Tag: Kingdom Heirs

SPECIAL CROSSROADS RECORDS

Arden, North Carolina (September 10, 2024) —  “2023 was a year of change for The Kingdom Heirs,” Dollywood’s resident Southern Gospel group observe at the start of the liner notes to No Better Time, their upcoming album for Sonlite Records, now available for pre-save/add ahead of its November 1 release. What follows proves that they’re masters, not just of legendary singing, but of understatement.  “In our 40-plus years of ministry, we had never seen anything quite like it. Within a six month span, we replaced three out of four of our front line vocals and added a guitar player/vocalist. This project is nothing short of a miracle from God along with help and encouragement from so many people!”

Indeed, though the turnover has been substantial since last year’s collection of genre classics, Something Good, Vol. 3, the release of three singles in advance of the full project reassured longtime and recent fans alike that the Kingdom Heirs sound and spirit were as strong as ever. From the classic, jaunty opening piano of the “The Lord’s Been Good to Me” to the more contemporary flavor of the closing “Yesterday, Today, Forever Faithful,” No Better Time offers up a rounded portrait of multi-dimensional artistry placed in the service of the Gospel.  

Yet while a string section makes appearances on radio favorite “Until Prayer Changes Me” and the meditative “Already Free,” and horns enliven the title track, country flavors, soulful harmonies and traditional touches predominate on numbers such as the up-tempo “All The Way To The Gates,” recent single “I Want To Live Like Jesus,” the gently syncopated “We’ll Be Moving” and focus track “I Went Down.”  And though there are somber moments in the empathetic “Life Hurts, God Heals” and “He Still Is,” with its aching tenor lead vocal, most of No Better Time’s themes are perfectly summed up in the chorus of its title track:

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’s so faithful
He’s always changing lives
No better way, no better day, no better time 

“This album is something every member of our group should be very proud of,” the liner notes affirm. “Each guy was involved in every aspect of the finished product. There also would not be a ‘finished product’ if not for all the songwriters who submitted material that took a considerable amount of time to process. There were so many great songs, and we feel that we chose the best of the best. Thank you, songwriters, for your talent and commitment to keep sharing words that change people’s lives! 

“Last but certainly not least, THANK YOU to our family and friends, who not only support what we do, but more importantly, you BELIEVE in what we do! Without each one of you who are sitting in our audience on a daily basis or sitting at home praying for us daily, this ministry would be nothing more than a bunch of guys playing music! We love you and thank you…YOU make this possible!!”

SPECIAL: CROSSROADS MUSIC

Arden, North Carolina (July 12, 2024) — They may be a legendary group with decades of music already behind them, but the Kingdom Heirs are taking an approach to releasing music that’s as forward-looking as today’s headlines.  Less than two months after issuing what will eventually be the title track of a new collection — and just weeks after the announcement that the beloved Southern Gospel ensemble’s musicians are in the Singing News Fan Awards Top 5 — the Sonlite Records recording artists are back with new music. Cast as a stately country waltz, with pedal steel guitar and lush strings punctuating soaring vocals, “Until Prayer Changes Me” offers a heartfelt look at the transformative power of prayer.  

“From the moment I heard the first words of this song, I knew that it was a song the Kingdom Heirs needed to record,” affirms Chris Bryant, whose soulful voice is at the fore throughout the song. “It’s one of the most relatable messages in song that I have heard in a very long time. There’s not a believer out there who hasn’t found themselves on their knees asking God ‘why?’ Those are often some of the most difficult moments of our lives.”

Penned by veteran songwriter Janice Crow, “Until Prayer Changes Me” offers a vivid depiction of how prayer can bring reassurance of God’s mercy in times of trouble—and how it can change the believer rather than the circumstances they face:

Sometimes my burdens send me to my knees
With problems I don’t understand
I ask God to change it so I can arrange it
According to my master plan
But when I remember who parted the sea
And hung all the stars in the blue
I stop and surrender to the only heart mender
Who knows just what I need to do

Says Bryant, “This song reminds us that sometimes God doesn’t change our situation—sometimes He changes US! He gives us peace, assurance that He is still in control, and grace to make it through. We pray that this song touches so many people as it has us.”

Listen to “Until Prayer Changes Me” on Texas Gospel Canada!

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