Season 2: Gospel Music in the Black Church Tradition - Curtis Shears

Curtis Shears

So I couldn't really sing by myself. So my, my older sister Carolyn Shears Samuel, she would sing the verse, and I would sing the chorus Uhhuh. Then I got a little grown. I told her, I didn't want you to help me anymore. I wanted to do it all by myself. And it just came from there. We are basically from right around here in the area. Morningstar Baptist Church down the road over here in Copiah County.

Where we all grew up. And we are just from a singing family. My grandma, my mom we, my mom we have 11 siblings.

Jean Greene

Wow.

Curtis Shears

I think about nine of us came through the school here in Utica Junior College. and Hinds. And it just been. We just, we, I, we were just born to sing Uhhuh and they were just, it was just a natural thing to us. We just thought that's what we should do.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

And I'm just one to just kinda adamant about it and just stayed in it.

Jean Greene

When y'all were singing at Morning Star. Were there any particular songs that seemed to resonate with the folks in the congregation, or did y'all just sing at that church?

Curtis Shears

No, we sang around the whole area of the church at that time. Back in the days we only had service on one Sunday a month. Maybe this church would have service on first Sunday. Next church would have service on second Sunday, third and fourth Sunday. So that's how we kept the churches full. 'cause we visited each church one week, the morning start have church, everybody would come over there. And then we would go to the next church. Second Sunday fourth Sunday, white Oak would have church, and we would all just congregate over there.

Oh. Until, the little areas and everything changed where people start two Sundays and then four Sundays. But basically that's what we did. But mostly the I still have an old soul. The hymns the Dr. Watts, all of those and I'm just a hymn person. Uhhuh, I don't like to steer too much. From the hymn. 'cause I think that's what a soul of the gospel is.

Jean Greene

Yes.

Curtis Shears

And that brings out the spirit. I do enjoy the new music. And I do sing some of it. But my roots, I try to stay true, my true to my roots. No matter what I do, I always go back and pull from my roots. But basically Dr. Watts and Amazing Grace at that time, you really didn't know what it meant.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

But that was something that's like the anthem that you sang.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

And and those songs still resonate in my soul and in my spirit today. Mm-hmm.

Jean Greene

Is, Dr. Watts, the same one they call Brother Watts sometimes.

Curtis Shears

Sometimes they call Brother Watt. You say, if the Lord don't help me, yes. Those songs like that Uhhuh Father, I stretch My Hands to Thee, no other help. I know right. At that day and, and I think it's back Day, that was more of the P Praise and Worship that we call now Praise and Worship.

Jean Greene

Oh yeah.

Curtis Shears

that was their p praise and worship and it brought back from. When they were in the fields and everything, and they would just go to singing. And to get the message across to the next person. That the slave owners wouldn't know what they was talking about. They thought they was praising God and singing and it actually kinda stemmed from that.

Jean Greene

Oh, wow. You did part of a song that I used to hear called Lion in the Hymn.

Curtis Shears

Yeah.

Jean Greene

Is that a part of the hymn or is that a part of our culture?

Curtis Shears

It basically part a part of our culture. It basically stemmed from my, for my culture and then it just resonate from there.

Jean Greene

When I think about church singing, I think about it with music and without music.

Curtis Shears

Right.

Jean Greene

What was the way music was done when you were growing up in the church. In the church?

Curtis Shears

When my grandma name was there and we had an old wooden church with old wooden floor. We really could just look down and see the bottom of the floor. Or whatever. And I could just hear my grandmamma and them, and my uncle would just stomp their feet and. They would just clap their hands and just begin to harmonize and it would sound so good to me, and you just sit there and you just rock and you didn't really know what was going on. Then later on, then came music, got the guitars and where, and I think it stemmed from the quartets and everything coming out.

So at that time they would just strike out. In a song, and everybody would just catch on and it was just like, bye. It's there uhhuh the harmony, the altos, all the sopranos and the tenors. And I had an uncle that did this low bass of somar me for and I, that was best basically making the music,

Jean Greene

right?

Curtis Shears

He wasn't singing what they were singing, but he was making the bass part, the melody the bass of it. And it just, stemmed from there, then later on we came with pianos and

Jean Greene

And,

Curtis Shears

and tambourines and all of that. But basically that's what they were called, let now acapella.

