Bluefield College will host a gospel music concert with award-winning
Christian singer Jessica King, Sunday, July 28. The King concert will kick
off the 2002 Tazewell County Fair and will serve as a way for area residents
and the college to help local flood victims and others in need.
The King concert will begin at 3:30 p.m. on July 28 at the Tazewell
County Fairgrounds in Tazewell, Virginia. Admission for the BC benefit show
will be any shelf staple food item, such as canned food or boxed food, to be
donated to the Bluefield Union Mission for flood relief and other community
service projects.
The benefit concert is just one of many community service projects
sponsored by the college in recent months. Recently, the school hosted
“Christmas Shoes for Kids” with award-winning contemporary Christian band
Newsong. Admission for that show was a new pair of shoes. Local residents
turned out in full force to help the college and PAR/Spirit-FM provide more
than 1,500 new pairs of shoes to underprivileged kids across the region.
King, who will headline the BC Tazewell County Fair benefit concert, is
a Gospel Music Association 2002 nominee for Soloist of the Year. Last year,
she was nominated for Gospel’s New Artist of the Year and Horizon Individual
awards. Her signature song, “Keep Me In Your Will,” was a Singing News Top
40 Song of the Year for 2000 and a number one selling soundtrack for New Day
Christian Distributors.
“I was always one that loved to sing and entertain as a small child,”
said King about the beginning of her music career, “so it seemed only
natural for me to take the next step. My parents had a huge part to play due
to their belief in my abilities. They always encouraged me to follow my
dreams and set goals for myself.”
King began making musical appearances at the Colorado County Jamboree in
Columbus, Texas, at the age of 11. At age 16, she joined a country band
called Rick-O-Shay and later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a
country music career. During that time, King said she didn’t live a
Christian life, despite accepting Christ at the age of 11. It was not until
later that she rededicated her life to God, and as a sign of her commitment
wrote the song “Keep Me in Your Will” — a single that just happened to lead
to her gospel music acceptance.
“I never expected it,” King said about her acceptance into gospel music.
“When I was told that ‘Keep Me in Your Will’ was going to be on the next
gospel compilation, I was surprised. I believe with all of my heart that
when I let go of my selfish desires and dreams, and finally put my life in
Gods hands, He just took over and began shaping me into what He wanted me to
be.”
With the success of her first single, “Keep Me in Your Will,” King began
working on a debut gospel album, “The Gift.” The project, which she said
offers faith, hope and encouragement, quickly became one of the top-selling
southern gospel albums with two top ten songs.
“I felt like people wouldn’t accept me because of my background,” King
said, “but I believe now that God is using me to reach people who are just
like me. There are so many lost people in this world and I was one of them.
My prayer is that I can touch someone and bring him or her to a place where
they can feel the power of God’s love.”
King has performed with the likes of Gary McSpadden, Appointed, Melody
Masters Quartet, Jeff and Sherri Easter, The Issacs, The Lesters and The
Journeymen Quartet. She is also a regular favorite on the Gaither Homecoming
Video/Concert Series. Her performance at the Tazewell County Fair, sponsored
by Bluefield College, is just one of many of her concert appearances for
2002.
