DONALD LAWRENCE
Grammy-winning producer, composer and recording artist Donald Lawrence is one of the most influential figures in modern gospel music. After a stint as music director for soul legend Stephanie Mills, Lawrence made a splash in the gospel world by reshaping the regional Tri-City Singers in the 1990s and transforming them into an internationally acclaimed choir. As a producer, Lawrence has collaborated with artists as diverse as Mary J. Blige and jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis, Hezekiah Walker and the legendary Clark Sisters. Now, Lawrence is producing himself again (along with Daniel Weatherspoon) for his sophomore solo CD The Law of Confession Part 1 (Quiet Water/ Zomba Gospel).

Inspired by the forthcoming book "The Law of Confession" by Bill Winston (Lawrence's pastor at Chicago's Living Word Christian Center), Lawrence has crafted an epic recording that revolves around a simple Biblical tenet. "A law is simply a principle, based on the predictable consequence of an act," Lawrence says. "Confession in the Greek language is homo-logeo which means to say what has been said. There is a spiritual law for confession: you just say what God has already said...'Speak The Word.'"

Lawrence and his ten-plus member backing ensemble, The Co. (which backed him on his Grammy-nominated 2004 I Speak Life solo CD debut), create a warmly engaging atmosphere on this stellar project. "I picked lead singers based on the feel and color of the song," he opines. "Since I've worked with so many singers and I believe some of the best singers on this planet - I'm extremely picky when it comes to lead vocals. They must have a lot of heart!"

The new incarnation of The Co. features such notables as Dewayne Woods (who won the Stellar Award for Best New Artist of the Year in 2008 following his smash hit "Let Go, Let God"), the effervescent Kim McFarland-Anderson, the dynamic Jason Nelson and Latrice Pace of the Anointed Pace Sisters. The group is rounded out with Lisa Jones, Tobbi White-Darks, Tommie White, Dawn Jordan, Blanche McAllister-Dykes, Anita Wilson, Michael Smith, and Floyd Wilkinson.

The Co. is comprised of some of the industry's best singers that Lawrence has met since moving to Chicago in 2001 and those he's known since his days in North Carolina. The Charlotte native was raised by a church-going aunt in Gastonia where he sang in the Mills Chapel Fire Baptized Holiness Church's choir. He grew up on the music of gospel icons like Thomas Whitfield.

A self taught pianist and organist, Lawrence began writing songs at the age of sixteen. He put himself through the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and was staging plays such as "Sing Hallelujah" (which opened at New York's storied Village Gate) when R&B star Stephanie Mils tapped him as her music director circa 1989. Aside from his duties with Mills, he was a member of an inspirational R&B group, The Company. Their single "Angel" was an R&B hit in 1993, the same year that Lawrence produced the first Tri-City Singers album, From A Songwriter's Point of View.

Lawrence had been feeding his songs to the Tri-City Singers (comprised of singers from the Carolina cities of Charlotte, Gastonia and Spartanburg) through his pal Richard Odom, who was a member of the choir. The choir's members enjoyed the songs so much that Lawrence was eventually asked to shepherd the group. Over the next fifteen years, Lawrence guided the choir into superstar status in the gospel world with hits such as "The Best is Yet to Come", "Encourage Yourself" and "The Blessing of Abraham" which was #1 on the Radio & Records gospel chart for a then-record breaking 18 weeks in 2005. After a very successful Finale CD/DVD release and farewell concert tour with the Tri-City Singers, Lawrence retired from the group in 2007 to focus on personal and solo pursuits such as The Law of Confession Part 1 project.