Biography
Spiritual songs and hymns receive their melodic framework from Hank Williams-style country music when performed by the Genesis Gospel Singers. Across a broad spectrum of religious traditions, the ensemble has found acceptance in congregations of every kind throughout Canada. This musical project embodies the vision of Rev. Glenn Small, who assumed duties as rector of Cox's Cove/McIver's Parish in September 1992 and sought to assemble a touring ensemble capable of delivering a contemporary sound from one church to the next. What began as a sextet—Tony and Joan Oxford, Allen and Renee Park, Robert House, and Gordon Payne—has operated as a quintet since 1993, the year Robert House departed and the Oxford's fifteen-year-old daughter April took the bass chair while Renee Park relocated to St. John's for college. The singers themselves reflect varied denominational backgrounds: Anglican carpenter Allen Park and refrigeration engineer Payne; Roman Catholic "domestic engineer" Joan Oxford; Salvation Army school administrator Tony Oxford; and student April, enrolled at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Cornerbrook, who has merged the faiths of her parents.
Albums