Madison Haynie

The Gospel; It’s a sound that is deeply embedded in Black culture and one that rings out about strength, courage, wisdom, and community. 

Storytellers Stacey L. Holman and Shayla Harris team up, once again, with host Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. to bring us the newest docuseries from PBS. Throughout history, African-Americans have been at the front of musical revolution. GOSPEL tells the story of Black spirituality and how it has been, and continues to be, expressed through sermon and song.

“Gospel is an important story to understand because it’s not just black history, it’s American history,” Harris told The Knockturnal. “Gospel has influenced all kinds of music, contemporary music from R&B and soul to
rock’n’roll. So I think understanding the roots and development and evolution of this art form will help
you understand American history and American culture.”

The docuseries, spanning four hours, tells the history of Gospel music and sermon and how those two entities have intertwined and embedded themselves into an art. Gates speaks with clergymen, singers and scholars on their connection to the music and sound of the church. The series also features many notable figures like Dionne Warwick, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, Rev. Otis Moss III, professor Michael Eric Dyson. Viewers will also get to see many stunning musical performances of Gospel favorites.

Holman and Harris told us they want audiences to understand that Gospel music is not only a combination of many types of music, but in that combination it has become it’s own art form.

“We also want people to understand that Gospel is many things.” Holman told us. “It’s Blues, it’s jazz, it’s hip-
hop, it’s R&B, it’s funk. It lives in many different spaces. And definitely, that Gospel is good news in dark
times.”

Holman remembers growing up in the church and her journey of understanding God. In that journey, she found Gospel. “it was magnificent,” she told us, speaking about watching the Weeden Family singers. “Just the range and array of voices impacted and influenced me and my appreciation of Gospel.”

Harris, on the other hand, found Gospel music through black radio. “So there is a way that a lot of people don’t experience Gospel inside church and I think that’s one of the innovations about this art form,” she told us. “It’s reached the audiences beyond, even just the Black Church.”

Rewind to a few years ago, when Harris, Holman, and Gates released their first docuseries with PBS entitled Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song. The series scratched the surface of the history and tale of what the Black Church really is. Harris views their new series as a continuation of that, delving deeper into the music and the sermon. “…we didn’t really get a chance to go deep into what Gospel is and really what the art of preaching is since we were talking about the institution.”

Following that, Harris added “…This series seemed like an opportunity to unpack those other three things: the preacher, the music, and the frenzy, and how they are intertwined, coexist, and cross-pollinate with each other and form the foundation of the Black spiritual experience.”

Besides telling this rich story in only four hours, packed with beautiful live performances that allow audiences to experience the feeling of the Gospel, “…we’re just proud of the “gumbo” that we created,” Holman told us.

The docuseries premieres February 12 & 13 on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS App.

Read the full Q&A below:

Why do you feel this is an important story to be told?

Shayla Harris: Well, I think Gospel is an important story to understand because it’s not just black history, it’s American history. Gospel music has influenced all kinds of music, contemporary music from R&B and soul to rock’n’roll. So I think understanding the roots and development and evolution of this art form will help you understand American history and American culture.

What do you want audiences to take away from this series?

Stacey L. Holman: We want people to get a better understanding of what gospel is. And as Shayla always says, it’s not just someone going to a mic and they can belt. It’s not someone just going to the pulpit and they can get a word. There’s a lot of craft. There’s a lot of time. There’s a lot of care that’s put into both. And there’s a lot of history. We also want people to understand that Gospel is many things: it’s Blues, it’s jazz, it’s hip-hop, it’s R&B, it’s funk. It lives in many different spaces. And definitely, that Gospel is good news in dark times.

Harris: Also that Gospel in and of itself is a uniquely American art form. Before it was created, it didn’t exist. You had spirituals and hymns, but Gospel is this particular American blend of Blues and Jazz and spirituals and the sacred and the secular. And that was incredible to learn, that it just was forged on this soil, which I don’t think I knew before working on this series.

How do you feel connected to gospel music and the story this series is highlighting?

Holman: Well, I grew up in a church with my parents that sung a lot of hymns and was predominantly white, but I spent a lot of time at Union Baptist Church in Zanesville, OH, which was my maternal grandparents’ church. So from there I really got instilled in me the understanding of God or the feeling I should say of what Gospel is, and all the elements that make the Black Church unique. Also my namesake, she’s also Stacey, her family was part of the Weeden Family Singers, and we would go to their concerts every year. They would have a family concert, and it was magnificent, just the range and array of voices impacted and influenced me and my appreciation of Gospel.

Harris: As for me, I grew up Catholic, so this wasn’t necessarily music that I experienced in church services. I think my first encounter with Gospel music is probably what a lot of people’s is, at least in the contemporary era, which was on Black radio, listening to The Winans, or roller-skating rinks or at the clubs listening to Kirk Franklin. So there is a way that a lot of people don’t experience Gospel inside church and I think that’s one of the innovations about this art form is that it’s reached beyond the four walls of the church. It’s reached the audiences beyond, even just the Black Church. And so for me the music just resonated in terms of the message and the beat and all of that that made these spiritual messages accessible in a way that I definitely didn’t necessarily expect. And so I think a lot of people can have that same experience.

What inspired you to make this series?

Harris: Well, this was a continuation of the Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song which Shayla and I worked together on with Professor Henry Louis Gates, “Skip”. And it did very well and really came out during a very pivotal time at the heart of COVID. That timing along with other things contributed to its natural success. So it just seemed like a natural continuation because we didn’t really get a chance to go deep into what Gospel is and really what the art of preaching is since we were talking about the institution. So we coined this series in-house as Black Church: The Musical. [laughs] So we just added music to it, and kept it moving!

Harris: I would also add and I’m sure this is how Skip would probably answer this question is that W.E.B. Du Bois said that the centerpiece and the foundation of black spirituality is the preacher, the music, and the frenzy. We sort of looked at the institution of the church in the last series, and this series seemed like an opportunity to unpack those other three things: the preacher, the music, and the frenzy, and how they are intertwined, coexist, and cross-pollinate with each other and form the foundation of the Black spiritual experience. So, this seemed like a welcome opportunity over four hours to kind of unpack these art forms.

What are you most proud of with this series?

Holman: Besides, that we could tell it in four hours? [laughs] That’s a huge feat, but I’m proud of just what we created, how we incorporated so many elements so that people can not only get the history but also the feel of Gospel. We have these live performances that are across the hours where we brought in choirs, Tyrell Belle and the Belle Singers and artists like Cory Henry, Celisse, for people to really just feel Gospel. So we’re just proud of the “gumbo” that we created.