WHQR is pleased to offer a special four-part radio series, Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul celebrating Black gospel music’s profound and under acknowledged influence on early rock and soul music. The series will air February 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th at 7pm.
Hosted by Grammy award-winning gospel singer Cece Winans and produced by WXPN, this limited-run series is the culmination of a 15-month project that included field research in Memphis, Nashville, and Chicago, building a content-rich website, live events in Philadelphia with gospel legends The Fairfield Four, The Dixie Hummingbirds, the Fisk Jubilee Singers and numerous interviews with musicians, historians and scholars. Each hour of Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul will illustrate the influence of gospel on secular music, celebrating the roots of black gospel and its impact on major artists. The series will include three one-hour documentary pieces, and a fourth hour of original music.