By Lea A. Sa uel
CO"_ po1Ul_nl
"You don't have to stand
behind a pulpit to preach,"
� A ye r ago, Duane Parham
ould never have imagined
himself writing. producing
and performing go pel song ,
and bei ng in -charge of a
dram tic gospel production.
Since January 'of thi year,
Parham has dedicated his life
and talent to sharing a mes­
sage of Christian love ith
the world. and so far. it's an
effort that � ems to be work­
ing.
Parham i a Detroit najive
who ot his . tart in music
playing a ophone and per­
forming jazz and R&B. His
early mu leal experiences in­
clude meeting and wor ing
wi th arti t such as Miche
Braden and orma Je n Bell.
He w in the middle of a
secul r music career hen he
converted to Christianity.
That conversion wa the
motivating force behind his
I80-degree turn to gospel. It
wa at that point that Parham
ar
began formulating his pJ ns
for wri ting and producing his
play, "Alone in Tlais World,"
along wi th go pel music
video of the arne name.
I'VE BEEN SERVING
the Lord since January and I
as ed the Lord to give me a
vehicle by which 1 could carry
the message,. His message, to
the world. What 'came out of
that prayer was the pi y. I had
been riting R&B, but then I
began to rewrite my music
into gospel. God started
working in me, and every­
thing began to fall into place."
And faJJing into place is ex­
actly what thing have been
doing for Parham and those
who work with him. He
credi 15 his religious Iai th with
causing a virtually perfect
chain of event which brought
the music, the play and the
video from dream to reality. .
"I've met a lot of people
who anted to help me pull
things together, like this guy
from Barden Cable(vision).
He wanted to help me put
together a video with my
e
material, so I gave him my
gospel. And thlt' when
thing started orking. It:
came about so uddenly and
so well, it WI a miracle that
wa . really powerful," Parham
says. ,
The video open with a
dejected xophone player,
played by P rham him elf,
being encouraged by a
pre cher to play his hom and
take his mu ical me ge out
to his community. In real life
ome people h ve often at­
tempted to discourage Parham
from his venture t various
time.
Parham. however is any­
thing but dejected. He main­
tains a calm but e xci tcd..
eriou yet unworried
demeanor. H ha n't let
anyone burst his bubble be­
c use, in spite of the
nay ayers, the play and video
were produced with barely a
hitch.
"WHE PEOPLE WERE
telling me what I couldn't do,
. I always kne otherwi e,"
Co tin ed OD P. e 21
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