Birmingham Sunlights

The Birmingham Sunlights is a five-part a cappella gospel group from Birmingham.

Brothers James, Barry and Steve Taylor founded the group in 1979 with Reginald Speights and Wayne Williams. Williams was later replaced by Bill Graves. The Sunlights sound developed as part of Jefferson County's gospel tradition and the traditional singing in the Church of Christ, which uses no instrumentation. The group has spent time learning from the Sterling Jubilees to master traditional songs of the region.

The group has toured music festivals across the country and around the world.

Members

• James Alex Taylor, director, tenor
• Barry Taylor, bass
• Steve Taylor, baritone
• Reginald Speights, lead baritone
• Wayne Williams, lead tenor
• Bill Graves, tenor

Discography

• For Old Time's Sake (1993, Rounder Records)

References

• Grauberger, Steve (December 7, 2005) "The Birmingham Sunlights." Program Notes for "Homegrown 2005" sponsored by the American Folklife Center and the Library of Congress.
• "The Birmingham Sunlights" Musics of Alabama: A compilation. Alabama Arts. [1] - accessed May 5, 2006
• Ringsak, Russ. (March 17, 2001) "Buried in Alabama: Winter '93" Tales of mystery, intrigue and roadside shenanigans from A Prairie Home Companion's resident writer and truck driver. A Prarie Home Companion. [2] - accessed May 5, 2006

External link

• [3] Video from performance at the Kennedy Center. (Real Player format)