Irving-Based Gospel Group, Harmony of Praise Creating Music with a Purpose

By:  Jackie Hardy, NDG Contributing Writer

Harmony of Praise (HOP) is a group of three women based in Irving who decided to come together with one purpose:  to uplift, minister, and glorify God in song.  The group consists of sisters Nicole and Tashaye Doss and Jessica Anthony who have been performing together for over the past three years.

Last December, HOP released their 11 track CD to an audience of over 100 people at the Antioch Worship Center located in Dallas where Julius Sanders resides as pastor.  It was important to the group to have the release party at a church since that is where it all began for each of them.

“We met at church {Glory Temple Holiness Church} and Mary Lewallen is the Bishop of our church.  I visited the church  (where she is currently a member) and the Lord led us in this direction,” states Anthony.

Tashaye also adds, “We really wanted to have it in a church because we wanted to bring everybody back to the church house.  God gave it to us in the church, the words had been spoken in church, the prophecy {for the CD} came in church; so we wanted to make sure everything had been rooted in the church as well.”

Sisters Nicole and Tashaye have been singing in church since their childhood .  They credit their mother, Bishop Lewallen for their love of God and passion to share his message through song.

“My sister and I always started singing because of our mother.  She kept us in choir all of our lives in school, in the summer we had choir camps, and we were always singing at home. I call our mother our silent member, she is our main force and backbone of the group,” shares Tashaye.

“She has definitely played a very important part because she bought my keyboard.  She was the one that was saying go play for the church and I didn’t want to, that’s thing when we started off singing we didn’t want to sing; it was just our mom telling us to sing then a love developed for it because I began to know God for myself so I wanted to sing for him and play for him.  Her introduction to this gospel, Christian and holy lifestyle really played an important part to who Harmony of Praise is today,” comments Nicole.

Doss (Tashaye) also draws inspiration from artists like Dr. Judith McAllister who she believes is a worshipper and takes worship serious. Also, Yolanda Adams inspires her, because she feels Adams has a strong voice that does not need a microphone; as her voice according to Doss does not require a microphone.

Doss believes it is hard to say who inspires them as a group because they each have different styles. Therefore, she advises they have never been compared to other gospel groups that are popular today.

“I thank God for giving us something that’s a little bit different.  We have a praise and worship style of singing that’s more of a contemporary praise and worship style…,” explains Doss.

The group’s different style is resonating with fans like Darlene Wiseman who appreciates their unique style of music and feels it is refreshing.

“They are very authentic at what they are singing about because I go to church with all of them.  It comes from their heart and the songs are refreshing and their life stories will help people relate to each song on every different level, so it’s authentic,” shares Wiseman.

As a recent widow, Wiseman also adds the song, “Looking for a Miracle” has been so encouraging to her in this season of loss.

Currently, they have sold close to 100 CDs and the group is grateful to have sold over half their inventory current-to-date.  Their single, “I Won’t Let Nobody” can be purchased online at www.reverbnation.com/harmonyofpraise.  Fans can also purchase their entire CD by attending one of their upcoming performances. The cost for the CD is $10.

According to Anthony, “the overall message of the CD is to praise and worship God through any and everything because praise and worship is first.”

“In this album we wanted everyone to really truly hear it and see what God has for them when they got it in their hands, when they played it…we wanted something that {you} could not only shake your head to, but fall down on your knees to, you can lift your hands to; it’s not just about the music, but it’s about the words,” states Tashaye.

Each member of the group has their favorite song from the CD and those three songs include: “Looking for a Miracle,” “It’s Okay,” and “Brand New Day.”  Both Tashaye, Nicole and their mother, Bishop Lewallen with Nicole being involved in every aspect of the album’s production from conception to execution, collectively wrote the songs.

“I did all the music for it.  I arranged it, recorded it and I engineered it as well.  I did not mix or master it, but I did all the recording and arranging of the music,” adds Nicole.

The ultimate purpose HOP hopes to accomplish as  gospel artists is based on Isaiah 61:1, which states:  “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”

“We always say we are not entertainers, but we are here for ministry.  God has put us in a position to stand before people and proclaim his word….we are ambassadors for Christ in everything that we do especially when we stand up and we proclaim his name…making God’s presence know is what that scripture is about…,” adds Anthony.

Each member of HOP feels the journey to releasing the album has been well worth it.  They were excited to share the journey together and be able to finally hold the CD in their hands and see the promise God made to them as well as the promise they made to God come to fruition.  The support of the fans was also something Nicole shared was very special to her throughout their journey of making the album.

“This journey has taught me patience because you get a word from God and you are so ready for it to happen you don’t really know the test and trials and the ups and downs that you have to go through to actually birth it…and how to hold onto the words of God and not give up…,” describes Tashaye on what has been her greatest experience during the making of the album.

For information about their upcoming performances, visit www.facebook.com/harmonyofpraise.