Photo by Steve Grauberger

2009 NEA National Heritage Fellow The Birmingham Sunlights Birmingham, AL A cappella Gospel group

The Birmingham Sunlights, a five-man, four-part harmony a cappella gospel group, was formed in 1978 by Music Director James Alex Taylor and his brothers Steve and Barry. The brothers, plumbers and pipefitters by trade, grew up in a musical family and sang in the a cappella tradition of the Church of Christ. The Birmingham Sunlights draw on the rich heritage of quartet-style singing of Alabama's Jefferson County region, often characterized by a fifth member doubling the tenor voice. This style, which developed after World War I when rural blacks left their farms to work in coal mines and steel mills, came to have widespread influence on the recorded gospel music of the era. Under the guidance of older quartets such as the Sterling Jubilees, Shelby County Big Four, and the Four Eagles, the Birmingham Sunlights became the inheritors of this musical tradition and, while keeping a firm grounding in it, they also explore new material and innovative arrangements in order to maintain a fresh approach to gospel music. Folklorist Hank Willett says, "The 'Birmingham Sound,' that traditional African American a cappella, vocal harmony which has so influenced American popular music, is among the most remarkable of Alabama's cultural jewels." In addition to appearing at the National Folk Festival and numerous venues across the nation, the Birmingham Sunlights have performed as cultural ambassadors under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State and have toured Canada, Italy, France, five African countries, the Caribbean, and Australia.

The Birmingham Sunlights members James Taylor, Wayne Williams, Bill Graves, Steve Taylor and Barry Tayor.

 
< NEA Heritage Fellows 1982-present:  BY YEAR | ALPHA

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506

NEA Heritage Fellows
1982-present: 
BY YEAR | ALPHA