Cheryl Lynn, Wooten Hill & Ray Curenton

A new short film and two new singles you don't want to miss!

May 17, 2025

Happy Saturday, friends,

The deep-dive features will resume next week. My energies have been diverted to preparing the manuscript for the New York Community Choir book for my editor’s eyes. After over a decade of work, it is surreal to be at this stage. The book has also been re-titled…and I’ll be sharing that soon!

Cheryl Lynn

First, this past week, Milik Kashad TV published a fifteen-minute short film on the legendary vocalist Cheryl Lynn, a work I’m proud to have scripted. Cheryl Lynn’s career spans over 50 years, beginning with Los Angeles-based gospel group The Stan Lee Chorale, and emerging on the world stage with the international smash, “Got To Be Real” in 1978. Watch this short to see Milik’s interview with this great artist and learn more about her incredible career.

Wooten Hill

You may not know the name Wooten Hill, but you certainly know the two artists at the helm. If you grew up listening to contemporary Christian music in the 80s and 90s, you are most likely familiar with the Grammy-nominated Kim Hill. Kim was a consistent presence on Christian radio with hits like “Faithful,” “Charm is Deceitful,” “Snake in the Grass” and “Satisfied.” Similarly, Paulette Wooten is a musician and songwriter deeply involved in worship music in the early 2000s, co-writing popular worship songs like ‘This Blood,” “Come In” and “In This Forever.”

Hill and Wooten pivoted nearly a decade ago and have been crafting exquisite Americana music, first shared with the public via their 2020 EP, It is Alright. This past week, they shared a new release, a cover of Grammy-nominated Mary Gauthier’s “Mercy Now,” a poignant statement given the state of the world and the church. Wooten Hill’s delivery of this message should not be missed. You can keep up with their work here.

Ray Curenton

Also in the folk/Americana realm is Ray Curenton, whose 2023 release, Believer aka The Last Shall Be The First paid homage to 1990s contemporary gospel sounds—but hinted at this direction with “Stars,” a folk ballad with a string arrangement by Women’s Music legend Mary Watkins.

On “NFC”, the first single from his forthcoming full-length release, Curenton unveils his new sound with this self-composed track that he says “delivered itself” to him. To stay updated on Ray’s work, click here.