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Regina Belle's Gospel
Debut
Interview Conducted By Lin. Woods
Grammy Award-winning singer
Regina Belle has come full circle with the
return to her Gospel roots upon the May
13th release of her first Gospel CD, Love
Forever Shines (Pendulum Records/Walker
Davis Entertainment/Fontana). The Traditional
Gospel single, "God Is Good,"
which features Melvin Williams of The Williams
Brothers adding his vocals to the powerful
background vocals, is racing up the gospel
music charts proving to be a fan favorite
from the project.
I caught up with the Englewood,
NJ native on the road and chatted with her
via cell phone to find out more about her
Gospel debut.
Lin.:
Did you get your start singing in
church?
Regina: Absolutely. I started singing at
three. I sang my first solo at age eight
at Friendship Baptist Church in New Jersey.
My uncle, Rev. Fred Belle was the pastor.
Lin.:
Who influenced you musically? I
understand that one of your influences in
gospel is Pastor Shirley Caesar.
Regina: Still is. Pastor Shirley is the
bomb! I think she has it all. I think the
first time I saw her I was in fifth grade
and she actually came to my school.
Lin.:
Is there a difference between the
mainstream and the gospel music worlds?
Regina: For me it is. It's much harder
for me as a Christian because I have a bigger
responsibility. As a Christian, to sing
Gospel music is to understand the scripture,
John:16 which says, ‘For God so loved
the world that He gave his only begotten
son and whosoever believeth in Him shall
not perish but have everlasting life.'
Now, if God sent His own son to die for
folks so that they would have a chance to
the tree of life, He puts a huge responsibility
on us when we stand before the people to
minister. The responsibility is huge!
I don't have that kind of responsibility
singing R&B because my biggest responsibility
to them is to make sure that I give them
what they paid for— transport them
to a place where they can forget about the
bills for a couple of hours. However, when
you're in gospel, it's ministry.
I'm appealing to their hearts and
souls. With gospel, I have a job to do outside
of getting paid...At least that's
how I perceive it.
Lin.:
Didn't you have an inner struggle
going on at one point?
Regina: You have to understand where I
was professionally. I had a Grammy. The
song I sang with Peabo won an Oscar…When
you think about all of that, I should have
been at the top of my game. But mentally
I was depressed.
I was going through a lot. At the time,
I was divorced from my first husband. I
was a single mom and was having a pity party.
At that point, I decided to change my life.
I started spending more time at home. I
stopped showing up at different places just
for a photo opportunity. My career was important
to me, but my child is important. My relationship
with God is important. I had to make up
my mind to what's important. I had
to prioritize!
Lin.:
How have you handled being a mother,
a pastor's wife, plus being minister of
music at your church?
Regina:
I've got a whole lot going on. But it's
a celebration of the fact that we can have
it all. We can do it all. You've got to
prioritize. I'm not even going to try and
fool you and make you think that I'm every
woman and got this all figured out
because I don't…You have to find time
for family…the things that are important.
Lin.:
Why did you decide to do a gospel
album now?
Regina: Girl, I didn't make this
decision. The Lord made this decision. Because
I was cool with Him understanding that I
love Him. And I'll talk about Him
everywhere I go. We did not have to do this.
At this point, who wants to hear from an
R&B singer about Jesus in the church
world?
Lin.:
The Gospel community often questions
R&B artists coming into gospel. What
are your thoughts on this?
Regina: Well the thing is, things for me
are doing well over there [the R&B world].
The records are not selling like they used
to, but the bottom line is, I can go to
work. I have no problems going to work.
So with that, this has to be a calling.
Lin.:
What kind of music is on the album?
Regina: Oh we've got a little something
for everybody. Of course, this single is
"God Is Good." It's one
of those hymns where everybody kind of comes
in and we all get inspired and encouraged
because we all recognize throughout our
lives that God has been good and is still
good.
The songs "God Says" and "My
Destiny" will minister to the youth
and the youthful saints.
And then there's "Clapping For Jesus"
in the style of what you're accustomed to
hearing me sing. But it's the message that
will prayerfully grab you on songs like
"I'll Never Leave Your Alone"
and "I Call On Jesus."
Lin.:
Who wrote and produced on the project?
Did you do all of it?
Regina: I did some. And then Chris Walker,
Vice President of the record company, Walker
Davis Entertainment, did a huge amount of
producing and writing and of being a great
inspiration to me.
Lin.:
And then you have Ruben Rodriguez,
one of the best record executives in the
business involved.
Regina: Yes. Ruben has been one of the
highlights of doing this record because
he is a familiar face and he makes things
happen and gets things done. His record
company, Pendulum Records and Walker Davis
Entertainment came together to feature me
as an artist on the two labels. Ruben is
respected in the radio, records and retail.
He has a great track record. I'm really
pleased that he and I are working together
on this project.
As Regina Belle awaits the release
of her gospel debut CD, Love Forever Shines,
she is planning her eight city Church and
Gospel Brunch Tour. Cities on the tour are
Dallas, Oakland, Philadelphia, Charlotte,
Detroit, Houston, Atlanta and Indianapolis.
The tour is being presented by the premiere
African American consumer driven RushmoreDrive.com.
For more information on Regina Belle, visit
www.pendulumrecords.biz
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