North Carolina Community Choir

Acting on the vision of Dr. Thomas L. Walker (of One Day at a Time fame), veteran producer and songwriter Ray Braswell Jr. and James Bellamy gathered together a group of singers from their home state of North Carolina to provide choral background on two selections for release on Malaco Records. These selections were 2005’s Every Promise in the Book is Mine by the Sensational Nightingales and the old-school hit from 2010, (God Is God) He Won’t Change, by the Reverend F. C. Barnes and Darrell Luster.  Originally known as the Promise Choir, the group also backed Lil’ Blair and the Fantastic Heirs on their 2012 4 Winds release, Yes.

Hearing something good that ought to be continued, the singers formalized as the North Carolina Community Choir.  All of My Help, the choir’s 2012 affecting debut single with lead vocals from quartet star Luther Barnes, was followed by a full-length album, A Story to Tell, for 4 Winds.  Other lead singers featured on the album included Shari Braswell on Vengeance Is Mine, songwriter Brian Foster on I See a Miracle, and Darrell Luster on the title track.  The album produced a second single, the joyous Whatever You Need, featuring lead vocals by Mario Smith.  The album earned five stars from the Journal of Gospel Music, which called it “a masterful expression of the gospel choral sound.”

The North Carolina Community Choir also performed on BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel television program.