Gospel Dream winner re-makes some popular classics on debut release.
VIA EURWEB.COM:
*Gospel newcomer Melinda Watts has three things in her favor that suggest she is on her way to being recognized as an undeniable voice in gospel music:
1. On her first album, she re-makes two heavyweight gospel classics like an old pro.
2. J Moss, one of the most technically proficient male vocalists in the business, asked her to collaborate on “People Get Ready,” her debut album.
3. She came out on top in season three of Gospel Music Channel’s Gospel Dream competition.
A strong voice, expert validation and coveted victory, have set the bar of expectation high for Watts and she is poised to mount it.
Tackling “Faith,” originally recorded by Vanessa Bell Armstrong in the 80s, Watts has boldly gone where no gospel artist has gone before. Not since girl group Ziel’s 2005 re-make of the Clark Sister’s” Is My Living in Vain” has a new gospel artist done justice to a classic whopper with such finesse.
Watts must enjoy tall orders because she and J Moss share the mic on a second never-before re-made gospel classic, “Available to You” by Rev. Milton Brunson & the Thompson Community Choir that topped charts in the early 90s.
The former high school English teacher didn’t set out to prove anything in choosing those songs. She said to her knowledge no one else had re-made them, she liked them and the timing was right in more ways than one.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of time. My thought process was that I wanted to make a record that represented what was in my hear t and I wanted to respect those songs.”
Enhancing the album with creative renditions of these two gems, the other contemporary -laden tracks on the project are admirable and leave no questions about why her gospel dreams are now a reality.
Read more on Melinda’s story at EURWEB.com.