Jean Greene

Yes.

Curtis Shears

The acapella singing, and I always go back to that. I love some acapella singing where you can just. Start, just give a note and go from there. But that basically, and that's the way we grew up. now as I look at it, I'm old.

Jean Greene

No, No, not really. Not really. But when you talk about Dr. Watts is, and I'm doing this for clarity for myself as well as the listener. Are we talking shape note singing? You did the dore soul dore ma dore Me.

Curtis Shears

Yes, sir.

Jean Greene

Is that what we're talking about? Little,

Curtis Shears

basically back in the days they would, when they get ready to pray. And the deacons get on their knees. Uhhuh and Deacon began to pray and you would hear the mothers and the deacon would strike out and say. If the Lord don't hear me, I can't stand the storm and everybody would just join in Uhhuh. And then as soon as that one dropping come out, somebody may come back with, say, it is getting late in the evening and the sun is going down.

And that would drop and somebody would just pick up something and say, I've been running for Jesus and I'm not tired yet. That. That was the doctor Watts it just, it just growed and growed. And that just lit fire into the praise service and into the worship service into the, and the deacon would seem like they would just pray so long. the loud, as we sang the loud as they prayed. And it just all. Come simultaneously together. And that's basically what the Doctor Watts. Okay. Uhhuh,

Jean Greene

Thank you so much. 'cause that really gives some clarity. And when you talk about the deacons praying and everybody humming along with it, and then after they sing that one line, then the church kind of brings it in another way. Yes. Yes. That is excellent. As you grew. And got a little bit older than three or four. Could you talk about how maybe you transitioned into a quartet or a group or a solo singer?

Curtis Shears

Okay. My father was a quartet person. And he sang Quartet, and he would take us around quartet a lot. But that just didn't really resonate with me.

Jean Greene

Gotcha.

Curtis Shears

I mostly resonated with choirs because I would see on the television, the James Cleveland Oh yes. The choir. And and, the watt singers and all those. And that was in my spirit. So I basically got into the choir music. Whenever we was big enough to sing mom, they actually, when you joined church at six and seven Back in the day, they say what you want to do, it wasn't like you had to be, they figured what you want to, you had to find, do something to do in the church.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

So I said I want to sing in the choir. Although I was already kind singing in the choir. That, that gave me this. I'm in the choir now, right? I'm validator. I am a choir member.

Jean Greene

Uhhuh.

Curtis Shears

So we just sang in the choir and choir music resonated in my spirit from there on. We had a musician that was at my area by when I grew up. We had several musicians, but at that time, in my time of being at Morningstar, the only musician that I. Really they've had for many years, but almost was Sister Audrey Crawford. Okay. And she taught the ways of how to set up the spirit in the church. You don't just go and sing anything at any time.

Listen to the service and line up your music with the service. Oh, you know what I'm saying? If the preacher is preaching about a certain thing, then when he would come back, come out of that, you may want to go into a song that would carry it on, that can bring somebody. You don't want to take the people out of where the spirit has already took them. And you can, you could just deteriorate the spirit by just. If the spirit is in one place and then you hop with a little fast song he hop with the song. It's null and void you. So that taught me how to line up music, how to stay lined up with Christ.

Always be prayed up when you go into to singing. Always be prayed up when you get ready to minister. Every song is not for every occasion.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

That's right. And as I grew older and began to get into high school or whatever it is, I went into mostly. The soloing part where people would call you for solos or whatever else, or when everyone had gotten grown and everyone, then you probably the only one. So then I basically went into to soloing. And whatever else. So that's where we came into that.

Jean Greene

Okay.

Curtis Shears

Uh, And then I came from Utica Utica consolidated. Which is down the road. And as soon as I 'cause we live right across the way, right about Two miles down the road, Uhhuh and we would walk to school and there's a bus that came by, but it just the spirit of just walking To school every day. 'cause we wanted to be here early or whatever else. So we would just walk. I would just walk to school, me and my sister, whatever. We'd just walk to school.

Jean Greene

Did you go to, Hinds AHS?

Curtis Shears

Did, I did. Oh, okay. Uhhuh and where? That's when we graduated from, at that time, they wasn't graduating you from the eighth grade or the ninth grade. You just left there and came over to Hinds AHS.

