It produced the Luther Barnes and Sunset Jubilaires single I’ll Make It Someday. (now a Bishop), Luther and the Sunset Jubilaires, Melvin and Martha Barnes, Deborah Barnes and Mark Greene and Family. Also packaged as a two-CD collection with DVD accompaniment, the second collaboration featured more individual and collective contributions of F.C. The positive response that the project received inspired AIR to release a follow-up in 2008, The Barnes Family Reunion II. and Company (Deborah, Wanda and Lisa Barnes), Luther Barnes and the Sunset Jubilaires and the Red Budd Gospel Choir on fan favorites such as When It Rains, It Pours and Rough Side of the Mountain. The 25-song project, recorded on CD and DVD at OIC Auditorium in Rocky Mount in March 1998, featured F.C.
In 1999, AIR took full advantage of the collective musical talent at Red Budd by releasing a two-disc set called A Live Reunion. Luther garnered particular interest because he was the director of the Red Budd Gospel Choir and lead vocalist for the Sunset Jubilaires, a quartet comprised of Barnes family members. His niece Deborah was a lead vocalist with the Red Budd Gospel Choir. F.C.’s sons Luther, Samuel, Melvin and Tony could sing and play various instruments. The album is reported to have sold a half million copies in two years, putting AIR solidly on the map.įrom the duo’s first album for Consolating Sound in 1981 to its successive releases on AIR, it was clear that they benefited greatly by vocal and instrumental support from other Barnes family members. The song and album of the same title were released on the fledgling Atlanta International Records (AIR). Known for years through Red Budd’s local radio broadcasts, Barnes became a popular recording artist in 1983 when he and assistant pastor, the Reverend Janice Brown, recorded the classic Rough Side of the Mountain. He founded Red Budd Holy Church in Rocky Mount in 1959 and infused his love of traditional gospel music and hymns into its services. That dynasty started with the family patriarch, the Reverend F.C. The Barnes Family is to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, what the Winans, Clark and Moss families are to Detroit and the Hawkins Family is to the Bay Area: a gospel music dynasty.