Josh Singletary

Singletary
RTM

Southern gospel music fans know Josh Singletary as the red-headed piano player and baritone for the Tribute Quartet. Josh’s hair isn’t the only thing that’s fire-engine red — so is his piano playing.

“Singletary” is his first solo recording, and it’s just Josh and a piano. In my opinion, there are very few pianists in southern gospel music who can pull off an entire recording of just piano music, as many need the assistance of a full band and possibly even some guest vocalists to really make the recording sound full and exciting. But not Josh — point him toward the piano, have a seat and enjoy.

Today, professional tools and various types of electronic wizardry are used to make the most basic musician or singer sound as if he’s headed for the hall of fame. I wanted to make sure what I was hearing was as pristine as I thought it was, so I called Steve Allen, the recording engineer of this fine project.

Steve gave me the straight scoop. He used six microphones, no compression, no click tracks and just a slight touch of reverb. That’s it. Also there were no song charts and no punches to clean up mistakes: Josh would play the song, Steve would capture it in the computer and they would move onto the next tune.

Josh chose 10 great hymns of the church for his first effort. My favorites include “Goodbye World, Goodbye,” “I’ve Got That Old Time Religion,” “Mansion Over the Hilltop” and “I’ll Fly Away.” 
His swing version of “Amazing Grace” is outstanding.

I admit I wish I could have heard at least one original song. Something tells me that the music that would be birthed from this creative musical mind would be very special. I guess this will give us something to look forward to from Josh in the future.

By Les Butler