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Eva Melton’s new book propels readers to their higher purpose

February 18, 2021 By Kara Kennedy

Eva Melton Breadcrumbs
Self-published author Eva Melton helps readers discover their purpose

Alabama-based author, Eva Melton introduces her inspiring new title Breadcrumbs To Purpose: Discovering Who You Are and Why You Are Here. This book encourages, motivates, and assists readers in aligning with their God-given potential in life. Inspired by her own journey in finding her divine purpose, Eva’s book provides wisdom and actionable steps toward greater fulfillment.

Who You Are and Why Are You Here?

“As a life strategist and accountability coach, I’ve found that questions of purpose and identity often lie below the surface of major life decisions,” said Eva. “My own personal journey of uncovering my purpose encouraged me to help others through my writing.”

Melton’s new book: Breadcrumbs to Purpose

Eva’s “no holds barred” approach incorporates faith-based principles in her new book. Breadcrumbs To Purpose strives to guide those who may be struggling with identity. The process to the higher purpose outlined in this book gives readers access to the tools they need to get back on the right track and foster a more rewarding life and career. 

Eva Melton has found her purpose through faith

Finding Peace

After discovering her purpose in life, Eva says that her life is so much more fulfilling and peaceful. “Since discovering my purpose, the rat race and the search for more have decreased. I’ve found I’m more magnetic to life experiences, people and desires. These things naturally come to me now with ease,” she added. 

Eva helps people find their purpose in life by applying faith-based principles

In her book, Breadcrumbs To Purpose she encourages readers to honor their unique identity while utilizing techniques to make them more aware of the hurdles in their path to purpose. Barriers are composed of internal and external forces, such as empty habits that can be overcome once recognized. The route to a divinely assigned purpose is not easy, this book makes it worthwhile. 

“My goal is to help you discover who you are and why you are here,” says Eva Melton.

Eva Melton is happy with the response she has received with her new book

Purposeful Principles

In addition, Eva says that the response has been overwhelming and that she presently coaches others on how to find their purpose building on the principles shared in the book. 

Eva adds, “People are looking for a sense of peace and understanding that they are not random. We were all created with a purpose in mind.”

Breadcrumbs to Purpose is available on Amazon.

About Eva Melton

Eva is a life strategist and accountability coach that guides others to turn their lives toward faith and fulfillment.

Eva has been serving in ministry and coaching people to find their pathways to purpose in life, work, faith, identity, and healing through social justice. This crucial work helped inform the practices outlined in her book, which can be translated into readers’ daily lives. 

Filed Under: Entertainment, Inspiration, Life, Southern Authors Tagged With: Alabama, author, Eva Melton, Faith based, higher purpose, Inspiration, Purpose

Jessie Powell is healing the world through her music

June 19, 2020 By Kara Kennedy

Jessie Powell Inspired Southerner
Jessie fell in love with music at an early age

Jessie Laine Powell began her music career at an early age. At 14, she was singing on the weekends at weddings, festivals, and churches with her high school teachers whom she considered her mentors. The Lexington, Kentucky singer, songwriter soon found that music was her calling. Her goal is to heal the world through her music.

“We lived in the very small town of Winchester, Kentucky and I would travel all over the place singing,” said Jessie Laine Powell, owner of JLPMusic. “I was making good money, for a 14-year-old and I soon realized that I could make music my professional career.”

Inspired Southerner Jessie Powell
Jessie grew up singing gospel music

Jazz Standards and Gospel Music

Jessie fell in love with jazz music in her early 20s. Her dad was a minister, she grew up singing gospel music. In fact, she and her sisters traveled with their father when he preached, and they would be his choir. Traveling and singing inspired her to compose music and she released her first gospel album, “On the Edge,” in 2004.

Transitioning to Soul R&B

During the last three years, Jessie has been undergoing a transformation and delving into Soul R&B. She says as an artist you are should be constantly growing and evolving, especially with your music. For her R&B was the next step for her to enter into naturally which allows her to reach a totally new audience of listeners. 

Jessie Powell heals the world with her music
Jessie is transitioning from jazz to soul R&B

“ Soul R&B allows me freedom and simplicity as a vocalist, It is a very intriguing style. It is a genre I particularly enjoy singing. It also allows me to tell a story musically and strategically. The flow is much smoother, and I am learning and growing in a completely different genre,” she added. 

Over the years, Jessie has found inspiration from the sounds of such musicians as Anita Baker, Patti Austin, Phyllis Hyman as well as others. Jessie has teamed up with music producer and manager  Baron Harris, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was instrumental in helping Jessie release her first Soul R&B single in the U.K. 

