If you’ve been visiting GospelPundit.com for a minute, you’ll remember that, back in February, I did a Where YOU Been?! post about Drea Randle. In that article, I mentioned that Drea led “It’s Already Done” on a choir album from The Potter’s House (Dallas, TX)…

Guess who found a live performance video of her singing that cut???

This lead vocal is awesome– she’s giving it her all, making tasteful and precise vocal choices, none of which are easy to do… just some plain ol’ GOOD SINGING on a GOOD SONG.

*praying for a new solo project from her in 2010*

What do you think of the performance?

It’s been a minute since I’ve done a Where YOU Been?! post… this time around, I’m wondering where we can find Charles & Taylor.

They were around for a hot minute, but I have no idea where they went.  Their self-titled album was released on Integrity Music in 2005 and featured the single “Still Gonna Pray” (which I ADORED).  They were nominated in the “Urban Gospel Album” category at the 2006 Dove Awards.  Charles & Taylor, aged 15 and 13 respectively at the time, are siblings that I thought would be their generation’s urban version of Bebe & CeCe Winans.

They both had GREAT, mature voices and I was really excited to follow what they’d do.  So, I did a little diggin’…

First stop was their website, http://www.charlesandtaylor.com/.  It’s still up, though it hasn’t really been updated in a while (some newer pics, though).  Same goes for their MySpace page, though it indicates that there will be new music coming soon.  NICE!  Can’t wait to hear how they sound now.

Here’s a YouTube video (audio only) of their single, “Still Gonna Pray.”  I STILL jam to it:

My assumption is that they took some time to finish high school and they’re gonna re-enter the scene now. If so, that’s a good look. I’ma try to track ‘em down some more and find out what the deal is.

In the meantime, y’all remember them???  What do you think of the single?

Drea Randle is a vocal wonder that seemingly dipped in to the gospel industry and dipped right back out.

She is probably best known as a former soloist with John P. Kee & New Life, featured on songs such as “Strength” and “‘Til Morning Comes.”  Her Kee-written, produced and arranged debut solo album, Ooo Wee (Verity, 1999), was met with rave reviews in the industry.  She’s kinda got a smooth voice, great range and a vocal tone, and an agile approach reminiscent of Vanessa Bell Armstrong and Kim Burrell blended together.  Some reviews even called her “the future voice of gospel music.”

So, Drea, Where YOU Been?!

Well…

I think she’s a member of The Potter’s House in Dallas, TX.  She sings like her LIFE depends on it on the track, “It’s Already Done,” on that choir’s 2003 album, A Wing and A Prayer.

I’m also aware that she performed a rap solo on “Oh No,” a recent track from independent gospel girl group, Blase, but I haven’t heard it yet.  And she’s featured on several albums put out by her brother, Erick Matthews, including his 2008 project, Life Captured.

I think she’s got a private MySpace page right here.  The picture has changed even in the past several weeks, so I think it’s current.  Interestingly, the latest photo appears to be an ALBUM cover, the title of which is Emotions.  Now, I’ve scoured the web and I don’t see any such album available yet… but we may have something to look forward to soon!  I can’t get more info without being her MySpace friend, and I don’t just be randomly adding folk, cuz that’s weird.

I can’t find any YouTube clips, but here’s an audio clip of her singing the above-mentioned Potter’s House cut:

This is literally ALL I’ve got on Drea Randle.

Can anyone add some more???

Found her!
She sang with Donald Lawrence & Co. at the post party for the Stellar Awards.  Specifically, she sings lead like nobody’s business on one of the hottest tracks on his upcoming album (The Law of Confession, Part 1 is in stores on February 3rd!).  The song has a “Bless Me (Prayer of Jabez)” kind of feel… it’s grand and triumphant with swelling background vocals.  And it’s just as awesome.

So, there you have it.  Now, if I can just manage to get an interview for us… stay tuned!

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post telling you that this new series would start soon– and here’s the first installment!

Few choir soloists have left as indelible an impression on the gospel music community as Kim McFarland.  You prolly remember her from her days with Chicago’s Milton Brunson & The Thompson Community Singers.  She led HITS for days, including “I Tried Him and I Know Him,” “For the Good of Them,” and “In My Name.”

But she started waaaaaay before that with Walt Whitman & The Soul Children of Chicago, leading (and co-writing) “We Are One.”  In my opinion, she kinda helped to define what a contemporary choir soloist is gonna need to bring to the table!

And she didn’t stop there… she released two solo albums– New Life in 1994, and Amazing in 1996.  The latter album features one of my favorite cuts from her, “Intercession.”

So, Kim McFarland, where YOU been?!

Various biographical sources on the internet suggest that Kim McFarland is 39 years old, resides in Chicago, and is married to Chris Anderson, who is a producer, vocalist and session musician.  Together, they run CAKM (I’m guessing, their initials), an event and concert production company.  He also wrote several songs on both of her solo albums.

She’s apparently got two MySpace pages– the most recently updated page is private, but available by clicking here; the other, though publicly viewable, hasn’t been accessed since September of 2008.  Access that one by clicking here.

So, is she still singing?  I think so.  I’m not aware of any big guest appearances, but I do see her name as a background vocalist on various album liner notes over the past three years alone: Hezekiah Walker’s 20/85 The Experience, Marvin Sapp’s Be Exalted, Smokie Norful’s Nothing Without You, Coko’s Grateful, Dewayne Woods’ Introducing Dewayne Woods and When Singers Meet, and Joann Rosario’s Joyous Salvation.  That’s understandable because several of those albums feature tracks from Donald Lawrence, who has used her for vocals a lot lately (including on the Tri-City finale album).

But ummm… that’s about as far as I’m able to get on my own.  Anyone know somethin’ else???

YouTube pickings are slim, so you’ll just have to settle for her killing “For the Good of Them” with the Tommies back in the day:

A new series is on the horizon: Where YOU Been?! 

The focus of the Where YOU Been?! series is to locate those folks in the gospel music industry that have kinda fallen off the face of the earth.  We’ll do our best sleuthing, tracking their recent steps, guest appearances, etc. (and I’m really gonna need y’all to fill in the gaps with me) until we locate the person and figure out what they’ve been up to since we last saw them.

We’re talking industry execs, well-known choir soloists of old, anyone!  I’ve got at least four people in mind already… and they’re GOOD (so good, in fact, that I don’t wanna say who just yet… I don’t want anyone ruining my fun by saying “oh, Jane Doe isn’t hard to find at all… in fact, she goes to my church and here’s her myspace page”).

In the meantime, if you have suggestions about who we need to find, comment to this post and lemme know!