Artist:Vicki Yohe
Song:Because of Who You Are
Album:I Just Want You
If you read my blog, you will know that I write occasionally about gospel music. Currently there are two main kinds of gospel music; Contemporary Black Gospel and Contemporary Christian. But there is occasional crossover. For example TobyMac is a Christian rapper and his music appeals to both audiences. And there are black artists like CeCe Winans who are popular with white audiences. There are also white artists who are popular with black audiences. Martha Munizzi is a current example of that. Vicki Yohe is a traditional gospel singer who has had success with black listeners. Her music is not CCM. Her audience is older. She was born July 13, 1965 in Normal, IL. but she grew up in Rapid City, SD. Her family moved to Hammond, LA. when she was a teen. Her father was a Pentecostal minister so she was a PK. So she grew up singing in church. At age 19, Vicki became musical director at a church near Baton Rouge, LA. Her father's congregation was mainly black. Plus her main musical influences were Aretha Franklin and Tremaine Hawkins. She self released an album in 1992. This got the attention of Irving Azoff's label Giant Records. She released three albums on Giant. And at that time, it was difficult to sell gospel on a secular label. So she left Giant. Now I would like to tell you who produced those albums but I think they have been scrubbed from the internet. Even Discogs doesn't have anything about them. So I dunno. I believe that Vicki decided to reach her target audience and she needed to be on a gospel label that crossed racial borders. CeCe Winans saw Vicki on Trinity Broadcasting Network's program Praise the Lord. And CeCe was just starting her Pure Springs Gospel label with EMI Gospel distribution. So Vicki signed and that's when she started to have success with the 2003 album I Just Want You and the single Because of Who You Are. The album reached the Gospel top ten and was nominated for Stellar and Dove awards. The single topped the Gospel chart. The album was produced by Chris Harris who has a history of producing these type of crossover acts like Jaci Velasquez, Kathy Troccoli and Ron Kenoly. Because of Who You Are was written by another crossover artist Martha Munizzi. This album is available as a budget CD. Vicki released two albums for Pure Springs Gospel. Since then she released two albums on Shanachie and they are strictly a distributor. Her latest album was released in 2013. She recently teased that she might record again. But she spends most of her time appearing at various churches. But her 2017 ardent support of Donald Trump alienated a lot of blacks. So I think a comeback is a longshot at best. Her crossover success was a niche anyway and I don't know if any CCM artists would want to do that now. Of course TobyMac is an exception but he's a unicorn. Here's Vicki Yohe performing Because of Who You Are. I chose this video because it's with a live band and other videos had her performing with backing tracks which is done frequently when gospel artists perform in churches.
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