Jean Greene

Okay.

Curtis Shears

It was a high school there but. A lot of us came over to Hinds AHS, and that's where it was just the richness of Hinds AHS. That. It's just home. It was right down the road. You know what I'm saying? I would come over with my other sister and brothers to the ball games and when they were going to, Hinds AHS. That was the thing to do was if you went to Jack, if your family went to Jackson State, that's where you supposed to go. If your family went to Alcorn, that's where you supposed to go. That's right. So my family went to Hinds AHS. That's where I was supposed to go. And so that's where I went.

And I got over here at Hinds AHS. And I became a member of the the high school choir.

Jean Greene

When were you here, when were you at the high school?

Curtis Shears

77.

Jean Greene

Okay. Okay.

Curtis Shears

77. 'cause I was Mr. Hinds 79. 80. Oh, okay. So it take about what? The 77 7 6 7 7 Yeah. 76 I came over in the ninth grade.

Jean Greene

Uhhuh.

Curtis Shears

Uhhuh in 76.

Jean Greene

Alright.

Curtis Shears

Hinds AHS the teachers and everything there seemed like they cared about you. Seemed like they, they knew your parents. So if you did anything wrong, all they had to do was say, I'm gonna tell your parent Uhhuh, and we would get in line. You know what I'm saying? You're right. You know Mom was right across the way. And she didn't have no shame. She would come right on over.

Jean Greene

What did you say she didn't have no

Curtis Shears

shame. No shame. She would come right on over and do what she do, and if she didn't do it, she would send one of my older brothers and sisters to come over and see about what we see. See about. Because it was, like I said, it was 11 of us. And nine, so it's kinda six was grown before I was And I became a member of the high school choir. I think we had two teachers back then, Dr. Clara Porter. And Dr. Vernon, Robinson.

They're both deceased now. But they were dynamic teachers and also coordinate us and we would always work. With the Utica Junior College Choir. Oh. We already did something together every year. Okay. So that's how I like transition. From Hinds AHS Over to Utica Junior College.

Jean Greene

When you transitioned to the college, who was in the music department here then?

Curtis Shears

Oh, none. Other than the Dr. Bobby G. Cooper. Yes, indeed. None other than Dr. Bobby G. Cooper he was always inertia. Inertia. He would always like work with the choir because the high school choir, he played most of the time for the high school choir. Oh, okay. When we sang Uhhuh in assemblies and things. So I had some affiliation with him and I always connected with the spirit and his nourishing and how he cared about his students.

And so really no other place for me to go, but to Utica Junior College

Jean Greene

Uhhuh,

Curtis Shears

because, but that's where I went and I majored in music. At Utica Junior College. Okay. Mostly vocal.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

And we worked together in Utica Junior College where we were a part of the, the back then he taught us about the Jubilee Singers. But for some reason we were, we dealt with the two years that I was there. We did with Opera South.

Jean Greene

Oh. Talk a little bit about your dealing with Opera South. Yeah.

Curtis Shears

Opera South. And it was conjunction with Jackson State.

Jean Greene

Okay.

Curtis Shears

And we would. Get this big strip, like fo and and we would learn this. And then every year, Jackson State and Utica Junior College, we would go in and participate in opera.

Jean Greene

Wow.

Curtis Shears

They would do the opera. It would normally be sometime at Thalia Mara. Sometime on the campus at Jackson State University. But we would, we'd get together and work together and. It was just opera. We would get professional singers to come in and back, I can't remember back in the days. But we dealt mostly with Opera South. Okay. With in the two years that I was due from 80 to 82. When I was affiliated with Utica Junior College.

And that basically what we dealt with Uhhuh. We knew about the Jubilee singers,

Jean Greene

right.

Curtis Shears

And he taught us about, Dr. Bobby taught us about Jubilee Singers. But for some reason at that area, we just dealt with Opera South Time.

Jean Greene

Okay. That was, that's wonderful. When you worked with Opera South, you were in the chorus?

Curtis Shears

Yes, we were in the chorus. Oh. We were in the chorus, it was just, we were the opera.

Jean Greene

Oh wow.

