Tag: Kingdom Heirs

SPECIAL CROSSROADS RECORDS

Arden, North Carolina (May 31, 2024) — For their first single since the release of last spring’s classics collection, Something Good, Volume 3 — and first new material in more than a year — Sonlite Records’ legendary Southern Gospel ensemble, the Kingdom Heirs, hit the ground running with a spirited plea to seize the opportunity for salvation with “No Better Time.”

Written by the powerhouse trio of Chris Binion, Dixie Phillips and Steve Marshall, “No Better Time” features a propulsive rhythm section, punctuation from an exuberant horn section and an unabashedly urgent lead vocal from tenor Joshua Horrell, who says, “I am excited for our friends to hear the title cut from our brand new recording, ‘No Better Time’! This song pretty much says it all! God is so faithful, and there’s no better time than now, in this world of chaos, than to reach for Him.”

Matching the immediacy of its message, “No Better Time” jumps from the start with an unstoppable groove, wasting no time before Horrell lets loose with boundless energy to deliver a first verse that lays out a simple, yet undeniable call before tumbling into the irresistibly singable chorus:

Everyone has a story
Everyone has a past
All of us need some freedom 
From the things that have held us back
So when we need a new beginning
All we have to do is ask

No better time than the present
No better time than the now
No better time than the moment
To be touched by His power
And see once again He is so faithful
He’s always changing lives
There’s no better way, no better day, no better time

Filled with all the attributes that have made the Kingdom Heirs one of Southern Gospel’s most beloved quartets, the plain truth is that there’s “No Better Time” for a song — and a message — that’s sure to fulfill fans’ long-held expectations

CROSSROADS

Arden, North Carolina (February 14, 2023) — When a legendary group takes on legendary songs, the results are bound to be special—and indeed, the first two collections of favorites from the Kingdom Heirs were so well received that the quartet has returned to the well once more for Something Good, Volume 3, on Sonlite Records. The album is now available for pre-order, add or save ahead of its April 7 release.

Like its predecessors, Something Good, Volume 3 finds the famed ensemble — now boasting a new lineup as they head toward their 40th year as Dollywood’s resident gospel group — drawing from the deep well of long-beloved yet ever-timely songs to create an album that that will not only bring old memories to life, but make new ones, too.   

“Over the past 6 years, we’ve recorded a series of albums entitled Something Good,” says singer Loren Harris. “This is the third volume in that series, with the current lineup of myself on lead and Andy Stringfield on baritone along with Jacob Ellison and Jeff Chapman on tenor and bass respectively. This recording, like the two before it, has some of our favorite songs that have been recorded over the years by other groups, by groups that we may have performed with, or remakes of Kingdom Heir classics!”

From the opening “I’m Forgiven,” a spirited, horn- and piano-driven celebration of God’s mercy that dates back to the late 1970s, to the classic quartet sound of the closing “Glory Road,” first introduced in 1973 by The Kingsmen, Something Good, Volume 3 is a loving survey of Gospel music treasures, each given the Kingdom Heirs’ unique treatment. Country flavors predominate, with the pedal steel guitar and harmonica making regular appearances alongside the ever-present keyboards, but there is room for much more, too, including elaborate orchestrations that surround the quartet’s voices with a rich sonic tapestry on songs such as The Kingsmen’s “The Cross Has Won Again,” Happy Goodman Family’s “That Sounds Like Home To Me” and The Perrys’ “He Will Hide Me,” and a two-part arrangement of “Moving Up To Gloryland” that puts the Kingdom Heirs’ own unique stamp on the popular favorite. Indeed, with each song, whether it features Harris, Stringfield, Ellison or Chapman — or all four voices throughout — the Kingdom Heirs manage to summon echoes of earlier performances while shining through with a musical character and a spiritual richness that’s all theirs.  

Says Harris, “I think you’ll enjoy this trip down memory lane as we relive this wonderful music that we love to sing” — and if the enthusiastic reception given by their fans to the previous volumes of Something Good is any indication, it’s a trip listeners will be happy to take over and over again.