McCray Dove - In Conversation… | Absolutely Gospel Music

McCray Dove - In Conversation…

“You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.” A. Alda

In the mid nineteen hundreds, a genre of music began to make its way across America. A genre that would be known as “Southern Gospel.” Because of its roots, and church market, many have labeled every Christian group with a quartet formation, a southern gospel group. As a result, a good percentage of aspiring southern gospel groups can be classified as four men, singing quartet style, or “Statesmen style” music.

Nearly fifteen years ago, two brothers premiered a group that would prove to be different. The group began with a mission to keep the Blackwood and Statesman style alive. At first, bookings were far from scarce with this music in great demand, but as the number of groups with a similar sound increased, demand diminished. Something had to change. The time for a new project came. With every song picked, and studio time reserved, one song made its way to the ears of the Dove Brothers that would change the way people looked at them forever. In 2007, “I Can Pray” made its way up the charts and around the country. Stylistically, it contrasted their previous releases greatly.

McCray Dove says, “We pick our songs based on the feel. We have recorded some older songs not because they were old or because they had great lyrics, but because they had a good feel that fit what we were doing. A song may be unique and different from anything we’ve done before, so lets see what we can do with it.”

A Dove Brothers concert can only be described as a performance with feeling. Some have called the Dove Brothers a southern gospel group. Some have labeled them country. Many have said they just don’t know what they are, and to McCray Dove, that is a compliment. “We quit trying to label our music a long time ago. We want people to enjoy our songs because they like them, not because of the label that somebody has put on them. You won’t know that you do or don’t like us until you give us a try.”

The Dove Brothers’ music will move your heart and entertain your ear. Whether you leave a concert with a soul stirring lyric, or an entertained, happy smile, you will without a doubt leave with something. McCray says, “We are just spreading our wings, exploring new horizons, one concert at a time.” When you hear the Dove Brother Quartet and the Dove Brothers Band, you hear men who have left the typical Southern Gospel comfort zone, and have embraced their eclectic style. To compare them to anyone would be impossible, because they are not a musical clone. They are simply themselves. A message championed by four men through song, equipped with a live band, and driven by a call: A call to reach people.