Donnie visits Logan

He sang in English. Then in Japanese, then Dutch, then Spanish and finished it up with a little Russian. The students at Logan Elementary School ate it all up. By the time their session with Grammy-award-winning singer/songwriter Donnie McClurkin ended, the fifth-graders were lined up for hugs and handshakes. Then, as they exited the classroom, they made sure not to touch anything with the hands McClurkin had shaken.
It's great that he's here,'' one of them said.
McClurkin spent several hours at Logan on Tuesday working with the fifth-grade students and performing for the whole school. Terra Webster, interim principal at Logan, said bringing in McClurkin was an attempt to address students' questions about music.
"The fifth-graders are studying songwriting and instrumental music and began to ask questions about what can I do with this beyond school?'' she said. "The questions were getting much more sophisticated than we could answer.
"We said, 'What if we could bring in a musician to talk?' Mr. McClurkin and I attended the same church years ago, and we got in contact. He was going to be in the (area) this week and agreed to come. He's never done this with a school before.''
McClurkin is a gospel singer who released the double-platinum-selling "Live in London'' in 2000 and the gold-selling "Again'' in 2003. That record won a Grammy in 2003. His latest CD, "Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs,'' debuted in 2005 as No. 1 on the gospel charts and No. 5 on the R & B charts.
The sessions with the fifth-graders Tuesday focused on songwriting.
The students had written a blues song and sang it for him. Each student in the class had written different lyrics. The class voted on the lyrics and chose the top two to sing for McClurkin.

Tags: McClurkin, Gospel Chart, Latest Album, Logan Elementary Shool

Rebirth and Changing lives

In April, thousands of artists, journalists and industry professionals converged in Nashville for the 37th annual Gospel Music Week and GMA Music Awards show. The recurring theme of the event seemed to be the change and rebirth that led up to the annual celebration. To highlight just a few news items:
Right in the middle of GMA week, Jeremy Camp and his wife, Adie, celebrated the birth of their second daughter, Arianne Mae. On April 5 at 1:44 a.m. Arianne Mae was born, weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 inches long. She joins her proud big sister, Isabella Rose, now 18 months old. It was a busy GMA week for Jeremy Camp. In addition to the birth of his new daughter, he had five Dove nominations, performed at the GMA Awards show in a tribute to Steven Curtis Chapman, and nabbed awards for Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year at the 28th Annual ASCAP Christian Music Awards.

Tags: Gospel, UNILAG Faces, GMA Awards , Dove Awards, ASCAP, Rebirth ,