Category: Southern Gospel

John Darin Rowsey found more than he expected in “Where Healing Happens”

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AMY TURNER

Some songwriters doesn’t chase the spotlight so much as build the stage for everyone else to stand on. John Darin Rowsey has spent decades doing exactly that, first with New Journey, then Karen Peck & New River, and for the last dozen-plus years as the songwriting engine behind The Guardians, the southern gospel quartet rounded out by Pat Barker, Paul Lancaster and Dale Forbes. Their new project, Where Healing Happens, might be the most personal thing he’s ever put his name on.

Rowsey started singing in front of crowds at 11 years old, an age when most kids are still figuring out how to talk to strangers. That early exposure shaped a career defined less by ego than by service; he’s the guy in the room writing the songs other people get to sing, and he’s made peace with that role in a way that feels almost countercultural in an industry built on hooks and headliners. Hundreds of songs, multiple number-one hits on the southern gospel charts, a Dove Award. The résumé speaks for itself. But ask him about this particular record, and something shifts in his voice.

“You know, it was really a labor of love,” Rowsey says. “I feel like the songs that are on this project speak my heart more so than just about any project I’ve ever been a part of.” He pauses on the why of it, landing somewhere true: “I guess it’s because we all walk through seasons that are difficult. We walk through seasons of joy. Every season is different, and different songs come out of those seasons.” The album, he explains, was built to meet people wherever they are, grief, gratitude, doubt, all of it: “We were able to pick songs on this project that help you walk through every season of your life.”

What catches Rowsey off guard, even now, is what happened once he handed the songs over to his bandmates. Writing them was one thing. Hearing them sung back was another entirely. “The guys took the lyrics and sung them, it was way above my expectations,” he says. “I thought I knew they would do a great job, but I never dreamed that they would interpret the songs the way they did.” There’s real surprise in that admission, the kind that only comes when collaboration outpaces even a songwriter’s own vision for his work. “I think this record means more to me because of that than any I’ve ever been a part of. So I’m really thankful for that.”

That gratitude tracks with everything The Guardians have built their identity around. Three Dove Award nominations, a string of number-one songs, Fan Awards, and still the group’s mantra traces back to John the Baptist in John 3:30: “He must increase but I must decrease.” It’s a strange thing to hear a quartet with this much chart success talk about diminishment as the goal, but that’s the tension that seems to animate the group, ambition in service of something bigger than themselves.

Occasionally they’re joined onstage by founding member Dean Hickman, a man who’s logged more than 60 years in southern gospel music, a living thread back to the genre’s roots standing next to a group actively reshaping what it sounds like now. It’s a lineage thing, the old guard blessing the new, and it fits the arc of a group whose newest record is, by its own songwriter’s account, less a product than a testimony.

Where Healing Happens isn’t trying to be everything to everyone. It’s trying to be honest about the seasons people actually live through. For Rowsey, that honesty is the whole point.

A mother’s grief inspires Amber Lynn’s ‘Till We’re Together

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Amber Lynn has spent years writing songs that speak to faith, hope, and perseverance. But her latest release reaches into a place far more personal, inviting listeners into a chapter of grief that continues to shape her life.

The Sonlite Records artist, who also serves as the lead vocalist for Southern Gospel trio 11th Hour, wrote the song alongside Kenna West, Lauren Talley, and Michael Farren. At its heart is the loss of the child she and her husband, Garrett, lost in 2021, a story she says remains impossible to separate from her faith.

Provided to YouTube by Syntax Creative
Till We’re Together · Amber Lynn
Till We’re Together
℗ 2026 Sonlite Records
Released on: 2026-07-10

“This song was written by myself, Kenna West, Lauren Talley, and Michael Farren, in loving memory of the precious child my husband and I lost in 2021,” Amber Lynn says. “Losing a child is a heartbreak that never truly leaves you, it’s a grief we will carry in our hearts for the rest of our lives.”

Rather than masking that pain with elaborate production, the recording embraces simplicity. Built around Tim Parton’s piano with only subtle atmospheric accompaniment and produced by Roger Talley, the performance leaves room for every lyric to breathe. The result is an intimate meditation on loss, one that acknowledges the weight of unanswered questions while holding tightly to the promise of reunion.

“Yet even in the deepest sorrow,” she says, “we hold onto the hope of Heaven. The hope that one day we will finally say hello to our baby… and will never have to say goodbye again.”

