Collingsworth Family Resumes Just Sing! Tour After Eventful Summer Break
In 2021, gospel music's Collingsworth Family, noted for its beautiful family harmonies and the virtuosic piano playing of Kim Collingsworth, teamed up with producer extraordinaire Bradley Knight to record the group's first project since signing with Gaither Music.
Recording at the famous Ocean Way Nashville Recording Studios, Knight, an accomplished keyboardist in his own right, assembled Jeremy Medkiff (guitars), Jacob Lowery (bass), Chris Knight (drums), the Nashville String Machine and more to back the stellar vocals of the group, which is comprised of parents Phil (baritone, tenor) and Kim Collingsworth (alto), Phillip Jr. (tenor), Brooklyn Blair (soprano), Courtney Metz (alto) and Olivia (soprano). Exemplary production, combined with an outstanding repertoire of thoughtfully selected songs, including material written by Bill and Gloria Gaither, Dottie Rambo and Babbie Mason, has culminated in a remarkable project that has delighted fans and will likely garner attention from peers when it comes time to divvy up major industry awards.
Jake Harsh/Harsh Media, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Time in the studio was followed by an August 2021 live video taping at Liberty University's Center for Music and Worship Arts in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA. A wonderful orchestra, consisting of Liberty students, faculty and alumni, and directed by Knight, joined stage musicians Carson Wagner (keyboards, Hammond B3 organ), Garth Justice (drums), Jacob Lowery (bass guitar) and Dave Cleveland (guitars) to produce the lush accompaniment for which Just Sing! has become known.
Phil and Kim Collingsworth, Babbie Mason and Greg Freeman, Backstage at Liberty University's Center for Music and Worship Arts, 6 August 2021
Fans often characterize Collingsworth Family concerts as spirit-filled, moving and worshipful experiences, even though the group is not a worship band, per se, in terms of how worship music is defined by modern churches. Many of their songs are southern gospel, but far from alienating to mainline denomination Christians who enjoy the group's arrangements of hymns, familiar gospel numbers and more recent tunes. Decidedly evangelical churches such as Baptist and Pentecostal congregations acknowledge the family has elevated southern gospel-influenced songs to the highest of standards, which probably explains the group's popularity in areas outside the American South where the Christian music genre is less commonplace. Regardless of one's denomination affiliation, or lack thereof, or geographic location, for that matter, the Collingsworth Family's music is immensely popular, and describing it as par excellence is a far cry from hyperbole.
The recent run of the Just Sing! tour proved highly successful as the group filled dates and traversed the country during Spring 2022, even taking their tour westward to Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Wichita, Minneapolis, Omaha, Davenport, Sioux Falls and the cities of Visalia and Lancaster in California. Like any other major concert tour, the Just Sing! tour is no small undertaking. First-time concert attendees, for instance, soon realize that the group travels in multiple entertainer coaches. While many tours employ backline services to supply everything from stage setup/lighting to musical instruments, the Collingsworth Family transports its own gear, including Kim's beloved Yamaha grand piano, from city to city. Resulting are a consistent sound and first-class presentation.
Following the spring tour, the Collingsworth Family anticipated making the most of their planned time off. The wedding of the youngest Collingsworth sibling, Olivia, and her fiance, Dawson Aichholz, took place on June 25, and on July 7 Michael and Courtney Collingsworth Metz were able to make official the adoption of their young son, Theo, at the office of the Royal Thai Consulate General in New York.
These joyous occasions contrasted with the gravity of Kim Collingsworth's mother's heart surgery and the subsequent recovery she is currently experiencing. After two lengthy hospitalizations, Carolyn Keaton, Phil Collingsworth Sr. recently shared, is "back home again and went out for dinner last evening." He says Mrs. Keaton, wife of the Reverend James Keaton and matriarch of a large, musically talented, ministry-oriented family, is "greatly improved," and the family is most grateful for those who have offered up prayers and expressed concern during this time.
