James Family Singers Release New Legacy Gospel Album
The last James Family Singers album was released in 1993 and was entitled "Holy is the Lord". JFS recently released their second album in 2022 titled "Legacy" which is a compilation of older and newly written Gospel music composed and produced by very talented family members and the expertise of Debra Perry (also a family member), CFO of Joint Heir Music Studios.
"We had a special family meeting at a Steelcase conference room Troy, Debra Kennneth and Lamar and myself and we set the parameters for putting the album together. So that was a decision-making meeting. The plan was not to take seven years to put an album out but we were calling the album the reunion album at that time and the whole idea was to leave something behind for the next generation. We have been singing since 1957. We were a quartet out of Aberdeen, Mississippi called The Heavenly Travelers," said Marvis James.
The James family's presence in Grand Rapids began with my brothers Oscar, Marvin and sister Alma came to Grand Rapids first and they lived with my grand parents Ernest and Willa Mae Hampton looking for jobs and a place of their own.
"A lot of my family who lived down south moved up to northern states to escape Jim Crow laws and other southern racism," said Debra Perry. "A lot of Blacks moved here from Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and other southern states. A lot of them settled in big cities like Chicago and Detroit and a lot of Blacks migrated to Grand Rapids and Muskegon."
After The Heavenly Travelers disbanded, Jerome James tells the story that Marvis had said to his father that the whole family should move to Grand Rapids so that they could get the group back together and continue traveling and singing for the Lord.
"Soon after I said that, my dad sold our one horse and one donkey and before we knew it we looking like the Beverly Hillbillies with packed cars and landed at my grand parents house," said Marvis. "So we got the group back together not long after that and we changed the name to The James Family Singers and the family continued to grow and grow into a first, second and third generation of singers."
The album is finally done and is available on all music platforms.
"This album is really very special because we recorded the album ourselves and it was mixed and mastered within the family," said Debra. "We didn't have to use an outside studio because we were able to do everything here at my studio called Joint Heir Music Studios. Not only that but learning through the years the changes in how music is done and how it is produced and mixed. On this album, people will be able to see our growth as a family musically. Also, the album includes three generations representing. The album actually evolved from an album entitled Reunion to an album entitled Legacy and it makes since because of the different generations that are being represented on the album. We want this album to be an heirloom for future generations to come."
"This album is special to me because just thinking about the history of the family and our humble beginnings, it is amazing to me how they came to this city looking for opportunity, had children and then that generation had children who joined the James Family Singers. I think it is amazing that most of the people in the James family are musical and how much that is a blessing, said James Family Singers member Troy Reynolds."
The older senior members of JFS feel this may be their last offering and they will now turn JFS over to the younger group members to carry on a great legacy of gospel singing into the future.
"The whole idea about this album was not that it would be distributed to the masses and get world wide attention." said Marvis James. "At the meeting that we had, we decided that no matter what their gifts were, we were to all leave our egos at the door because in the end, we are The James Family Singers. We produced the album for our family, our legacy and something to pass on to the next generation. We don't care about sales or recouping the money that we put into the project. However, we do want the album to be nationally distributed so that people all over the world can hear about the good news of Jesus Christ through music."
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