Inspired Southerner Jessie Powell
Jessie has received great feedback on her new single

“We released her single April 17 and it has been in rotation since with over 8.5 million listeners around the world,” said Baron Harris, president of Baron Harris Music. “DJs and radio executives from the U.S., U.K., Australia, Italy and Germany have given us great feedback on her new single.” 

Helping others Heal

Jessie released her single “Like No Other Love” in the U.S. earlier this month and she hopes to put smiles on people’s faces. For Jessie, her music is a way for her to give hope, healing and happiness to the world. Through her music, she hopes that people learn to live their lives with compassion, joy. She added that before COVID-19 we all were living life at a fever pitch and at a speed in which we could not sustain. “Many lives have been lost and it breaks my heart. We’ve been forced to re-examine our priorities,” stated Jessie.

Inspired Southerner Jessie Powell
Jessie creates music to help listeners relax

The state of the world also, as she puts it, has made humanity stop and take a look at our priorities. Families are shifting and getting back to the basics of spending time with each other, having compassion for one another, and connecting with each other in a deeper way. 

“I am creating music for people so they can relax and exhale and put into perspective what God has given to us,” she said. “My purpose is huge, but I am ready to bring joy to peoples’ lives.” 

Filed Under: Entertainment, Inspiration, Life, Music Tagged With: jazz, jazzmusic, Jessie Laine Powell, Kentucky, Music, R&B, soul

Alabama artist uses artwork to bring beauty and healing to the world

December 6, 2019 By Kara Kennedy

Sponsored

Deb Paradise artist
Deb Paradise’s goal is to bring beauty and healing to the world through her artwork

Deb Paradise’s artwork has always been about bringing “Beauty” into the world. In fact, her philosophy has been to use art as a way to help enlighten others so that they can express their beauty inwardly and outwardly. She also believes art is a powerful tool for impacting the viewer intends that her artwork be uplifting and healing for everyone.

Deb Paradise Alabama artist
A piece of Deb’s artwork commissioned by the Hilton at Duke University

Bringing Beauty and Healing to the World

When she first began working with clay, Deb went the traditional route by showing her work in festivals and shows, but soon found that the traditional way of doing things was not something she wanted to continue to pursue. “I had a moment where it became very clear to me that I wanted to create art and sculptural pieces that would hang on the wall for everyone to enjoy. So I began seeking and finding clients who wanted to hire or commission me to create a specific art piece for their home or workspace,” said Deb Paradise, owner and founder of Paradise Creative Expressions. 

Deb’s artwork hanging in a Fountain View Hotel in Dubai

Commissioned Artwork

Since discovering this about herself, she has never looked back and has continued forging her path in the world of commercial art.  Deb now is a well-sought after artist commissioned to produce works of art for corporations, individuals and hotels and resorts worldwide. Deb’s work can be found all over the world, from Dubai to Cairo. And in the United States from North Carolina’s Duke University, JB Duke Hotel to Alabama’s new Gulf State Lodge in Orange Beach. One such commission for The Fountain View Hotel in Dubai was commissioned for the Majlis. The piece, entitled “Whisper” was large and had to be made in 3 panels but appear seamless upon installation. This type of problem-solving is a common challenge when working with designers.

Heirloom Pieces of Deb Paradises  artist
These pieces were designed for a husband for his wife as house warming gift.

Commissioned Heirloom Pieces

One of her most satisfying commissioned pieces was for a man who wanted to do something special for his wife as they moved into a home that the two designed together. Deb met and spoke to him about his wife and what he wanted to do with the artwork. After their conversation, they agreed on the creation of three serving pieces because his wife loves to entertain. He also wanted the artwork to be unique and special to the family so they decided to incorporate the name of the street within the pieces. Deb created functional pieces, two bowls and a platter, each of which could be handed down generation after generation. 

Alabama Gulf State Lodge
Deb’s commissioned work in Alabama’s Gulf State Lodge

“I had fun going back to my roots on these pieces and he was so excited, enthusiastic and grateful. My heart was so full when I delivered them to him, and they were a big hit with his wife,” Deb added.

Whisper

Gulf State Lodge

Another extraordinary opportunity for Deb was being chosen to commission pieces of art for Alabama’s newly renovated Gulf State Lodge, a Hilton property in Orange Beach, Alabama. “The opportunity arose because of a client I had been working with for a long time. She had the contract to provide the artwork for the Lodge. They contacted me and I created two pieces that are hanging in the pre-function area of the Lodge. I also was asked to recommend other Alabama artists to create work for them, and I happily recommended several,” said Deb. She went on to say that it was the best feeling to have her art hanging in a property in her home state.  

