Lipscomb University Gospel Choir debuts first album
If you walk up to the second floor of Ezell on Tuesday evenings, you’ll hear the strains of age-old gospel music ringing out from Ezell Chapel. Lipscomb University Gospel Choir has been gathering around the stained glass window in the chapel for the past five years now, practicing every Tuesday night.
The choir has gotten multiple opportunities to sing at Lipscomb and on the road, and have released several singles. This past week, the choir hit a new milestone, releasing their very first album, “In His Presence.”
Herd Media sat down with Gospel Choir’s director and founder, Dr. Aaron Howard, whom all the choir members affectionately call “Doc,” to talk about the album.
“I said ‘let’s just do a worship album live in Ezell,'” said Howard. “We’re gonna be right in the place where we rehearse every week. We’re gonna be comfortable cause we’re used to that space.”
When it came to the choices he made for the music, he explained, “we’ve found the greatest responses are when we go into our worship songs… That’s when the presence of the Lord really comes in and people really feel moved.”
The album, an 11-song work featuring well-known pieces such as “Holy Forever” and “Worthy of it All,” started out with a goal to show people that gospel was a part of the worship music sphere.
“I said, ‘Let’s do a worship project, but let’s do it so that we reimagine worship music so that gospel music is included,'” Howard said. “Most people think of worship as CCM, but gospel music is a part of it too.”
The choir recorded the album with both audio and video, to simultaneously create the album and a series of videos for the choir’s YouTube channel. Yet it was for more than views, that Dr. Howard decided to film the recording as well. “I wanted people to actually see and experience what was happening. There were spontaneous things happening and you can see it on the videos.”
The album has been out for a week now, and though its had some outreach, Dr. Howard and the rest of the choir are hoping for more.
“It’s our heart to go global, because I want… people to be able to sense the power of gospel music. It’s worldwide,” Howard explained. “I would love for [people] to be able to see the power of gospel music to touch hearts and change lives globally. God’s doing something larger than this university.”
Some at Lipscomb, however, have already listened to the album. “I listened to it all last weekend,” said Bible Professor J.P. Conway. “It was so powerful. I felt like I was in the room with y’all.”
Gospel Choir is not done releasing music with this album. They have an original song, “Ephesians 3:20” that they’re planning to release sometime in the next few months. “This song is a banger. It’s hot!” Howard said with a smile.
“We also have a grant this year to do a ten-hymn album,” Howard leaned forward in his chair. “We’re actually gonna do a retreat with the choir, and part of that will be writing a hymn of unity and racial reconciliation.”
“I see us bringing multiculturalism to the gospel space,” Howard said. “I see us as being trailblazers and I see us hopefully having a global presence. I see us being something that attracts people to Lipscomb, that sets Lipscomb apart and has people going ‘wow, I see something unique going on there.'”
Gospel Choir has many things in store for the coming year, and big dreams for the future beyond that. “I see us being like… a breath of fresh air,” Howard said. “Bringing a new sound and a fresh anointing to the music industry… My dream is for us to have a global presence and see the world that God has created through the beauty of gospel music.” He laughed, adding, “we could be in Korea, Japan, London, doing what we do in Ezell Chapel.”
But no matter what happens moving forward, Howard and the other members of Gospel Choir are determined to stay true to the heart of the choir. They will continue to foster the community and family the choir represents, and the desire and fire for God that pervades the group. Howard said that was one of the reasons the album is so special, because it’s full of that aspect of the choir.
“This album is raw, it’s authentic,” he said. “We didn’t do a lot of overdubs… just [one song] has a few here and there. Everything else, as you hear it, is just like it was recorded that night.” This is something, he said, that is rare for live albums, which are often “messed with” in post-production before they’re released. “Whatever you hear pretty much is just like we recorded it, so [it] captures the heart, the soul, the Spirit of God that was in the room.”
“It’s not about the album, it’s not about the mics, it’s not about any of that,” Howard said. “It’s about what we do as a choir the best, and that’s worship God. That’s who we are.”