That hope echoes throughout the song’s lyrics, which reflect on milestones that never came, a first smile, first steps, bedtime routines, and the lingering ache of a life imagined but never lived on earth. Rather than offering easy explanations, the song gives voice to emotions many grieving parents quietly carry.

For Amber Lynn, that honesty was essential.

“This song,” she says, “is for every mother and father who knows this pain, for every parent who carries both love and loss in the same breath. You are not alone.”

Her willingness to tell that story grows out of a lifetime shaped by faith and music. Raised in Sterlington, Louisiana, as the daughter of a pastor, Amber was surrounded by gospel music from an early age. As a teenager, she sensed a calling to write and minister through music, a journey that eventually led to the formation of 11th Hour.

She has since written more than 200 songs, with recordings by 11th Hour and artists including The Martins and The Whisnants. Along the way, she has earned recognition as both a vocalist and songwriter, while also completing a diploma in Christian counseling that allows her to minister at women’s conferences and concert events.

Today, Amber and Garrett are raising their son, Vinny, and daughter, Penny, while serving at their home church, Trinity Baptist in Asheville, North Carolina. Their family story now includes both profound joy and profound loss, realities that coexist in the message of her latest recording.

The song does not attempt to resolve grief. Instead, it offers something quieter: the assurance that sorrow can exist alongside hope, and that faith can sustain people through questions that may never be answered.

For Amber Lynn, that is the message she hopes listeners carry with them long after the final piano notes fade. “You are not alone.”

The Kingsmen blend tradition and new songs on anniversary album

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

For seven decades, the Kingsmen have built a reputation by honoring Southern Gospel traditions while continuing to evolve. Their latest release, Still Jesus, reflects that balance, looking back at the group’s history while introducing new music that points toward its future.

The Horizon Records album, subtitled A Seventieth Anniversary Celebration, arrives as both a milestone and a statement of purpose. Rather than simply revisiting familiar material, the collection blends restored classics, previously unrecorded songs from the group’s archives, and brand-new recordings from some of gospel music’s most respected songwriters.

“For me,” says Kingsmen vocalist Alan Kendall, “this album is both a culmination and a beginning for the Kingsmen.”

That perspective shaped every decision behind the project. Kendall says the group wanted to celebrate its legacy without becoming confined by it.

“We have always been diligent to honor our Kingsmen roots,” he explains. “But those exact same roots also tell us that the Kingsmen have always been a forward-thinking group.”

That philosophy led the quartet to revisit classic arrangements while preserving the character longtime listeners have come to expect. The album also includes two older songs that had never been recorded by the Kingsmen, including one written by Squire Parsons in 1989, alongside five newly written selections from songwriters whose work has helped define the group’s modern catalog.

“Ronny Hinson, Kenna Turner West, Joseph Habedank, Lee Black, Rachel McCutcheon, and more, all sent us some of their finest material to date,” Kendall says.

The result is an album that moves comfortably between generations. Familiar harmonies anchor classics such as “I’ll Live Again,” while songs like “I Forgive Your Sin” and “When Sunday Morning Dawned” feature sweeping orchestration. Elsewhere, country influences shape tracks including “That Very Moment” and “I Stand Upon The Rock of Ages,” giving the collection a broader musical palette without losing its identity.

The closing track serves as the album’s emotional centerpiece. Nineteen former Kingsmen members reunite as an alumni choir to perform “Is That the Old Ship of Zion,” one of the group’s signature songs.

“I’ll advise our fans to listen to this album all the way through,” Kendall says. “It is quite a ride.”

For drummer Brandon Reese, whose father, Ray Dean Reese, helped establish the Kingsmen’s enduring legacy, the anniversary project carries both personal and spiritual significance. As the group’s manager and leader, he sees Still Jesus as more than a celebration of longevity.

“We tried to incorporate something that just about anybody would enjoy,” Reese says, pointing to the mix of new songs, re-recorded favorites, and appearances by more than 15 Kingsmen members spanning seven decades.

His hope, however, extends beyond the music itself.

“Most importantly,” Reese says, “it is my prayer that you hear something in this album that helps you in your every day walk, because no matter the issue, the answer is Still Jesus. And with the Kingsmen, even after 70 years, the answer will always be Still Jesus.”

Carolina The Band loses a longtime voice as Mitchell Whisnant steps away

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JEFF TURNER

Every band has a shape that shifts over time; new members arrive, others move on, and the sound bends around whoever’s left holding the songs. For Carolina The Band, that shape is changing again. Mitchell Whisnant, the North Carolina outfit’s lead guitarist and vocalist, has announced he’s leaving after five years of touring and recording with the group.