Deb's artwork at Alabama Gulf State Lodge
Deb’s commissioned work in Alabama’s Gulf State Lodge

Artists on the Plaza

Most days Deb can be found working in her studio at Shades Mountain Plaza West in Bluff Park, Hoover. She is involved with several artists, in a group called Artists On the Plaza. They came together and formed a collective after Hoover’s Board of Education took over their spaces at the former Bluff Park Elementary School (Artists On The Bluff). Many artists landed in spaces at Shades Mountain Plaza and now they have come together collectively for events throughout the year. One such event is the Holiday Open House on Dec. 14 and 15 from 1-5pm. 

Deb hosts craft nights throughout the year where artists come together for fellowship. They bring their own craft and learn techniques from each other. One of her goals for 2020 is to partner with a gallery or work with local designers in the Birmingham, Alabama area, however, for now, her work can be viewed on her website, www.paradisecreativeexpressions.com.

Filed Under: Art, Entertainment, Inspiration, Life, Uncategorized

The Heartland: Alabama’s Gospel Roots

November 1, 2019 By Terry a. ONeal

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL, 1900s. Images from Encyclopedia of Alabama

Gospel music has been the primary ingredient that has bound Black life together as a surviving people fighting to overcome racial and systemic inequality.

From generation to generation, gospel music has undergone dramatic transformations, traveling a long way from its humble beginnings of quartet music that was birthed from cotton fields and back wood churches back in the early 20thcentury. 

Although the origin of gospel music is not well-documented, Black gospel is rooted in the oral method of interaction through songs and chants called call-and-response. It was from this practice that African-American spirituals were born. 

“Negro Spirituals” published by Belmont Music Co. in 1937. Image Retrieved online from Black Music Scholar.

Heartland of Gospel Quartet Music

In the 1800s, Jefferson county was no different than any other slave state in America. With its deep roots in Alabama soil, it is known as the heartland of gospel quartet music, given rise to notable, award-winning gospel quartet groups from as early as the 1920s. 

Birmingham and other neighboring towns birthed countless gospel quartet ensembles that would later become recognized in the 2012 documentary, “The Jefferson County Sound”.

Some notable southern gospel groups including the Sterling Jubilee Singers (1929), The Four Eagle Gospel Singers (1938), the Fairfield Four (1921), the Blind Boys of Alabama (1939), and other pioneering gospel groups from the yellowhammer state, have been instrumental in shaping gospel music throughout the ages, and still remain influential today. 

Voices were the instruments. 

Gracefully, the breathtaking isolated vocals created a music all its own. The melodic acapella sound that emerged from the steel mills and coal mines of Birmingham led to its recognition of being named birthplace of acapella gospel singing.

Songs of Struggle and Spirit

Gospel hymns were born in a period of deep economic depression and racial segregation in America. In a time when hope was dying, praise songs ministered to the hearts of the people. Songs, such as “We Shall Overcome” and “We Shall Not Be Moved”, played an integral role in the civil rights movement. These freedom songs became the soundtrack to the largest mass movements in America.  

Before long, gospel music began to gain popularity in Birmingham in the 1920s. In the course of time, songs from local artists received national exposure. Classic tunes, like “Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around” and “In the Upper Room/I’ll Tell the World”, by The Fairfield Four, won national awards, and appeared on several movie soundtracks. 

Thomas Andrew Dorsey, the “Father of Gospel Music”. Image retrieved online from the Georgia Encyclopedia.

Influential Figures

Known as the father of black gospel music, Thomas Dorsey, is an influential figure in the world of gospel. He established the first black music publishing company in the early 20th century. Dorsey began his music career as a jazz and blues singer in the late 1920s. Years later, after undergoing several personal hardships, he transitioned from blues to the church circuit.

Dorsey was the first to write and publish gospel songs in 1926. His amazing skill and composing talent would forever change the gospel sound. Dorsey sophisticated the call-and-response in his music, while cleverly introducing jazz rhythms into gospel expressions. He composed numerous gospel classics, such as “Peace in the Valley”, “On the Battlefield”, and “Take My Hand Precious Lord”, laying the foundation for gospel composers to come. 

Mahalia Jackson, the “Queen of Gospel”

Deeply loved and revered, Mahalia Jackson, was known worldwide as the “Queen of Gospel”, taking worship music to the next level. Discovered by Dorsey, Jackson traveled the world with him, becoming the voice to his lyrics. It was the jubilant grace and soul in her contralto voice that would catapult traditional gospel music to the wider world. 

