Same Church, Different Pews

“Mr. Baptist,” African American gospel singer J. Robert Bradley, and White classical composer Charles Faulkner Bryan were pioneers of the “American sound” in music, working in classical, folk and gospel – genres often as segregated as society itself. Robert leveraged his talent and church connections to overcome a childhood of deprivation in Memphis. Charles forged a path from Appalachian textile mills to college campuses and concert halls. Between 1938 and 1955, the years their lives overlapped, they navigated racial and regional prejudice to triumph in their respective fields, their friendship the thread weaving together the parallel circuits of their careers. 

 

The sounds of this narrative echo in today’s culture – in the glorious traditional gospel sampled in the touring production of THE COLOR PURPLE and more explicitly in Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s PBS history series GOSPEL, as well as the symphonies and musicals of Netflix’s MAESTRO. The story is set in a transitional period as composers seek to define the American sound in all genres. Ranging from Carnegie Hall to Royal Albert Hall, from Nashville to New York, Birmingham to London, SAME CHURCH, DIFFERENT PEWS is a rare window to the world of classical and gospel music. Ultimately, this book is a love story, a uniquely American story, a seemingly small story with big ideas and a lot of heart. Robert and Charles are representative of our country's better angels: Southerners who recognized a kindred spirit in each other and embraced their differences.  

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