Curtis Shears

Uhhuh. So we performed all of the skits and we dressed up. And we sang the chorus, when the major artists would come up and do the whatever we were like the background. Gotcha. The

Jean Greene

gotcha.

Curtis Shears

We would do the little skits and perform whatever that, that they was saying. Operas basically like a play. Yes. That's being sung. So we would do all the little skits and do all the little. And sang the background part. That's what it's,

Jean Greene

So you majored in music with Dr. Cooper and then what came after your time here at Utica?

Curtis Shears

A time in Utica. I got a scholarship to Tougaloo College.

Jean Greene

Alright.

Curtis Shears

Uhhuh I also majored in Vocal at Tougaloo College. And I guess it just. Following Dr. Bobby, he's a graduated of Tougaloo College. I had gotten a scholarship to Tougaloo College and I went from Utica to Tougaloo. And I graduated from Tougaloo in 1986.

Jean Greene

Wow. Wow. Did you stop your connection to your home church though?

Curtis Shears

No, never. Always home church. I always came home. It was just right down the road. And I always came home to affiliate with. And I also, back in the days we, we had a, another community choir back in the days in the community, which it was a. A, a plant that was here normally be the Bernstein shirt factory.

Jean Greene

Yes.

Curtis Shears

And in that Bernstein shirt factory for some reason I had some family members working here. And for some reason, the plant wanted to start. A gospel choir.

Jean Greene

Wow.

Curtis Shears

So they called me to facilitate it. And I was the minister of music of that, and that ran for about six years. Wow. Uhhuh. So until the plant closed,

Jean Greene

Uhhuh

Curtis Shears

and then everybody disbursed and whatever else, but

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

And also going back to Utica, besides the concert choir at Utica. Dr. Bobby, we also had a gospel choir. Oh. Which was also ran by the students. Dr. Bobby had nothing to do with, he let the students run the gospel choir.

Jean Greene

Oh.

Curtis Shears

We had great people like Edward Clark and Steven Davis and, Tyrone Crawford and even back in the days, Edna Clark those are people that was there. And we had a gospel choir where we went to every church in the community area.

Jean Greene

Wow.

Curtis Shears

And we would go for the revivals, Uhhuh and stuff like that. And we would, besides concerting and Opera South. It was just like extracurricular, curricular activities for Uhhuh for the students because he let us get a gospel choir. And at every assembly, although we had to sing the classical music and spirituals. We also did one gospel song. The students would just wait. They would just be waiting. They would just, they, I think what they did was they just listened to the other music

quietly and clap real good to get to the gospel.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

But at the end, we would break out in a good gospel song and the students would just be in a uproar. Wow. So that's experience that we've had here at Utica. Never a dull moment. Never if I had to do it all over again, uhhuh, that I wouldn't change a thing. Like I said, the teachers back then was nourishing and they cared about you, Uhhuh and. If you needed something, you could go to 'em and talk to 'em.

And if they couldn't help you, they knew somebody that could help you or they would go out into the community to get and that's how the students came by. Word of mouth. We said, you need to go to U, you need to go because this is going to happen and this going happen. And even when it transferred over into Hinds, it's the same thing. It's you need to go here. I wanna go to Hinds, I'm go to the Raymond campus. Uhhuh, oh, Raymond Campus is good. Nothing take from but the environment here mm-hmm. on the Utica campus. More homely and more family oriented.

That, some people can go to a junior college or university. And make that. But if you used to like Utica, a small community,

Jean Greene

right?

Curtis Shears

You just used to. The nourishment and you're just used to people I don't, I wouldn't say catering to you, but I would say caring about your needs

Jean Greene

Yes.

Curtis Shears

Outside of school. Yes. Or if you are having a bad day, that they could talk to you about that. So you could continue on with your studies. Or if you look like you're trying to drop out, they would talk to you a lot. Hey, let's do it this way. Let's try to do it this way. Let's go do it this way. That just was the community. Utica community way.

Jean Greene

That mentoring piece.

Curtis Shears

The mentoring piece. Every parent knew the other parent and the child. And if you didn't even, we had people that came from out of state, we would take them under our wings. And like the baseball team and stuff, my mom would cook every Sunday. And you would just see after church, if they didn't go to church with us or come by the church, you would see them. By time church is over, you would see the baseball team walking down the road coming to our home to eat. Mm-hmm. Because mom cooked for them.