Over the years, there has been a cross-pollination between gospel, blues, and jazz. Today, it has expanded to include hip-hop, rap, and rock-and-roll. 

The five-time Grammy award-winning gospel band, Blind Boys of Alabama, is one legendary group that have created timeless classics over the 70 years of the band’s existence. Reigning from Birmingham, one of the gospel quartet group’s founding members, Mr. Jimmy Carter says that gospel has definitely evolved over time.  

Blind Boys of Alabama, 2017

Jimmy Carter of Blind Boys

“Times have changed. Gospel has changed. But the feeling hasn’t changed—not for me,” he says. “When the Blind Boys first started out, they started with nothing but an old hollow-box guitar. That was the music. To remain impactful, you have to change with times.” 

Over decades, The Blind Boys witnessed their fair share of troubles of the world. They sang their way through the world war, Jim Crow, the civil rights movement, the death of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other pivotal moments in history. 

“In the beginning, we couldn’t sing to anyone but Blacks. For us, it was a means of togetherness. We could all come together and be on one accord. It was a great feeling,” he recalls. “As time progressed, doors at White establishments were opened to us…We were determined no matter what they cost that we were not going to turn around.”

Today, gospel music has become more global, reaching deeper into the secular world. Unlike the traditional way, it’s taking secular beats and creating gospel songs. 

Some say that nothing can replace the gospel greats of yesteryears. These artists created music that was purely original, from the heart and soul—a missing ingredient from the gospel music of today. 

For the Blind Boys, their greatest rewards have been achieved through sharing their gift and uplifting others. 

“Our goal, our aim, is to touch people’s lives. And let them know that there is a God,” says Mr. Carter. “If we just touched one life, it was worth what we all had to go through.” 

Filed Under: Entertainment, Inspiration, Life, Music, Southern History Tagged With: Alabama History, Blind Boys of Alabama, Gospel, Gospel music, Southern Roots, Thomas Dorsey

Photographer finds solace in shooting the rural South

October 20, 2019 By Rebekah Ledbetter

Pearson Creek Farm in the rural South.
Sean enjoys shooting the rural South.

Photographer Sean Essex was born in Lapeer, Michigan, but grew up in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Essex loves to hike and camp which led him to begin to take photos of what he found interesting on his adventures. He also loves shooting the rural South, and one of his favorite places is Pearson Creek Farms.

Shooting nature in the rural South
Sean doesn’t use any digital editing programs.

Photographing Nature

He began to share them with friends and family, and the compliments he received inspired him to pursue photography further.

Sean is unique in the photography world, as he does not use any form of digital image editing. He believes that it is a sign of a truly talented photographer to be able to take an amazing photograph that does not need editing. That’s what he wants to achieve every time he picks up his camera.

Corn field in the rural South
Sean likes to show the rural South in its raw form.

Rural Living

Sean’s work can best be described as simple, warm and nostalgic. With a focus on rural-living and the surrounding landscapes, he strives to capture moments that reconnect us with our modest beginnings and evoke a sense of belonging.

“I resonate with the people and places and want to share their character and lifestyle through my photography,” Sean says.

Sean Essex Inspired Southerner
Sean strives to connect us with our modest beginnings.

Capturing the Image

Like any great photographer, he is always looking for a great photo. He looks for something intriguing, inspirational, or beautiful, then photographs it from various angles. He also likes to envision what the shot might look like at different times of day, and if he believes he can get that better shot, he returns.   

Photographing the rural South
Sean believes the rural South exudes character which makes it easier to take great photos.

Pearson Creek Farms

Although he is not from the South, he has family here and makes the trip to the South a few times a year. On these trips, he not only visits family but also comes to shoot. As he believes, the rural South exudes character, which makes it easier to take great photographs.

Photographing the rural South
Pearson Creek Farms is a working farm in Bells, Tennessee

One location he loves to shoot is Pearson Creek Farms, a working farm in Bells, Tennessee. The farm has been in the Pearson family for hundreds of years and Essex is humbled to be a part of their family. “I try to portray the hospitality, comfort and warmth that comes over me when on the farm.”

Dream Photoshoot

When asked what his dream shoot would be he answered rural Alaska. “I hear Kodiak Island is gorgeous and I imagine the landscapes and structures on the island would make fantastic photos.”

Filed Under: Family, Inspiration, Life, Outdoors, Travel, Uncategorized Tagged With: Photographer, photography, rural, South, Southern, Tennessee

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We tell real stories about the south. ~Kara Kennedy, Publisher

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