As for the next leg of the Just Sing! tour, Collingsworth Sr. says, "We are MEGA excited for our Fall Tour…40 cities this time around." When asked about the group's reception in places like Nevada, Arizona or California, he replied, "We had some amazing concerts in the spring, especially with the folks in Las Vegas, Nevada. And, yes, the folks on the left coast embrace our music and presentation especially warmly. We have never had an audience more excited to have us there than the two audiences in Farmington, New Mexico and Las Vegas. We will be returning to the great Northwest, as well as California and Arizona for our Christmas tour this year."
Also worth noting are the Collingsworth Family's scheduled performances at New York's Brooklyn Tabernacle, the inner city, multi-cultural church pastored by Jim and Carol Cymbala and home to the multiple Grammy® Award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. The group will be appearing in both the 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. services on September 4 as part of the Just Sing! tour. Other stops on the tour include the Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, First Baptist Dallas and North Carolina's Fayetteville Community Church, which is pastored by Gaither Homecoming artist, Wesley Pritchard. In 2023, even more dates on the Just Sing! tour are planned, including April 2 appearances at First Baptist Atlanta.
Collingsworth, Phil, Sr. Email to Greg Freeman. 23 July 2022.The recent run of the Just Sing! tour proved highly successful as the group filled dates and traversed the country during Spring 2022, even taking their tour westward to Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Wichita, Minneapolis, Omaha, Davenport, Sioux Falls and the cities of Visalia and Lancaster in California. Like any other major concert tour, the Just Sing! tour is no small undertaking. First-time concert attendees, for instance, soon realize that the group travels in multiple entertainer coaches. While many tours employ backline services to supply everything from stage setup/lighting to musical instruments, the Collingsworth Family transports its own gear, including Kim's beloved Yamaha grand piano, from city to city. Resulting are a consistent sound and first-class presentation.
Following the spring tour, the Collingsworth Family anticipated making the most of their planned time off. The wedding of the youngest Collingsworth sibling, Olivia, and her fiance, Dawson Aichholz, took place on June 25, and on July 7 Michael and Courtney Collingsworth Metz were able to make official the adoption of their young son, Theo, at the office of the Royal Thai Consulate General in New York.
These joyous occasions contrasted with the gravity of Kim Collingsworth's mother's heart surgery and the subsequent recovery she is currently experiencing. After two lengthy hospitalizations, Carolyn Keaton, Phil Collingsworth Sr. recently shared, is "back home again and went out for dinner last evening." He says Mrs. Keaton, wife of the Reverend James Keaton and matriarch of a large, musically talented, ministry-oriented family, is "greatly improved," and the family is most grateful for those who have offered up prayers and expressed concern during this time.
As for the next leg of the Just Sing! tour, Collingsworth Sr. says, "We are MEGA excited for our Fall Tour…40 cities this time around." When asked about the group's reception in places like Nevada, Arizona or California, he replied, "We had some amazing concerts in the spring, especially with the folks in Las Vegas, Nevada. And, yes, the folks on the left coast embrace our music and presentation especially warmly. We have never had an audience more excited to have us there than the two audiences in Farmington, New Mexico and Las Vegas. We will be returning to the great Northwest, as well as California and Arizona for our Christmas tour this year."
Also worth noting are the Collingsworth Family's scheduled performances at New York's Brooklyn Tabernacle, the inner city, multi-cultural church pastored by Jim and Carol Cymbala and home to the multiple Grammy® Award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. The group will be appearing in both the 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. services on September 4 as part of the Just Sing! tour. Other stops on the tour include the Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, First Baptist Dallas and North Carolina's Fayetteville Community Church, which is pastored by Gaither Homecoming artist, Wesley Pritchard. In 2023, even more dates on the Just Sing! tour are planned, including April 2 appearances at First Baptist Atlanta.
28 July 2022. By Greg Freeman. ListenHereNow.com
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