Jean Greene

Wow.

Curtis Shears

And we have, I see a lot of 'em now that they, we see in the community that they would ask, your mom, that helped us, uhhuh through the community. And that was just the community love that the people had for Utica and the community and the school.

Jean Greene

That is, that, that is awesome. When you hear talk from folks who were here before the eighties or in the eighties and they talk about that family spirit, they really are talking about. Family. Yes. And that village helping raise them or nurture them. That's a very telling thing about this this location and this campus. Talk to me a little bit about your association with the big choir, the Mississippi Mass Choir.

Curtis Shears

Nothing so big about the Mississippi Mass Choir. Just that it has about 250 plus members. That's pretty

Jean Greene

big

Curtis Shears

in 1988. That's actually when we recorded our first album. But like I said, 1987 it just put out in the neighborhood and into the Mississippi area that Frank Williams. Which was one of the Williams brothers. And the Jackson Southernaires he wanted to start a choir in Mississippi. Okay. Even though he sang Quartet, he just had a love for choirs.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

And he put out, got with David Curry.

Jean Greene

Okay.

Curtis Shears

And Jerry Smith. Which was one, one of the, two of the prominent people that was in the Jackson area. That was known in the gospel genre. At that time, coming from Greater Fairview and Liberal Trinity. . Church of God Christ. And he collaborated with them that if I start this choir, would you all help me? Wow. And they said yes. So they just put out through the airwaves and everyone came in from all over to audition.

For the Mississippi Mass choir. I don't know. I guess being from Utica and Tougaloo and we all had that affiliation. When I came in to audition, they asked me, what are you doing here? You really don't have to audition. I said, yes, I do. Y'all said we need to audition. And just 'cause we had already had an affiliation that they knew that I could sing already, Uhhuh. So we went through the preliminary audition everything. And it came from there. Uhhuh, we began to rehearse and we rehearsed for about. Almost about six, seven months.

Jean Greene

This is in 87.

Curtis Shears

This is in 87

Jean Greene

Uhhuh.

Curtis Shears

And our first album was recorded October, 1988. And we've been singing for 36, 37 years today.

Jean Greene

Wow.

Curtis Shears

Yeah. Even though Frank died, he wanted something. He said that he wanted something that would live on after he died. He didn't want things to die when he died.

Jean Greene

Exactly.

Curtis Shears

And we have people like Jerry Mannery, our executive director. And right to this day, we still have David Curry and Jerry Smith, which is our minister of music. That's that's still carrying the choir along. We look at it as just coming together and just spreading the gospel. Just a ministry,

Jean Greene

uhhuh,

Curtis Shears

no big I's and big You's. we are on the road or when we go to different places, we are looking at people as if they're like Kirk Franklin and all of them like that. We willing to meet them. They're wanting to meet us.

Jean Greene

Wow.

Curtis Shears

So it's look, we ain't nobody we are trying to meet y'all. But the choir has. The first year it stayed on the chart for 45 weeks. Mm-hmm. We've gone to Spain. I've had a tour to sing in Spain two years. Consecutive years in Japan. We went to, we've gone all over. We've sang in front of the Pope

Jean Greene

Oh, wow.

Curtis Shears

Yeah so the ministry. And I wouldn't say the Mississippi Mass Choir, I would say the ministry has taken us through many states and many places that I would have never gone had I not been a part of the Mississippi Mass Choir. And it's been a Journey's still a member of the Mississippi Mass Choir. Mm-hmm.

Jean Greene

that's excellent. That's excellent.

Curtis Shears

But still traveling still back then in the pandemic, like stopped everybody right. From doing things. But after then God saw fit that we may begin to travel again

Jean Greene

right.

Curtis Shears

And pick back up. But that has been a ministry in itself. When we go and sing, it's more of a church service than a performance. We try to make it so of, it's more of a church service than a performance. And we also at the end of every performance, we do a altar call.

Jean Greene

Oh,

Curtis Shears

okay. Where we give out an altar call that someone that may not know Christ or just came there just to hear the Mass Choir. May want to receive Christ. I know him a little better. Music kinda opens the doors for the word of God. And I always say that, and people can't be, people say you can't be saved by music. I beg to differ. I think you can be saved by music. But the, and once you get the music, it open up the doors where you can go and do some more research on your reading. And reading the word of God. And that would instill more things into you, into your soul and into your body that you may be able to know a little better about Christ.

