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Look no further, church
folks. The essential sound of soul is brought to you
courtesy of The Soul Seekers. Their brand of kickin’
Quartet music is shaken up the very foundation of reverent
church music established by pioneering groups like the
Pilgrim Jubilees, The Blind Boys of Alabama and
the Canton Spirituals.
With Teddy Campbell and
Warryn Campbell (husbands of
Mary Mary) at the helm of this
all-star cast of musicians,
producers and singers, The Soul
Seekers of Southern California are
bringing a hip, new flavor to the
world of guitar-strokin’, bass-slappin’,
drum-beatin’ church music known as
Quartet music.
This particular Gospel genre is more
of an artistic expression that a
numerical reference, which is fine
for this 8-member group that has
formed such respect and admiration
for the music. Joining Teddy and
Warryn as part of The Soul Seekers
are members, John “Jubu” Smith,
Nisan Stewart, Charlie
Bereal, Craig Brockman,
Gerald Haddon and Eric
Seats who have collectively
composed, produced and performed a
bag load of goodies that is sure to
bring a smile to the faces of
trailblazers like Harvey Watkins,
Sr., Joe Ligon and
Spencer Taylor.
With a slick production that only
these young cats could pull together
and an energy that comes, not only
from youthful vitality but from
heaven’s gates, The Soul Seekers are
offering a subtle twist on Quartet
music that is sure to broaden its
already enormous appeal.
BLACKGOSPEL.COM recently
chatted with elite producer and
member of The Soul Seekers – Warryn
Campbell – about his love affair
with Gospel Quartet music, his
influences as a youngster and the
evolution of Gospel music’s newest
ambassadors of the Quartet genre
-The Soul Seekers.
Christopher Heron: Gospel
quartet music is usually associated
with places like Mississippi,
Alabama and Louisiana. So how did a
group like The Soul Seekers from
Southern California find a voice and
inspiration?
Warryn Campbell: As far as
I’m concerned, Quartet music has
been here in California way before
Mississippi or Alabama and all
those places I’ve seen. The first
time that I actually saw a Quartet
show was here in Southern California
on a Sunday afternoon around three
o’clock. I saw The Mighty Clouds
of Joy; come to find out that
they were from Oakland, California.
That did it for me.
The first time I saw The Clouds in
California, it made me want to go to
the music store and buy Quartet
music. Then my best friend at the
time, whose father is from
Mississippi, had a radio show here
and all he played was Quartet music.
I was able to go to their house and
listen to a bunch of Quartet music,
learned about it and appreciated it.
CH: As the producer and a
silent third member of the Urban
Contemporary smash success Mary
Mary, it would come as a surprise to
many that you would have such a fond
appreciation and a natural affinity
for Quartet music. When did this
love affair with music popularized
by The Mighty Clouds of Joy, the
Canton Spiritual, and The Blind Boys
of Alabama, find its way into your
musical mix?
THE SOUL SEEKERS
WC: I had to be about
thirteen or fourteen years old, the
first time I actually fell in love
with the music. And really, it was
more so about how big, musically, it
sounded is and how little
instrumentation there actually was
on stage. There was a guitar
player, a bass player and a drummer.
I mean that music sounded so huge;
it’s like three guys back there
playing like a full band. It
sounded so good it reminded me of
Rock ‘n Roll.
If you listen to a Rock ‘n Roll set,
it was three musicians; it was like
a guitar player, a drummer and a
bass player and it was always a loud
and big sound. I also I noticed
that no matter what artists are
performing at a concert, if a
Quartet act followed a Quartet act,
you know the crowd was drained by
the time the Contemporary Gospel act
got up there. It’s really hard to
follow.
I saw how powerful the music was and
I fell in love with it. I went out
and bought the Canton Spirituals and
a Gospel video which had The Mighty
Clouds of Joy, some old Shirley
Caesar Quartet stuff that she
used to do back in the day. I
bought everything, started studying
and then I started learning those
old songs with my bass guitar. So,
when a Quartet group came to town
and they didn’t have a keyboardist
or a bass player, I would sit in and
play.
CH: My first introduction to
the Soul Seekers was on The
Percy Bady Experience ‘You
Ought to Been There’, but I
understand that the Soul Seekers
have been diligently working
together for many years. So what
finally led the Soul Seekers to
release their debut project on
Gospocentric Records?
WC: It was all about timing
because every member of the group is
a reputable producer, artist, writer
and musician and is very busy. I’m
not the only one writing and
producing with other groups. We’ve
got Nisan Stewart who is the
founding member of the group. He
produces a lot of records and plays
for a lot of different artists.
Our lead singer, Teddy Campbell, was
on the road with Britney Spears and
people like that. It was kind of
hard to get him. Then everybody
else in the group, pretty much has
the same story. So in order to take
time off for this project, we had to
sit down and actually make it come
together. And when we finally did,
thank God, we finally got everyone
committed to doing it, so we’re
finally here now.
CH: You hit it right on the
head; you have the most talented
cast of musicians, vocalists and
producers, all in one group. Like
your brother-in-law Ted, Nisan, John
“Jubu” Smith and others. What
allowed so many talented folks
who’ve all made a name for
themselves to humbly come together
and make up The Soul Seekers under
the Gospo Centric banner?
WC: We’re all very good
friends. Nisan and Eric (Seats)
I’ve known since I was nine years
old; We’ve all grown up together.
So it was natural that we do
something together as we got older.
We found out everyone had the same
love for Quartet music. It’s just
friends coming together and we’re
actually just doing it out of the
love for the music. We’re not
really gonna do this ‘cause we’re
gonna make some money or make some
records. We’re doing it because we
love it.
We’re not really looking for
anything in return; we just want to
get onstage and touch somebody.
Everybody has pretty much been
taken care of monetarily. We
weren’t really looking for a record
label; we were just doing our own
thing. We were going to sell the
records ourselves. We figured why
do it halfway. We partnered up with
Gospocentric Records. We did our
own album and they distributed it
for us so it worked out incredibly.
CH: There have recently been
some great quartet albums: The
Mighty Clouds of Joy, Harvey Watkins
Sr, The Williams Brothers
and now The Soul Seekers. With The
Soul Seekers, there is a certain
energy and vitality to your sound
that probably comes with youth and a
contemporary edge to the
musicianship and production. Do you
believe there is a certain
distinction in the sound and quality
of The Soul Seekers that
distinguishes its sound from other
Quartets today?
WC: I can say that it may be
different from some of the older
recordings by Gospel Quartets but
now we all have access to technology
and everybody’s using it. We’ve got
the Gospel Wonders and the
7 Sons Of Soul that are out now
and their sounds are both really
incredible. Back in the day, Gospel
Quartets might have just recorded an
album, never mixed it and just put
it out. But now, we can mix it,
master it, EQ it and sweeten it up.
It’s a different age for all the
Quartet groups.
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