MUSIC NEWS

Soul, gospel singer Shirley Murdock living the dream

By Don Thrasher, Contributing Writer Updated 12:11 PM Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Veteran soul and gospel singer Shirley Murdock is closing out the year with several big projects. The Toledo native, who has lived in Dayton since 1984, released her latest solo album, “The Journey” (Tyscot Records), to overwhelming critical response in October.

“Dream,” the first single, was ranked as the most added song of the week by Billboard magazine’s Hot Gospel Songs chart upon its release in August.

The live album, the singer’s first, includes other powerful gospel numbers such as “Upward Way,” “Lord You Reign” and “God Can Do Anything.” The new disc also features guest spots from friends Regina Belle, Beverly Crawford and Kelly Price, who each join Murdock on separate tracks and come together as a four-piece chorus in the stunning album closer, “Someday.”

This past week, Murdock appeared in the musical “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” with performances at Newark Symphony Hall in Newark, N.J., on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 16 and 17, and at New York’s Apollo Theatre on Sunday, Dec. 18.

The longtime member of Zapp, who co-starred in the play with R&B singer Freddie Jackson, Lisa Page Brooks and Sam Logan, Murdock played the role of the feisty pastor’s wife who keeps order in her husband’s church while awaiting her son’s holiday parole from prison.

Murdock is booking dates for 2012 and will hopefully carry that momentum into the new year.

Share this article