Jean Greene

Right?

Curtis Shears

How he receive things and how he, how the conception of how he does things.

Jean Greene

That, that is so true. I noticed I've been to the performance that y'all did here on campus. Yes. And I was really waiting for that one or two songs that I knew that I said they're not gonna do that down here in Utica. And look, there they go. They just did it. And so I'm over there stomping and clapping with the rest of them. But talk a little bit about. How these singers, you and others have come from this little bitty town, this little bitty campus and have gone on. You've mentioned some of it in the, in your talk about the Mississippi Mass choir.

How you've gone from Utica to Spain to the world, really. And it's. Not to put words in your mouth, but it's interesting to me and one of the reasons I wanted to do these episodes about music in Utica it's real interesting to me how folks from this little bitty backwoods town in Mississippi have had an impact on a global scope of global scale in different areas, but especially in music.

Curtis Shears

Right.

Jean Greene

Can you speak a little bit to that?

Curtis Shears

Yes. Also not to take two other people from the Utica area. Also singing in Mississippi Mass Choir, oh Clayton Brown and Dr. Mitchell Shears, which also is my nephew, Uhhuh. And he, he was a dean here.

Jean Greene

Yes.

Curtis Shears

On the campus it's just the conglomerate of just knowing Christ.

Jean Greene

Okay.

Curtis Shears

And getting to know people outside of this realm. I also think that even though you stay in a small town When you're going out and branched out and learn some other things as if you go to another. school or another college or another state, and you learn some stuff that can work here in your town.

Jean Greene

Mm-hmm. Bring it back to your town. Bring it back.

Curtis Shears

And make it work for your town. That they may broaden their horizon. That they may learn some things that that they would have never known. if I go to Spain, then Utica go to Spain. It's kind of like if I go to Europe. Then Utica go to Europe Because I'm a part of Utica. I've never gotten too big for where I've come from and even though I live in Jackson. When they tell me, ask me in the mass choir, I said, where you from? Or in the book where they wanna put in the book?

Where you from? And they from Jackson? I said, no, I'm from Utica. Put in Utica.

Jean Greene

Uh Huh.

Curtis Shears

You know, I wanna know, I'm from Utica,

Jean Greene

right.

Curtis Shears

But I live in Jackson. And Utica has, I wouldn't take anything from Utica. It's been a wonderful city For raising young adults. Mm-hmm. And, And kids. But that is basically the only thing that I can say about, you know,

Jean Greene

Uhhuh

Curtis Shears

just broaden the area,

Jean Greene

right.

Curtis Shears

Uh, Going out. And bringing them back. Don't take it for granted that because of where you from, that you can't be who you are.

Jean Greene

Could clarify that for me. Would you?

Curtis Shears

Okay. This is what I'm saying as far as, I'm just Curtis.

Jean Greene

Yeah.

Curtis Shears

And I try to be humble,

Jean Greene

Uhhuh

Curtis Shears

and what God has taken me and I try to stay humble and what God has taught me.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

You have some people that may go out and they. We have broaden their horizon

Jean Greene

Uhhuh,

Curtis Shears

and they may not ever want to be affiliated with Utica anymore.

Jean Greene

That, I understand. I understand exactly where you are. I would, I needed to get that in my head about, sometimes when you step away from a place, you don't ever want to hear that place its name again, again. But there are people. Who, like you said, take that with them. I have a, a phrase that I adjusted. The original phrase is, all roads lead to Rome.

Curtis Shears

Right?

Jean Greene

For me, all roads lead to Utica,

Curtis Shears

right?

Jean Greene

Because no matter where I've been where I've traveled, I will meet someone. Who has been here, has gone to school here, has relatives here. I'm like, really? Everywhere I go. So all roads have to lead to Oh, thank you so much for sharing that. I want to talk about the community choir, if you would.

Curtis Shears

Oh my god. Awesome experience that I'm dealing with now.

Jean Greene

When did that start? When did the Utica community choir start?

