Rocky Mount, NC (May 29, 2020)
The Gospel music world may evolve musically from one period to the next but the Reverend Luther Barnes for more than three hit-making and award-winning decades, has delivered the essence of Gospel music no matter what the current musical fashion may be. This precious gift stems from the Reverend’s uncanny ability to create traditionally-rooted music in contemporary, finely-wrought productions.

Now the Reverend Barnes returns with another beautifully-rendered album with his Restoration Worship Center Choir, with the lead/title single “Look To The Hills,” a rising Top 20 gospel radio hit delivering a much-needed message of hope and inspiration in a world devastated by a pandemic. “The song ‘Look To The Hills’ presents a timely message of hope that things are gonna get better. It also seemed like the perfect album title for what we are all collectively facing right now,” confides the optimistic Barnes. Look To The Hills the second album by Reverend Barnes released by Shanachie Entertainment/SRT Entertainment is available everywhere now.

Listen here:

Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in 1954, the son of the late Bishop F. C. Barnes and the late Willie Mae Barnes, who instilled in him a desire to trust and obey God’s word, the Reverend Luther Barnes comes from a notable gospel background. His father wrote and scored a hit with the gospel standard “Rough Side of the Mountain.” Raised in the church from a young age, Rev. Barnes felt called to music ministry and embarked on a hit-making career as lead singer, producer, songwriter and director of the “quartet” gospel group Luther Barnes & The Sunset Jubilaires. Bishop F. C. Barnes pastured the Red Budd Holy Church where Luther was appointed the music director of the choir. The Choir broke through with such hits as “I’m Still Holding On,” (which features a lead vocal from his cousin Deborah Barnes), “So Satisfied,” “Spirit, Fall Fresh,” “That Other Shore,” “Somehow Someway” and “No Matter How High I Get” (written by Bobby Womack). They also garnered a Grammy in 2004 for It’s Your Time. In 2006, Barnes who earned a music education degree from St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina, accepted a call into the preaching ministry, following the leadership of his father. He continued his music ministry, which took him all over the country, garnering a multitude of awards and honors including a Vision Award, Stellar Award, and a GWMA Excellence Award. He also received a Grammy nomination and a Gospel Heritage Award. Having produced over twenty-eight CDs, he found time to perform or record with such gospel greats as Shirley Caesar, Kirk Franklin, The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, John P. Kee, and The Mighty Clouds Of Joy. He established the Restoration Worship Center in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in 2014 and serves as its Senior Pastor.

Leave a Reply