So he has engaged with a wide variety of musicians as part of his ministry. Jim Dant is pastor of First Baptist Church of Greenville, S.C., yet his clergy robe hardly conceals the bass guitar playing, wannabe rocker inside. So Lee concluded others might find such solace and that, in a time of physical separation, the best way was to live stream his singing of those beloved hymns. “When I turned around to say, ‘Hey,’ he was like, ‘Don’t mind me just keep going.’” “One day, while I was back there singing, I noticed one of my neighbors was quietly drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette in his backyard and listening,” Lee recalled. He added: “I’d noticed I was needing to do that more than normal recently.” And he rightly assumed others needed the same hope that comes from old hymns of faith. “But I grew up singing and playing in church, and when I’m having a hard time and dealing with anxiety, uncertainty and doubt, and just generally rough stuff, I sit in our backyard and sing old gospel songs by myself.” “We’re definitely a secular rock-and-roll band, that plays songs I write loud and amped up,” he said. But his music couldn’t completely stop - and the weekly, solo live-streaming gospel hour seemed right. Like many musicians, Lee and his band mates had to cancel tours - including a long one in Texas, centered on the popular yet postponed South by Southwest festival. In an interview with Nurturing Faith, Lee said music for him is “a deeply human mode of communication that can carry with it a sense of intimate connection, and I think we are all craving that right now.” One could almost feel the swaying in homes around the Internet when he rocked a bit with Luther Barnes’ “Satan Take Your Hands Off Me,” and the comment stream filled when he slowed things down with Kris Kristofferson’s hit, “Why Me, Lord?” Other comforting hymns of faith followed, such as “When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder,” “The Old Rugged Cross” and “There’s A Land That Is Fairer Than Day.”Īs requested by “Aunt Nancy” - Lee’s partner in family Rook competitions -he sang “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.” “When times are tough, this is a good one to sing.” “This is one I associate with my grandparents,” he said. With guitar in hand, or occasionally a banjo, he sings not the latest tunes on his albums or popular cover songs - but beloved hymns that shaped his faith while growing up in Birmingham, Ala.įor Holy Week, the live-streamed “Lee Bain’s Inclusivist, Liberationist Hour of Gospel” began with a soulful rendition of the spiritual, “Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord).” Then he sang the reassuring “It Is Well With My Soul.” Luther Barnes was ordained as a Reverend on Jat Greater Saint Paul Holy Church in Maple Hill, NC.Lee Bains III had planned to be touring with his band, The Glory Fires - that “draws deeply from punk, but also soul, power pop, country, and gospel.” Yet, like just about everyone else, Lee became homebound this spring.Īnd, like many other musicians of all genre and varied notoriety, Lee has put his good gifts to good use.Įach Wednesday evening - “until COVID is over or I run out of songs” - Lee welcomes listeners into his Atlanta living room for a one-man, low-tech show via Facebook Live. He is a visionary who holds up the triumphant heritage of Gospel music. Luther Barnes knows the power of music, and the anointing that comes from God. He has added other dimensions to his vast repertoire by performing in Off-Broadway plays and producing an Annual North Carolina Fall Classic which takes place the first week in October in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Luther has gone on to showcase his talents in composing, arranging and performing to the gospel music community by writing for other artist, performing with The Sunset Jubilaires and The Red Budd Gospel Choir. Combining his love for teaching, love for music and his dedication to the gospel music industry, he provided piano and voice lessons to an extensive list of private clients and church choirs. He taught music at his former high school in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and elementary and junior high schools in Nash/Edgecombe County, North Carolina. degree in Music Education, Luther was ready to establish his mark on the world. While in college he formed a gospel group of his own known as "The Peace and Harmony Singers" : this group was chosen to travel and represent the College at various occasions.Īrmed with a B.A. There Luther evolved into a truly remarkable soloist, pianist, vocal arranger and songwriter. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Through years of performing with The Sunset Jubilaires, The Red Budd Gospel Choi… Read Full Bio ↴ Through years of performing with The Sunset Jubilaires, The Red Budd Gospel Choir and the popular Barnes Family aggregation, Luther Barnes, in his own quiet, unassuming manner, has become one of Gospel music's premier male vocalists.
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