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Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul radio documentary this February

Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul
Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul
Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul
Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul

Without gospel music there never would have been an Elvis Presley. There never would have been a Ray Charles, or a James Brown. From the mid-twentieth century on, gospel music not only thrived within a separate sphere as vital as the jazz, rock and rhythm and blues worlds; it also constantly intersected with the secular music industry, providing models that countless artists outside the church emulated. GOSPEL ROOTS OF ROCK AND SOUL, a four part series from WXPN and NPRMUSIC, explores these connections as a way of reinstituting gospel's central place within the history of American popular music. The series is hosted by GRAMMY award-winning gospel singer CeCe Winans. It airs Sunday Mornings at 10AM on Different Radio, WRUR 88.5 FM Rochester and WITH 90.1 FM Ithaca.

Through in-depth interviews with artists and dozens of songs (including many archival selections), the four-hour documentary illuminates the profound impact that gospel music has made on popular music. It is the culmination of WXPN’s year-long project of the same name, that featured prominent gospel and contemporary music artists, historians, and experts contributing their research and insights to a media-rich website (xpngospelroots.org), and a series of sold-out gospel music concerts, film screenings, and panel discussions. The project and radio documentary are supported by a grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.  

Copyright 2019 WRUR

I was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, and grew up mostly in and around the Rochester area. I got my radio start at WBKT at Brockport High school as a sophomore, and was its station manager in my senior year in high school. I had caught the radio & TV bug. While in high school, I started working for the local commercial station in town (WWBK/WJBT). While attending SUNY Brockport, I helped build WBSU-FM, and started as an intern for WXXI-TV. I started working for WXXI in the broadcast operations area, and eventually became an online television editor. In 1985, I took a position at WHYY in Philadelphia in their engineering department, working primarily as a video editor, but also provided audio support for TV productions and for some radio productions, including NPR's Fresh Air.