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| Worship With The Children Of Sandtown |
Date Posted:
5/21/2003
Author:
Jacob Paul, Jr.
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In 1986 a group of neighbors started New Song Urban Ministries and began to rebuild, launching a profound and long-term effort. Out of this setting an unusual group of children emerged--neighborhood kids who sing their story.
Each week the children of Sandtown, ages eight to fourteen, walk to rehearsals where they learn to focus their boundless energy into performances. Everything about them is Sandtown. The history, the outlook, the boldness to hope for the future. All artist proceeds from the sale of their new album will directly benefit Sandtown's community. The children's music remains an important component of the neighborhood's effort to rebuild, which includes a local Habitat for Humanity chapter, a health center, a job development program, a drug rehab center, and a new school. To experience Sandtown is to experience hope in action.
Though BASED ON A TRUE STORY marks their national premier, SANDTOWN has already shared the stage with Patti Labelle, DC Talk, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Bobby McFerrin, to name a few. The children have also
performed the national anthem at several major league baseball games, and charmed diverse audiences ranging from Middle Eastern royalty to our own National Olympic Committee. Most recently, Sandtown contributed their
engaging and unique sound to Aaron Neville's new gospel album, BELIEVE.
For a personal look at SANDTOWN and their community visit sandtown.com.
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What's it like to worship with Sandtown? Just ask DC Talk's Toby McKeehan. After the children's choir joined him on stage last year, he was so moved he signed them to his Gotee Records label. And then there's Michael W. Smith. Some of the kids joined his worship team during Gospel Music Week in Nashville this year, and now Smith appears as a featured vocalist on their new album, BASED ON A TRUE STORY.
The children's expression of love for Christ through song is simply infectious. In addition to lead vocal contributions by Smith and McKeehan, Sandtown's BASED ON A TRUE STORY also features surging collaborations with The Katinas, Israel and Out of Eden's Lisa Kimmey. The album includes nine original songs, a standout rendition of "America," and a compelling interpretation of the Bono-penned classic, "Pride (In the Name of Love)" - featuring Michael W. Smith. Musically BASED ON A TRUE STORY is
drawing comparisons to vintage Jackson 5 and projects by Kirk Franklin.
With this month's release of their label debut, Sandtown is receiving a number of high profile invitations to perform. In the coming weeks they will sing at the Library of Congress hosted by Senator Rick Santorum (Republican/PA), Bill Gaither's Praise Gathering in Indianapolis, World Vision's unveiling of their $15 million Africa initiative, and in front of over 70,000 people when the kids take main stage at the Creation East Festival in Pennsylvania. In addition BET will be doing a half hour special on the children.
Named after the Baltimore inner city community of Sandtown, this unusual children's choir is a blatant representation of God's redemption. During the 1950s and early 60s Sandtown was a flourishing neighborhood. Though still segregated by the law of the land, an indomitable spirit defined the place. And there was music. Such music. Sandtown was home to legendary musicians like Billie Holiday and Cab Calloway, and the neighborhood's Royal Theater was one of the major East Coast stops for artists on their way to the Apollo in Harlem. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, riots followed, leading many of the community's corner stores and businesses to close--never to re-open. Civil Rights opportunities, a loss of jobs and other changes in the economy began to change the community. Three fourths of Sandtown's 40,000 people would eventually move to "better" neighborhoods, leaving many homes for slum lords to neglect and eventually abandon. But the spirit of the community remained.
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