When I was a child of 5 or 6, I loved my little record player, but other than children’s storytelling albums, I owned only two albums, both gospel."Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash from The Holy Land.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - If these singers were in a sanctuary or on the church grounds, you’d think you were at an old-time revival. But these voices, distinct in tune but united in harmony, are ...

Surrounded by other singers arranged in a square, Judy Hauff rocks her feet heel to toe, rhythmically slashes the air with her arm and sings “Fa la sol la sol.” This is “shape note” music, an a ...

The crowded room echoes with lilting voices raised in a simple, timeless song. There are no instruments, no audience. Just a chorus of four-part harmonies sung from a book that's as thick as a Bible.

COLUMBIA — When the Columbia Shape-Note Singers get together, no one knows exactly what they will sing. They arrange themselves in a square according to vocal range, wait for suggestions and begin.

PITTSBURGH – Alexa Kay is a Quaker, a denomination which has embraced simplicity and shunned more extravagant forms of worship, even singing. Nevertheless, Kay likes to sing, and that’s what led her ...

Shape note singing is one of the oldest musical traditions in this country. It’s a practice that began in colonial America, and after centuries of ups and downs in ...

Add doses of culture, conviction and tradition, all of which materialize as the Old Fields Singers’ All Day Singing on Nov. 5 at St. Paul’s A.M.E. Zion Church in Johnson City, Tennessee. Everyone is ...

When Diane Ober sings shape-note music, she does it not to be heard, but to be singing. “You sing at the top of your voice, with your whole being,” she said. “It’s not meant to be a performance; it’s ...

If these singers were in a sanctuary or on the church grounds, you'd think you were at an old-time revival. But these voices, distinct in tune but united in harmony, are singing shape-note music, a ...