Curtis Shears

It started back before the pandemic. We had my pastor, which is Dr. Richard Lind. He God had showed him a vision where he should get all the pastors together In the Utica area, and began to do some things in the Utica area. Okay. At that time we did a, christmas giveaway.

Jean Greene

Oh, okay.

Curtis Shears

Where we found some people in the Utica area where we thought that was needed some things. Or some families that had been burnt out that year Right. or whatever else. And we, all the pastors and things got together and did a community Christmas here on the campus once again. Down in the fine arts building.

Jean Greene

Okay.

Curtis Shears

Uh, Where the administrator at that time, she so openly opened up the doors of the fine arts building.

Jean Greene

Was that Dr. Mays Jackson?

Curtis Shears

Not Dr. Mays. It was after Dr. Mays.

Jean Greene

Sherry Franklin Belman.

Curtis Shears

Yes.

Jean Greene

I gotcha. Yes.

Curtis Shears

Okay. And she opened up, so at that time, once again, they know that I was in the music field. And in the music area knew everybody in the community that could sing. So I put out a plea to the community area To come together. Okay. As the pastors came together, all the choirs came together. Okay. And the choirs came together and we set up times to rehearse. Basically just for that. program. And after that program, they didn't wanna stop, so we sang, we, we kept singing in the community.

And then the pandemic came.

Jean Greene

Oh, yeah.

Curtis Shears

And then it shut everything down and everybody was in their own world and their own, doing their own thing and churches were closing and everything else.

Jean Greene

Mm-hmm.

Curtis Shears

But we still talked about it. when you gonna start the choir back? When you gonna start the choir back? People have jobs and Right. They've gotten older and, and then you gotta get all these people together again. So in my in my mind, I said, they're not going to come together again. They kept pressing on me. Mm-hmm. Said, when you gonna start the choir back, when you gonna start the choir back? I'll sing. If you over the choir, I'll do this. So it's kind like, how can I let him down? You know what I'm saying? So at that time Cedric Lidell, Mm-hmm. are we talking Cedric Smith? Is that who? Yes. Okay.

Cedric Smith.

Jean Greene

Okay. Uhhuh.

Curtis Shears

And he asked us, he was having a. Last year. He was having a program that he was honoring I forgot the name of the program that they had here on the campus. But he asked that he wanted the Utica Community Choir to sing. I said sir, we have no choir again. He said, get it back together. So I went forward with the plea. And everybody came.

Jean Greene

Wow.

Curtis Shears

And we sang for that program. And it's been on and popping ever since. Oh. Basically we rehearse once a month. I don't try to tie them out with many rehearsals, and it's an experience for a lot of them and not talking down on Utica or whatever else, but in the churches here in the community area. It is not that they're singing wrong. It's like they're not used to the high soprano or the high alto or the high tenor. They're singing the parts, but it's in the lower register. So a lot don't know. Say I don't know what I sang uhhuh. And so, when they get together the rehearsals are so exciting and so promising.

And so I'm learning something that I've been singing all this time. Where now. I know what part I sang. You know what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. I don't wanna sing that part 'cause that's so high. We get a lot of people that wanna sing comfortable.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

And not go outta that range.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

But the community choir has been a blessing to the community. And then it is been a blessing to me. And I know that it's been a blessing. To a lot of the people that are singing in the choirs, Uhhuh uh, we try to at least visit the person that's in the choirs.

Jean Greene

Right.

Curtis Shears

We try to at least visit the churches at least one time as we go, if you are a part of that choir. And then we've had some people that has like burnout or had a benefit program. The community choir is basically for too. Help the community,

Jean Greene

right?

Curtis Shears

Not just to go and sing when you just need somebody to sing, but for the community.

Jean Greene

Mr. Shears Curtis. It has been my pleasure to visit with you. I would love for us to have a continuing conversation sometime, anytime about the history and how the history of the churches in the area kinda incorporate to make this community what it is. So if you can ever find time in your schedule again. I am more than willing to sit down and have a conversation 'cause I have enjoyed this.

Curtis Shears

Thank you for you. I'll make time. I have enjoyed speaking with you.

Jean Greene

Thank you so much. Thank you so much. With that we're going to say goodbye and end this session of the SIPS from the SIP podcast and we will see you at the next one.

Curtis Shears

Thank you. Have a blessed one.

Jean Greene

Thank you.