Country Gospel has long been a part of the Country music repertoire. Today Gospel songs are an important part of American roots music which unites us in spite of our different backgrounds and paths.
Country Gospel songs typically have a catchy chorus and encourage close harmony singing. In this class we’ll be singing together as a group. Typically there will be folks in class who can easily find a harmony part, so although it’s not a harmony class as such, I strongly encourage harmony singing. If you don’t sing harmony that’s ok too, since lead singers are always welcome.
We’ll be learning songs like “It’s Me Again Lord”, “Camping in Canaan’s Land” and “Mansion Over the Hilltop”. We’ll talk a bit about the history of the songs, the songwriters and the singers, but we’ll spend most of our time singing together. It’s a lot of fun and I hope you will join us. (Open to all levels of singers)
Instructor Bio
Karen Collins is a coal miner’s daughter who grew up in the mountains of Southwest VA where she listened to a lot of country music on the radio and sang in the local Baptist Church. Today those country sounds can be heard in her singing and her songwriting that tell stories ranging from love and heartbreak to beltway traffic. Karen leads a honky tonk country band, Karen Collins & The Backroads Band and plays in an acoustic country quartet, The Blue Moon Cowgirls. Karen and the Backroads Band are currently working on their third recording of Karen’s original songs. While she enjoys playing honky tonks and dances, one of her passions is writing and singing about where she grew up. She was recently honored to sing at a Black Lung Vigil for retired coal miners in Washington, DC and at tributes to Hazel Dickens in Baltimore MD and Wheeling, WV.