Nashville, TN (July 15, 2014) Forty years ago this month of July, a young, virtually unknown Chris Hawkins, stepped into a Nashville recording studio to begin work on her very first professional gospel music project “Touch of Hinson, Glimpse of Glory.” As a newly arrived member of the already well established group known today as The Original Hinsons, her vocal talents combined on that recording with that of Kenny, Ronny and Larry Hinson, to help catapult The Hinsons into even greater popularity.
Within only 5 years of that initial recording, Chris’ exceptional vocal qualities made her a two time recipient of the award for “Queen of Gospel Music”, from the Singing News Fan Awards and helped to win The Hinsons the prestigious title of “Favorite Group of The Year” from the Singing News Fan Awards in 1979. Chris Hawkins Freeman was eventually inducted along with The Hinsons, into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
Over the many years that followed her inception into the hearts and souls of gospel music fans, Chris Freeman has ultimately gained the respected notoriety she deserves as the legendary vocal prodigy who went on to inspire the careers and vocal styles of countless other female artists in the Southern Gospel Music industry and helped to create the sound of the award winning family group The Freemans.
On July 21st, 2014, Chris Hawkins Freeman, will once again step into the studio and begin the process of reliving her legendary past, as she begins the recording of her very first solo project in tribute to her beginnings with The Hinsons. She will not only recapture some of the songs she sang with The Hinsons in the seventies, but she will be sharing the story of the life changing experiences that helped to shape her into the gospel music icon she is today.
Forty years of legendary talent, yet her history is still in the making. Get ready for the new Chris Freeman solo project coming soon and be prepared to fall in love all over again with the female artist that changed the gospel music industry forever.
In other news The Freemans are announcing the addition of a staff member to their ministry team. After years of doing all the groups in-house business by themselves they have added some help to relieve them from the daily grind of business while on the road.
Chris Freeman, Lead singer for the group stated “We are excited to announce that effective July 1, 2014 Robert Rowland III has taken over as office manager for The Freemans and GoldenVine Productions. We feel very blessed to have Robert on our team.”
Darrell Freeman commented “Robert and his wife Lisa Rowland have been close friends of ours for many years. It is very hard to let someone come in and take care of your business and ministry, but Robert is a very loyal and Godly man who believes in what we do.”
“I am so honored and excited to be working with Darrell and Chris Freeman along with the rest of their family. There are no finer or talented people singing Gospel music today.” said Robert Rowland.
The Freemans are still reeling with excitement over their new video “Where I've Been” available on YouTube.com .
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About The Freemans
History, experience and spiritual wisdom are three attributes that can be used to describe the foundation of the Freeman ministry. Deeply rooted with family, the Freemans experience spans 30+ years. From Darrell’s entrance at age 16 with his family’s group, the Pathways, to Chris’s award-winning teenage years with the Hinsons, the Freemans know the ins and outs of Southern Gospel music.
No doubt, Chris’s unique sound is the reason she was the youngest female artist ever to receive the coveted “Queen of Gospel Music” award two years in a row (’76, ’77) as voted by the readers of Singing News Magazine. In 1980, the lives of Darrel and Chris Freeman became one when they married on August 2nd. After singing with the Pathways for three years Darrell and Chris headed for Nashville and began the Freemans. Joe Freeman, Darrell’s cousin, soon joined them as the third part harmony, as well as their keyboard player. With this sound they have garnered tremendous growth and success.
In 1997, Darrell and Chris’s daughter, Misty, began playing acoustic guitar with the group on stage. Then in 1998, she began singing with them when they recorded Standing Out. Also on stage is Caylon Freeman, Darrell and Chris’s youngest child. He decided to join his family on the road full-time in 2002. He is now playing the drums and singing some with the group.
Now in their 20th year, the Freemans, still do approximately 250 dates a year, and continue to experience tremendous success.
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