The enduring influence of African American gospel music is felt across genres and artists. But gospel music traditions remain rooted in local churches and communities, where music uplifts and energizes singers and congregants alike.

In 2023, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival presented the evening concert “Come Let Us Sing: Gospel Music Legacies.” As part of the Creative Encounters: Living Religions in the U.S. program, the concert highlighted African American musical expressions of faith and variations of the gospel genre.

Representing the Kingdom Fellowship AME Church in Calverton, Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C., the Adoration Choir offered this rousing rendition of the African American spiritual “Ain’-a That Good News.” As music director and minister Michael White explained in his introduction, “We’re going to sing songs that encourage us, and our prayer is that it encourages you too.”

Watch the full concert, also featuring steel guitarist Fran “Lady Strings” Grace and gospel group the Legendary Ingramettes.