Center for the Study of the American South

Gospel Concert

Posted 02/08/2012

Raising the Roof Gospel at UNC-CH

February 29, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Person Hall on UNC Campus

New Sons of New Bethel

The New Sons of New Bethel capture both the sweetness of close harmony and the intensity of deeply-held faith in their a cappella gospel singing.  The group—which now numbers seven men—originally came together in 1999 as a family-based quartet in Durham’s New Bethel Baptist Church.  At the time, the members sought to recapture a style of harmony singing that was growing increasingly rare in African American gospel, a style that featured carefully blended voices and a clearly articulated spiritual message.  Since that time, the group’s membership has shifted and grown (leading them to shift their name from the “Sons of New Bethel” to the “New Sons of New Bethel); nonetheless, their commitment to a cappella harmonies and musical ministry has remained unchanged.  In essence, the New Sons of New Bethel take the distinctive gospel voicings that were popular in the mid-20th-century and give them a contemporary spin, yielding harmonies that sound both deeply traditional and strikingly up-to-date.  Still based in New Bethel Baptist Church, the group-members all see themselves as engaged in musical ministry, bringing the Word to both secular and spiritual audiences.  This commitment to musical outreach has dramatically heightened their regional profile in recent years, making them favorites at music festivals and church-based gospel programs alike.

The Branchettes

The Branchettes are one of the region’s most celebrated traditional gospel ensembles.  Hailing from the Long Branch Disciples Church (hence the “branch” in “Branchettes”) in Newton Grove, N.C., the duo of Lena Mae Perry and Wilbur Tharpe have been singing together for 39 years.  The group originated as a women’s trio, who invited Tharpe’s masterful keyboard playing whenever he was available; as the years passed, and two of the original members passed on, Tharpe became an integral part of the smaller ensemble.  The group’s singing, however, is in no way diminished.  Both Sister Perry and Brother Tharpe have been singing spirituals, congregational songs, and gospel pieces since their childhoods.  Sister Perry takes the lead in the group, singing in an exuberant, full-throated style that embodies the deepest traditions of African American sacred song.  Brother Tharpe, in turn, accompanies her with both voice and keyboards, performing in a style that that echoes the “sanctified stride” of early 20th-century church pianists.  Their powerful vocal and instrumental stylings lend their songs a deeply traditional edge, invoking the times (as Sister Perry proudly proclaims) of their “foreparents and that old-time religion.”   This commitment to tradition led the state to honor the Branchettes in 1995 with the N.C. Folk Heritage Award, North Carolina’s highest honor for excellence in the traditional arts; it has also led to performance invitations far beyond the circle of churches at which they regularly sing, bringing them to museums, universities, and festivals across the region, and even across the Atlantic.  Their singing, however, remains the same, grounded in tradition and guided by faith.