Gospel praise envelops IU

Sweat and tears streaming down his face, Lamar Campbell raised his eyes and hands to the heavens while he stood fixated against the backdrop of robust choral voices.

“(It) seems like the English language is just not enough to express the way we really feel about the one who died to save us and rose to set us free,” Campbell said as he led the audience in his latest song, “From the Heart.”

“Since sometimes I can’t express it with words, what I can do is sing it with love songs.”

Campbell and other Indianapolis-based gospel musicians were in Bloomington on Saturday for the day-long “Why We Sing: Indianapolis Gospel Music in Church, Community and Industry” conference at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The day concluded with a concert and performance featuring Campbell and a local volunteer choir.

The conference was designed as part of a dissertation project by Raynetta Wiggins, a master’s student in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology.

“I hadn’t known much about the Indianapolis gospel music scene,” Wiggins said. “Then I discovered all these people who are doing amazing things, and I think that really that just compelled me to want to investigate it further.”

Wiggins worked with Department Director Mellonee Burnim and doctoral candidate Tyron Cooper to bring Campbell, president and CEO of Aleho International Records Al “The Bishop” Hobbs and many other prominent gospel figures to the conference.

“It was above and beyond what I could have imagined,” Wiggins said. “We were able to highlight how Indianapolis music has contributed to gospel music locally and nationally, and even internationally.”

The visiting industry leaders took part in three panels throughout the day. The conference began with the consideration of  “Gospel Music in Church and Community” and ended with a look at “New Directions in Gospel Music.”

“(The conference) was very well organized and well researched,” professor of ethnomusicology Portia Maultsby said.

Maultsby was a respondent to the conference’s second panel, “The Indianapolis Gospel Music Industry.”

“It’s a great topic because Indianapolis is a major center of gospel music. We often overlook treasures in our own backyard,” she said.

Topics included secular versus sacred music in entertainment and how gospel fits between both contexts, as well as the way the evolution of social media has changed the dissemination of music and how record labels do business.

Campbell, who uses multiple Facebook pages, said he appreciates how social networking has allowed him to inspire a wider audience than ever before.

“I want people to always feel like when they come to my page that they’ll be able to get a word of encouragement. They’ll be able to feel loved,” Campbell said. “I’m excited about the opportunities to be able to touch people (I will never meet in person) and feel like I know them.”

Campbell and his team are preparing to embark on a venture with digital song downloads and hope to depend on social media to create buzz prior to album sales.  

The conference was brought to a close by the energetic gospel concert at Fairview United Methodist Church, located at 600 W. Sixth St., where shared passion for God and freedom of expression were in abundance.

More a time of worship than a performance, catchy hooks and uplifting melodies were played without breaks.

This created a platform for choir directors Rodnie Bryant, Sherri Garrison and Campbell to lead the crowd in rousing choruses of praise.

The high-powered worship leaders jumped and danced in the front of the room and were joined by shouts of exultation and raising of hands from the young and old in the crowd.

The Bloomington Community Choir, a large, diverse group from every performance expertise level, was directed by Garrison. Members sang and danced with smiles on their faces.

In theme with a main conference focus, the choir exemplified the desire for, and the future of, the gospel music industry: a cohesive group of people from all races, ages and cultures, worshipping God in unity — as they believe it is in heaven.