Interview: Award-Winning Gospel Trio 'Virtue' on Reunion, Family Heartaches, and Special Meaning Behind Single 'You Are'
Dove Award-winning, Grammy and Stellar award nominated contemporary gospel group Virtue is back from their almost eight-year hiatus with a new single releasing Nov. 4 entitled "You Are." The single is a preview of a new album due out Spring 2015.
Sisters Ebony Holland, Heather Martin and Karima Kibble have been making music together for nearly 20 years. Known for their harmony, the trio has been performing since the 90s and recorded hits such as "Get Ready," "You Just Be You," and "Give Him the Praises."
The trio last released an album,Testimony, in 2006. Since then sisters Ebony, Heather and Karima have become mothers, pursued other jobs and moved to different parts of the country. Even as they lived their separate lives, they all knew one day they would sing again. Heather told The Christian Post, "God said this is a part of your purpose." So after lots of praying and the backing of a special benefactor, the women have returned to the studio.
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They say long-time fans should expect to see a deeper, more spiritually mature side in their music brought on not only by their growing families but also personal pain. "Over that time (off) we have lost first our sister to alcohol, we've lost our father to alcohol and then our grandmother this summer that just passed and that's been three in a row," said Ebony. "Just going through those experiences I've just wanted to be in the word more."
Heather said she has made several trips to the hospital due to her four children's food allergies. She shared, "It may sound trivial to some people but it's really been a trial for me."
3 photos(Photo: The J. Hardy Agency, LLC)Virtue at the Dove AwardsIn this interview with The Christian Post, the group shares more about their return to the studio and what old and new fans have to look forward to in their upcoming album.
Christian Post: Tell me about the significance of your new single "You Are." I heard that the song has become something of an anthem for the group.
Ebony: When we first heard it, we fell in love with it just because of the words. Sometimes you want to be so deep when you're talking to God but these are just simple words and it really just says, 'hey you are the alpha and you are the omega. I mean you are our everything and when we're drowning, when we can't breathe, you are there for us.' So I mean it's just what's going on in our lives at the time and He at the time has always been there for us but He's our everything and we just love, love, love this song
CP: I heard this song was special because someone close to you had brain cancer.
Ebony: I'm a school teacher. I teach first grade and at my school, there was a little boy. He was in pre-k and at the time he was just going through all the radiation and chemotherapy and his mother was just so strong throughout the whole thing and just her faith gave me strength and when we recorded that song, it was my anthem to get through it – to get through the whole situation of trying to talk to the kids in the classroom and letting them know that all things happen for a reason and God is still going to be God and He's going to love us no matter what and basically that's what that song is saying. We should just trust Him because He's our everything. No matter what we're going through He is.
CP: How did you all manage to come together to record this single when you all live in different areas and all have very involved lives?
Karima: We're sisters… we always wanted to continue to sing. We just didn't know exactly how it was going to transpire. We just knew that we just kept praying and asking God for direction that it was going to come to fruition just like everything else does with Him and when we ask Him for anything else in our lives.
We were super concerned and we knew we had to have a label that would understand our priorities. Our lives are all different now. Everybody's a mother, we have jobs, and there's just a lot going on so and to be able to come together and do a CD was kind of like "are ya'll crazy?" But God wanted it. It happened. So we just trusted Him because throughout the break we've had several different offers to actually do music or continue our ministry but … it wasn't the time God wanted us to do it and for whatever reason be it the people that we were trying to do it with or the music or whatever it didn't align with what He wanted. So we just continued to pray and kept our same attitude, you know, hopeful, happy, whatever God wants that's what we want and sure enough He sent a guy who has been in our lives for more than, I don't know, … at least 30 years
My mom was a single parent so she raised all of us by herself and everything she tried to put us in like for church, any activities, it was always expensive because it was a lot of us but we always ended up able to do it. Somehow it was always paid anonymously. Someone had paid it and years and years pass and we find out that it was this same guy who is now funding this project. He has been in our lives and God sent him then and He kept him there so when he approached us about doing this CD we were like, "mmm.. no, we don't know." So we prayed about it, gave it a couple weeks and everyone one was on the same page and here we have it, Virtue, back together. We'll never be separated because we're sisters but the names goes professionally He knew the ultimate plan for the man, his name is Gary Crockett, for him to be the life-line for our music and he's has been there. So God, He always has a way to work things out so that is how we are able to do this because this man … he believes in us. He's been there since the very beginning. He's like our big brother and he knew. So we're so grateful and honored that God chose us to continue in this ministry.
CP: As Christians, parents and teachers, what spiritual challenges do you see facing this new generation of fans?
Heather: This is really a scary day and age to me as a Christian because you know, the devil used to be a little bit more subtle when we were growing up, not that we're super old, but things now seem like no one has any shame about doing wrong. The things that's on TV, the things that we're watching, shows, the way that people cuss, and the way that we are just its OK to be ratchet. More me it's like glamorized to be somebody who sleeps around. Those things are scary for me as a mother. It is scary for me. What's really scary to me is the – its great and scary at the same time – the way that technology has gone like phones and iPad and kids just having direct access to everything and everybody being able to have their own platform to speak.
It's good and it's scary at the same time because it's just so many different messages out there and so many outlets for kids to be able to get into bad stuff. It's good at the same because we have come a long way as far as technology is concerned but it is also scary.
