Tag: writing

How a small North Carolina church shaped Darin & Brooke Aldridge’s new album

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ANDREW TAYLOR SR.

Darin & Brooke Aldridge have spent their career singing about faith, family and home, but on their new album “Soul Condition,” out now on Billy Blue Records, they went looking for something a little more specific: the sound of where they actually come from.

The eleven-track record marks the duo’s 11th studio album and brings in some serious bluegrass and gospel firepower, with Grand Ole Opry members Sonya Isaacs and Becky Isaacs of The Isaacs joining alongside GRAMMY winner Jason Crabb. But for Darin Aldridge, the album’s emotional center didn’t come from a Nashville studio. It came from a small church in Avery County, North Carolina.

“Speaking of our heritage back in western North Carolina, we got to go up to my uncle’s church that he’s pastored at now in Linville Falls, North Carolina,” Aldridge says. He and Brooke called in family for the occasion, pulling together as many aunts, uncles and cousins as could make it on short notice. “We called a bunch of our aunts and uncles and cousins that we could get together in one afternoon,” he recalls. “And we all come to that little community church and sang several hymns that day.”

The session had the feel of a family reunion as much as a recording date. Aldridge played guitar, his cousin Tommy and his mother took turns on piano, and Brooke’s parents rounded out the room. “I played a little guitar. My cousin Tommy played piano and my mom played piano. Brooke’s mom and dad were there,” he says, before turning to his wife to confirm the memory. “Wasn’t it, Brooke?”

The goal was simple: capture one of the songs from Soul Condition sung by an actual family choir, voices that had known each other, and those hymns, for generations.

For Brooke Aldridge, the afternoon delivered more than they expected. “It turned out so very special in that little church there,” she says, “and I think it’ll give people a good taste of where we come from and how we were raised.” That, she adds, is exactly what she and Darin set out to do with the record. “That’s exactly what we were trying to capture in Soul Condition.”

From age 11 to the Dove Award, John Darin Rowsey’s long road

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AMY TURNER

John Darin Rowsey may not have set out to become one of southern gospel’s most reliable hitmakers. He just wanted to sing, starting at age 11, back before he had any sense of what a career in this business would eventually ask of him.

That early stage time turned into decades of work. He joined New Journey in 1985, spent time with Karen Peck & New River starting in 2000, and in 2012 landed with The Guardians, where he now writes and arranges most of the group’s material. The songs kept climbing the southern gospel charts, the hits kept stacking up, and eventually a Dove Award showed up to confirm what fans already knew. Somewhere along the way, “prolific” stopped feeling like an exaggeration and started feeling like the plain truth.

Ask him about his influences and the names come easily. Dottie Rambo sits at the top of the list, and Rowsey doesn’t hesitate when explaining why: “probably would be at the top of my list because of the different styles and how much emotion she can pack in a lyric.” Bill and Gloria Gaither shaped him too, along with Ronnie Henson. These are the names you’d expect from a southern gospel songwriter of his generation, the kind of lineage that gets name checked in liner notes and interviews alike.

But the deepest influence wasn’t a songwriter at all. It was his pastor, Chuck Lawrence, the man Rowsey calls the one who “took me under his wing and mentored me.” Lawrence wasn’t interested in easy praise. He didn’t pat Rowsey on the head and send him on his way. Instead, as Rowsey remembers it, Lawrence “would not just say, oh, that’s a good kid” and let it go. He pushed back, offered notes, passed along lessons picked up from Nashville, and stuck with the process long enough to actually shape it. “He grew the tree,” Rowsey says, a line that lands with the kind of quiet weight you only get from real gratitude.

That mentorship model, someone taking the time to actually develop a young talent rather than just encourage it, is baked into how Rowsey approaches his own writing now. He’s not just filling southern gospel radio with his own songs; he’s collaborating, including on The Guardians’ current single “I know you,” co-written with Rodney Griffin. It’s another entry in a catalog that just keeps growing, proof that the tree Chuck Lawrence planted decades ago is still very much bearing fruit.

Steve Ladd on the mend after hip surgery, eager to get back to what he calls his calling

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AMY TURNER

Steve Ladd has spent his life singing about redemption, and this summer, he’s living out a smaller version of that story: recovery.

The artist, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and was once nominated for New Artist of the Year by the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame, underwent a full hip replacement at the end of June. It wasn’t a routine procedure. Ladd had surgery on the same hip as a child, and the old complications resurfaced on the operating table. According to a Facebook post by his wife, Meagan, the surgery ran about an hour longer than doctors had planned.

Still, Ladd came through it, and by all accounts, he’s bouncing back fast. He’s already deep into physical therapy, and the reports have been encouraging. On Monday, he shared the news himself in a Facebook post that read like classic Ladd: equal parts gratitude and gospel fire.

“Therapist just left. He said everything looked great and that I’m doing good (movement wise),” he wrote. “I’m ready to get back to doing what I love to do and what I’m called to do… SING! Maybe this new hip will help me sing better?!”

That sense of calling has defined Ladd’s career for years. His music has always leaned into themes of faith and restoration, and his latest single, “Mercy Seat,” carries that same thread forward, exploring spiritual redemption, forgiveness, and what Ladd describes as unconditional freedom found through Jesus.

For an artist whose whole catalogue circles back to grace and second chances, a hip that’s giving him a second chance of its own feels almost fitting. Fans who’ve followed Ladd’s journey through the Gospel Music world will recognize the tone: humour, humility, and an eagerness to get back to the stage.

For now, Ladd is focused on healing. But if his Facebook post is any indication, it won’t be long before he’s back on the road, mic in hand, doing the thing he’s always said he was made to do.

The Jordan Family Band Celebrates Alex and Jayleigh’s Wedding

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JEFF TURNER

The Jordan Family Band recently celebrated a joyful occasion as Alex Jordan and Jayleigh Jones tied the knot over the weekend. The couple, who met while on tour, have been eagerly awaiting this moment and are now excited to begin their journey as husband and wife.

Alex expressed the significance of this special day, sharing, “Me and Jayleigh have been looking forward to our wedding day for a super long time now. Most of you guys don’t know she’s lived in Arkansas and I live in Georgia. We met on tour and that’s how the distance is there.”

Despite the distance, their love flourished, and they knew they were destined to be together. “We just knew the distance wouldn’t last long. We just didn’t know how to bring to the table with our parents. We knew that we wanted to be married very soon,” Alex said.

Filled with excitement and anticipation for the future, Alex also admitted to feeling a mix of emotions. “So many different emotions. We’re feeling very excited, very nervous, and we’re just looking forward to moving on and starting life with each other.”

Our heartfelt congratulations go out to Alex and Jayleigh Jordan as they begin this exciting new chapter!