The Hymns Professor – Bishop Leonard Scott, who has racked up over 30 million digital streams for his down-home gospel renditions of hymns – rides listeners down Memory Lane with a smooth collision of the evergreen hymns “Old Rugged Cross” and “Near the Cross” on his new track release, “The Cross Medley” (Tyscot Records). Listening Link:
The “Cross Medley” is currently available as a stand-alone single on all major digital music platforms. It’s been playlisted on a variety of digital music playlists such as Amazon Music’s Gospel Classics, Pandora’s New Gospel Now, and Spotify’s Fresh Gospel
It will also be included on Bishop Scott’s forthcoming EP, Keep Hymns Alive: Cross Songs (Tyscot Records), the second installment in his series of hymns compilation projects. On this update of the hundred-year-old hymns, Bishop Scott is accompanied by his wife, Christine, on piano. The band is rounded out by Greg “Spud” Squires on bass, L. LeBron Wilson on Hammond organ, Antonio Henley on guitar, Pheldon “PJ” Major Jr. on drums, Kymarious “Kmart” Jackson on percussion, and producer Jeffrey Thomas II on Fender Rhodes.
With an assist from a full-throated 20+ member choir, the track revs with a smoldering verse from “The Old Rugged Cross.” Then, organ and a lite rhythm section gas the track as the ensemble shifts gears and intensifies its enunciation of the lyrics on the “Near the Cross” segment of the song. All the while, Scott adlibs and exhorts the congregation to sing along at Indianapolis’ New Way Church.