Legacy Five and The Wardlaw Brothers are two groups, from two genres of music traditionally separated more often by race than by the style of music. Legacy Five is in Southern Gospel which consists of predominantly white artists. The Wardlaw Brothers are in Gospel which is made up of predominantly black artists. Music is divided into genres for industry cataloging purposes and creative stylistic referencing, but too often has a racial divide that supersedes creative content.
In Christian music, racial barriers exist in an industry of believers who write and sing about the one God and His one Kingdom. Also, the current climate of our nation is plagued with reoccurring racial injustices and cultural clashes. But now, Legacy Five and The Wardlaw Brothers have joined together to be an example of one unified body in a ground-breaking collaboration called “9 Makes Us 1″.
Their nine voices fuse under the nine Fruit of the Spirit – Love, Joy, Peace, Goodness, Faithfulness, Patience, Kindness, Self-Control, and Gentleness to convey one message – unity. This effort is a strategic and God-appointed mission to desegregate Christian music genre classifications by putting race aside to demonstrate black and white men bonding in a multicultural cohesive environment all to the glory of GOD.
Legacy Five has earned four GMA Dove Award Nominations that include two 2020 nominations for Southern Gospel Song of the Year for “What Kind Of Man” and Southern Gospel Album of the Year for PURE LOVE. They were also awarded The Southern Gospel Music Association Recording of the Year. Their rich four and five-part harmony is delivered by group members Matt Fouch (bass), Bryan Walker (baritone), Scott Fowler (lead), Lee Black (tenor), and Josh Townsend is the group’s pianist.
Many social situations plague our world and sometimes seem hopeless. By believing and actively applying the fruit of the spirit, a wellspring of hope can be ignited and we can all live united as one. That is the hope of 9 Makes Us 1.