| Colier McNair, a staff person at the Madison Affirmative Action office, has become more visible lately. He and members of his Madison Community Gospel Choir have been performing at a lot of community functions including the city of Madison's Black History Month commemoration and Herzing College's King Holiday In-service in the Community held at the Allied Drive Boys & Girls Club. McNair was raised with a lot of music -- secular and religious -- as the son of Bishop Charles McNair, the pastor of Vessels of Praise Church. "Growing up in church and dad being a secular musician first and then when the Lord saved him, a gospel musician, I've been surrounded by it all of my life," McNair reflected in an interview with The Capital City Hues. "The thing that really got me hooked on gospel music was the contemporary style that I heard from The Wynans, Fred Hammond who used to sing with this group 'Commission,' and the Hawkins Singers. When I heard The Wynans, it kind of hooked me because we were in church every Sunday anyway." McNair's relationship with the church reached a new level last year when he took over for his father at Vessels of Praise. And with a new generation comes a new beginning. "Vessels of Praise will become a community outreach center," McNair said. "The new name will be Zion City International. We want to take church from the most segregated place to the most diverse place. We like to think of the church not as a Black or White church, but the right church. So we're looking at some things." While McNair's roots are firmly planted in the gospel music tradition, he also admits to some more contemporary influences. "When we were living in East St. Louis we used to listen to the radio," McNair recalled. "And I liked Prince and Morris Day and the Time and Michael Jackson. At the time, I was influenced by some of the radio stuff. But when I heard Breezing, I was probably around 10 years old." It was his dissatisfaction with everything he was hearing that led McNair to try his hand at writing his own music with a style that is distinctly his own. "I just didn't hear anything that I liked," McNair said. "I decided to try to write my own music. And then I knew I could do something inspirational when it had that beat I like. It's been a work in progress and it's just something that's in me. I like to describe my music as inspirational. I think that opens more doors for us. When something is good, I hate for folks to deprive themselves of it based on their perceptions of what they think it may be. As you witnessed, the song 'The Principles of Unity,' I don't say anything about God or Jesus, but those elements are there, the inspirational message is there. I love my praise and I love my hard core gospel music, but I also like to be able to expand and go beyond the church walls." According to McNair, gospel music is defined more by the message that it delivers than the musical style it is expressed in. "There's a saying, 'Music is the road on which lyrics travel,'" McNair said. "I think what makes gospel music gospel music is what it is talking about, the message makes it gospel music. It can come packaged in different wrappings, flavors or genres. But if the message is there, then I think that is the thing that distinguishes gospel music from any other music. It's a music that will move you and inspire you. You can relate it to anything in your life, that's for sure." And yet, McNair is cognizant of the deep roots that gospel music has in the African American experience and feels that it still plays the same role it played centuries before. "It gives you an idea of what got the slaves through the day," McNair reflected. "It was a song and a melody. It was a song in the night. And I can appreciate that because I've had times even in my own life where I've been discouraged and then I heard the right song and it made a difference. All kinds of music does that. Music is the ultimate emotional tool. If you're feeling down, it can bring you up. If you're feeling up, it can bring you down. For me, it just does something for my spirit. And the ability to produce, to put together the music, makes it that much more fun." In that sense, gospel musical is universal, according to McNair, because everyone is affected by the human condition. "I think the thing that really excites me about the Madison Community Gospel Choir is the diversity," McNair emphasized. "We are really looking to advertise and promote it this fall like never before. I would like to see more diversity in those singing and in the audience. With that message, to be able to move and clap those hands, whether you are White, Black, Native American, Asian or Latino, it's that common message that brings us together and makes gospel the Good News. And everybody loves good news." "It's been said before that music is the universal language," McNair continued. "I shared recently that no matter what our differences are, you put the right song on; we'll get on the dance floor. We'll dolce-do our partner. We'll stand up and clap our hands. And maybe we'll put the fight off until the next day. We had a good time. I'll see you tomorrow. Music is the universal language. It's a powerful art form. I like to think of it as the only art form we have here on earth that we get to take back with us to heaven." But the music can never be mechanical or mimicked. It has to rise up right within you. "Any music you are doing, you have to be in touch with it," McNair said. "Whether you like the style or genre or not, what sells the music is that you need to connect to it. There has to be a passion and compassion in the voice. That's what I reach for. That's what I dig for, that passion and meaning to help me get through." And getting through today to see another tomorrow is what the music -- gospel music -- has always been about. |
| Colier McNair takes over at the Vessels of Praise Church Stepping out in the name of the Lord By Jonathan Gramling |
 |
 |