Spreading The Good Word
Whether you're listening to the old time gospel favorites sang by the Oak Ridge Boys, or the more contemporary sounds of Everlife or Kirk Franklin, gospel music artists all have at least one thing in common: they all want to spread the word of God. In other words, they want to spread the Gospel.
In order to understand the aim of a gospel music artist, first we have to understand what is meant by Gospel. A widely recognized understanding of the Gospel is that it is one of the first four books in the New Testament of the Christian Bible in which the life, death, resurrection and teachings of Jesus Christ are recorded. Gospel has Anglo-Saxon origin meaning "God's spell" (the word of God) and sometimes "good spell" (good news). Gospel music artists want to spread the word of God-they want to spread the good news!
As with all genres of music, gospel music has a wide variety of singers, styles, and eras. There are men, women, and children, old and young, singing both traditional and contemporary gospel songs in various categories such as Southern gospel and Black gospel. As a result of such a wide array of gospel music to choose from, gospel music artists are gaining audiences in just as wide an array of music listeners.
Gospel music artists such as Heralder's Quartet, Called Out, Willis Canada, Crimson River Quartet and CrossOver are classified as Southern Gospel, whereas artists such as Carolyn Richards, Jack and Susan Harris, and The Cordells specialize in the sound of Country Gospel. There are the Traditional gospel sounds of Anointed and Bridgeway, and the more Contemporary gospel sounds of Everlife and Martin Palmer and Jehoshaphat. Some gospel music artists don't even fall into one particular gospel music style. Take Gary McVay, who sings both Southern and Country gospel music, and the Gospel Sounds Duet who are described as Traditional, Country, Southern, and Contemporary.
Of course, gospel music artists aren't only found in America. The Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum founded in 1995 changed its name to The International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2003 in order to recognize and induct gospel music artists around the world. Inductees are searched for in many different countries including Japan, Africa, Canada, and the Caribbean.
With so many different artists and styles, it's not surprising that gospel music appeals to so many different people. Gospel music artists are not only covering a variety of voices and styles, but they are also reaching out all over the world to their fans, making them that much closer to spreading the Gospel.