Hymns and gospel songs have flowed into, and very often, back out of out of every style of music with roots in the American South. From the music itself to its context in worship through choirs, instruments ranging from piano to organ to praise bands, and communal singing, the gospel tradition is, if not front and center in one’s life experience, then at the very least somewhere along the spectrum of influence for everyone native to the region. We touch on this often in episodes of Southern Songs and Stories, with guest artists who lean heavily on the gospel tradition (like The War & Treaty and Darin and Brooke Aldridge), and others who were brought up in church settings and whose music is often informed by gospel music (like Paul Thorn). Gospel music has tremendous depth and width, and here, we focus on one of its many branches, a little known tradition thriving in places like Washington D.C. and Charlotte, NC: the trombone shout band.
According to historian Tom Hanchett, no one seems to know when the trombone shout band tradition began. In the Pentecostal Holiness churches such as the House of Prayer For All People, which is central to our story here, brass bands go back at least a century, but in the early twentieth century, featured a full range of instruments rather than massed trombones. It was a time when brass band music was big everywhere in America, among blacks and whites alike. The House of Prayer took the praise band template and transformed it, with a new and unique instrumental configuration and style, around the 1940s. The history gets murky as to exactly where this happened and who gets credit, but by 1960, trombone shout bands had become synonymous with the United House of Prayer for All People.
Trombone shout band at the United House of Prayer For All People, Charlotte NC (photo: Daniel Coston)
Fast forward to 2024, when Henry Louis Gates Jr. became the face of the PBS documentary series, Gospel. In a series of events described in this episode, the impact of that series reverberated throughout the public television and radio world, eventually making its way to public radio station WNCW. From there, host and producer Kevin Washington and I produced a radio special on gospel music in this region of North and South Carolina especially; I would then, reluctantly at first, go on to help produce a live event at the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, NC that showcased and delved into even more of the region’s gospel music past and present. That event led to my discovery of trombone shout bands, courtesy of Tom Hanchett. From there, it was only a hop, skip and a jump over to producing this podcast. I think you will enjoy finding out about where we landed.
Songs heard in this episode:
Cunningham Spiritual Return, live at The United House Of Prayer in Charlotte, 04/09/24, excerpt
“He’s Still Alive” by Golden Angels Choir, live at The United House Of Prayer in Charlotte, 04/09/24, excerpt
“Keep Oil In Your Vessels” by Clouds of Heaven, from Saint’s Paradise: Trombone Shout Bands from The United House of Prayer, excerpt
“Spiritual Conversation” by Clouds of Heaven, from Saint’s Paradise: Trombone Shout Bands from The United House of Prayer
I hope you enjoy your time here, and that you will follow this series on your podcast platform of choice, and also give it a rating and a review. When you take a moment to give great ratings and reviews, Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles become much more visible on those platforms to more music, history and culture fans just like you. You can find us on Apple here, and Spotify here. This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks also to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs — you can link to his music here. Thanks for listening! - Joe Kendrick