole, Karen shared that she often ”felt inadequate” as a songwriter.  She was encouraged, though, when God allowed her to win a GRAMMY for Gospel Song Of The Year in 2008 for her hit “Blessed And Highly Favored.”  “It was God’s way of saying ‘don’t question the gift’ that was placed inside of me,” she recounted.

In addition to her GRAMMY win, Karen has recently started her own label, Karew Records.  She’s incredibly proud of it because it’s truly a family affair– even her kids, J Drew II and Kierra, have positions in the company.  The first project on the label was the Clark Family Christmas album, which will be followed by her own project.  After that?  Expect to see a new album from The Clark Sisters.

Take note– despite all of the hard work and success, Karen really doesn’t see herself as a celebrity.  As hard as I tried to explain that she’s considered one of the greatest female vocalists alive, she kinda doesn’t get it.  LOL

Instead, she tries to remain as accessible as possible, especially because of her role as a pastor’s wife.  “The people of our church need to be able to reach me and have access to me,” she shares.  That attitude hasn’t been without its problems, though, as she has also had to change her mobile number in the past.  “People would call and just be breathing on the other end, or they’d call and play one of my songs and hang up,” she shared.

I asked Karen why she doesn’t have a Twitter account yet and she said she wasn’t sure about using technology much because she’s seen how negative it can be.  “I saw how some people had hurtful things to say about Kierra for doing the track ["God In Me"] with Mary Mary.”  Apparently, Karen even reached out to encourage Mary Mary after fans came down on them for not featuring Kierra on the BET Awards.  “We weren’t even thinking about that stuff.  Kierra was just so happy to have been included in the song, she didn’t care about all of that.  She’s just happy for them.”  Karen shared that it’s sad to see how nasty things can get on the internet.

Still, I tried to convince her that the web has some merits and, no promises, but we may see a Karen Clark-Sheard Twitter account soon… y’all can thank me later.

Before we wrapped up her chat, we talked a bit about the new track that she recorded with Aretha Franklin.  It was actually completed a while ago, but the opportunity was unreal to Karen because Aretha is her favorite singer.  I got the impression that the song, which will be on Aretha’s upcoming project, turned out very well.

Aaaaand that’s about it.  To say that I enjoyed interviewing Karen Clark-Sheard would be an understatement.  At its core, though, it was just a really great conversation.

Hopefully, you guys got some cool info out of it, too.  Whatd’ya think?

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.

A Clark Family Christmas will be the first project released on the newly formed Karew Records, and is expected to drop on OCTOBER 13.  Shout-out to Neily for keepin’ folks informed (and for the great family photo below).  Other industry execs in attendance included Karew Records General Mgr. Darrell Thompson, Assistant General Mgr. Cynthia Ellis, EMI Gospel’s Marketing Team (Larry Blackwell & Karen Jackson), and Walter Kearney & Paul “PDA” Allen of PAJAM.

Am I buggin’ or is anyone else extremely eager to hear this?! *marking my calendar and savin’ my pennies NOW*

Word has it that Zie’l is heading to Detroit for some help on their next album.  They’re gonna be working with PAJAM, 21:03, and J Drew on some blaaaaaazin’ new tracks for their upcoming album.

Those ladies sing so tough, I can only IMAGINE what these sessions are gonna produce!

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???