The news lands the way these things usually do in the music world: quietly, then all at once. Whisnant framed his exit not as a rupture but as the natural end of a chapter, saying the decision came after a season of reflection, gratitude, and anticipation for what lies ahead, both personally and professionally. It’s the kind of language that sounds diplomatic on paper but carries real weight when you consider what those five years actually looked like: van rides between towns, soundchecks in rooms that were half empty and then, eventually, full; the slow accumulation of a following built one night at a time.

That grind is where Carolina earned its reputation. The band has spent years crisscrossing the country, and the qualities that show up on any list of what makes a great live act, dynamic performances, exceptional songwriting, pristine vocals, and an enthusiasm for the audience that never reads as manufactured, are the qualities people keep coming back for. Carolina built that trust the old-fashioned way, night after night, and it’s part of why Whisnant’s departure feels significant rather than routine.

Bands survive lineup changes; the good ones almost always do. But there’s no pretending a five-year member walking away doesn’t leave a mark on the sound and the story. Whisnant’s guitar work and vocals have been part of Carolina’s identity since he joined, and whoever steps into that space next inherits not just a role but a relationship, the one between a band and the fans who’ve watched it evolve.

Carolina’s evolution has always been the story anyway. Each change has forced growth, and each new person has left a fingerprint on the collective style that defines the band. Whisnant’s exit is simply the latest chapter in that ongoing rewrite, and if the band’s history is any indication, they’ll keep moving, keep touring, and keep finding new ways to hold onto what made people fall for them in the first place.

Something’s Goin’ On: Anthem Edition finds its voice in faith and harmony

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AMY TURNER

There comes a time in every gospel quartet’s evolution when the songs stop being just songs and start being confessions. For Anthem Edition, that moment arrived while they were combing through material for their upcoming Sonlite Records EP, Something’s Goin’ On, out August 28.

“When we started searching for songs to record, each member of the group had songs that truly spoke to where they are in life right now,” says Tim Rackley, the group’s founder and a member since its earliest days as The Old Paths back in 2003. “We knew, if the songs moved us in a powerful way, they would move the listeners as well.”

That’s not marketing language; it’s a philosophy Rackley has clearly built a career on. “You cannot deliver a song fully if you don’t feel it yourself,” he says, and it shows in how the seven-track collection comes together. Three songs have already made their way into the world, including “He Is Who He Is,” which is climbing the charts as we speak. The other four are new, and together the whole project moves like a conversation, up-tempo celebration giving way to something quieter, then rising again.

The EP opens and closes on its most joyful notes, bookended by “He Is Who He Is” and the title track, but the real emotional center lives somewhere in the middle. “He Still Washed His Feet” pulls the group into something intimate and reflective. “Land Of Joy Untold” leans into a relaxed, country-inflected groove. “I’m Another Lazarus” plays like a testimony shouted from the rooftops. It’s a group finding range, not just repeating a formula.

I am saved, I’m a living testimony of His grace
I’m the evidence of what the Blood can change
That sins can be erased
And it’s all because of mercy I am saved
I am saved

Then there’s “I Am Saved,” the project’s focus track and, by Rackley’s account, its clearest statement of purpose. Producer Roger Talley brought contemporary textures into the arrangement without losing what makes a quartet chorus hit the way it does. The lyrics don’t dress up the message:

“Filled with strong songs, great harmonies, and messages that point people to Christ, this project blends the best of Southern Gospel tradition with a fresh sound for today’s listeners,” Rackley says. “From start to finish, these songs encourage, inspire, and remind us of God’s faithfulness. Something’s Goin’ On shows just how far this lineup has come.”

That distance is worth sitting with. What began in 2003 as a trio called The Old Paths, founded by Roark and Rackley, grew into a quartet and eventually national recognition. Signing with Crossroad Music’s Sonlite Records in 2012 led to the breakout album Right Now, two number one hits, and a Singing News Fan Award for Favorite New Quartet. There was a hiatus in 2015, a return to the road in 2017, and then, in late 2022, a full rebrand: The Old Paths became Anthem Edition, with Andrew Utech stepping in on bass. Cameron Edens joined as tenor in the fall of 2023, filling out the lineup that now sings these songs like they mean them, because, according to Rackley, they do.

Something’s Goin’ On is available for pre-save now, ahead of its August 28 release on Sonlite Records.