FRIDAY, JUNE
7:10 PM Rance Allen Group
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Persistence paid off for the Canton Spirituals, who’d been singing around their native Mississippi for nearly 50 years when, in 1994, the famous Williams Brothers, who run the Blackberry label out of Jackson, took up their elders’ cause, producing and releasing their first nationally distributed album, Live in Memphis. The record, which mixed old-time harmony with updated rhythms, was a hit, and with their current smash, Living the Dream: Live in Washington, D.C. (Verity), they have no equals in gospel’s quartet category. Only Theo “Pig” Thompson remains from the original lineup, but brothers Harvey Watkins Jr. and Cornelius DeWayne Watkins are sons of founding member Harvey Watkins Sr.
SATURDAY, JUNE
1:35 PM Wimberly Family
4:05 pm Tyrone Block & Love Salvation and Devotion
Throaty contralto Beverly Crawford takes a more traditional approach to gospel music, especially on her latest disc, Now That I’m Here (Warner Alliance). Recorded before an effusive congregation at Nashville’s Baptist World Center, she pulls out all the stops on songs that include salutes to “First Lady of Gospel” Shirley Caesar, Albertina Walker’s Caravans, and Mattie Moss Clark.
