The late gospel artist Pastor Champion has a new single:
“Gettin Me Ready” and “Song For My Brother” weren’t on the final album, so we turned them into a 45—on translucent red vinyl.
We recently talked to Pastor Champion's son Bernard about “Song For My Brother”:
“Oh I love this song! My uncle was also a musician, and they used to play this together. He’d play the organ and harmonica, and then have a tambourine at his feet. My pops would play the guitar. They had a great sound.”
At first, Pastor Champion didn’t want to record this. It was too painful, following his brother's death in 2010. But he came to understand that the song featured the best of him as an artist: It was raw, honest, urgent.
Since then, we’ve been unsure how to release this. Would anyone care about these songs?
A few weeks ago, we gave a copy to Sam Shepherd (Floating Points) … and then saw “Song For My Brother” pop up on his latest NTS show!
If Sam wants you to hear it, maybe it’s the right time to share it?