"The Hook" Opens!

Hey everyone. I am very excited about this blog because I have so much to share with you guys. How I am feeling, about life and the goals I am trying my hardest to achieve. This blog is a closer look into my journey into becoming a Christian/Gospel Songwriter. This has been a huge dream of mine for years. Im getting closer and I thought it would be nice to share this journey with you guys. Also, I will be just posting news on Christian/Gospel artist, music news, and news that I think you all should know. So its not ALL about me. Just wanted to say I love you all, and this is going to be a great experience so Stay tuned.. I know the Blog today, but I have been posting News on here for a week or so, beyond the first page. Make sure you check out the Archives on the side at the bottom and look at all the previous News as well.

Also, if you have any Gospel News, that I might have looked over, just let me know and I will post it, this will benefit everyone. My email is on the side. Thanks again and GOD BLESS!

Brandon "GOD Given" Colar

Gospel Charts

Christmas still dominate this week’s top 5 albums on the Billboard Gospel Charts. Leading the way is WOW Gospel Christmas at the top spot. Yolanda Adams' What A Wonderful Time comes in at #2. Thirsty from Marvin Sapp holds strong at #3. The compilation Love's Holiday: A Gospel Christmas takes the #4 spot with Shekinah Glory Ministry's Jesus rounding out the week’s top 5.


In the land of radio, Marvin Sapp's "Never Would Have Made It" continues its march towards history, celebrating 17 consecutive weeks at the top of the charts. It is just 2 weeks shy of breaking the all-time record of 18 weeks held by "The Blessing of Abraham" from Donald Lawrence and the Tri-City Singers. Maurette Brown Clark continues to hold on to the #2 position with "One God". J. Moss' "Praise On The Inside" comes in at #3. Jumping to #4 is "You Must Come In At The Door" from Rev. Timothy Wright and the New York Fellowship Choir. Bruce Parham's "Call Jesus" closes out the week’s top 5. (Dec 6, 2007)

Donnie McClurkin recieves Award. Marvin Celebrats First Release

The Recording Academy Honors, in New York gave Donnie a special Award for his contribution to Gospel Music. He was the only Gospel artist getting an award this time around. While others where, Alicia Keys and Bon Jovi. A great honor for him. Congrats dude, YOU DESERVE IT!



Meanwhile Marvin Winans was in Atlanta having a celebration for his First solo project "Alone but not Alone" This release has been a decade over due, but when you hear the CD, its definitely worth the wait. Alot of the Gospel Greats were in attendance, Byron Cage among others. If you havent picked up his new CD, make sure you go get one on your way home from work lol.

Bebe Winans Joins "The Color Purple" in 2008!

Grammy Award winners Chaka Khan and gospel singer BeBe Winans along with 2007 “American Idol” finalist LaKisha Jones will make their Broadway debuts in the Color Purple starting Wednesday, January 9, 2008, at the Broadway Theatre.

Grammy Nominations for Gospel Artist!

The 50th Grammy Award show is just around the corner, and here are the nominations in all Gospel Categories..I musy admit, I didnt know there were that many Categories for Gospel/Christian Music..

Best Gospel Performance
(For solo, duo, group as collaborative performances. Singles or tracks with vocal containing Gospel lyrics. All genres of Gospel music are eligible.)

* East To West
Casting Crowns
Track from: The Altar And The Door
[Beach Street Records/Reunion Records]

* Blessed & Highly Favored
The Clark Sisters
Track from: Live - One Last Time
[EMI Gospel]

* Never Gonna Break My Faith
Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige (Featuring The Harlem Boys Choir)
Track from: Bobby: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
[Island Def Jam]

* With Long Life
Israel And New Breed Featuring T-Bone
Track from: A Deeper Level
[Integrity Music]

* He Set My Life To Music
CeCe Winans
Track from: She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool - A Tribute To Barbara Mandrell
[BNA Records]

Best Gospel Song
(A Songwriter(s) Award. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)

* Blessed & Highly Favored
Karen Clark-Sheard, songwriter (The Clark Sisters)
Track from: Live - One Last Time
[EMI Gospel; Publisher: K. Sheard's Melody]

* East To West
Mark Hall & Bernie Herms, songwriters (Casting Crowns)
Track from: The Altar And The Door
[Beach Street Records/Reunion Records; Publishers: Club Zoo Music, Sparrow Song, Swecs Music, Banahama Tunes/Word Music]

* Encourage Yourself
Donald Lawrence, songwriter (Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers)
Track from: The Grand Finale: Encourage Yourself
[EMI Gospel; Publishers: QW Songs/Zomba Publishing]

* Made To Love
Cary Barlowe, Toby McKeehan, Jamie Moore & Aaron Rice, songwriters (TobyMac)
Track from: Portable Sounds
[ForeFront Records; Publishers: Achtober Songs/Emack Music/Lowe Bar Music/Jammu Music/Rizzle Music]

* Praise On The Inside
James L. Moss, songwriter (J. Moss)

Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

* Before The Daylight's Shot
Ashley Cleveland
[204 Records]

* HIStory: Our Place In His Story
The Cross Movement
[Cross Movement Records]

* Open Book
Da' T.R.U.T.H.
[Cross Movement Records]

* The Reckoning
Pillar
[Flicker Records]

* Comatose
Skillet
[Atlantic/Lava/Ardent/INO]


Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

* The Altar And The Door
Casting Crowns
[Beach Street Records/Reunion Records]

* A Deeper Level
Israel And New Breed
[Integrity Music]

* True Beauty
Mandisa
[Sparrow Records]

* Stand
Michael W. Smith
[Reunion Records]

* Portable Sounds
TobyMac
[ForeFront Records]

Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

* Amazing Grace
Bill & Gloria Gaither And The Homecoming Friends
[Gaither Music Group]

* Journey Of Joy
Karen Peck And New River
[Daywind Records]

* Everybody's Brother
Billy Joe Shaver
[Compadre Records]

* Salt Of The Earth
Ricky Skaggs & The Whites
[Skaggs Family Records]

* Tell Someone
Kenny & Amanda Smith Band
[Rebel Records]

* I'll Fly Away: Country Hymns & Songs Of Faith
Various Artists
Ed Cash, producer
[Sparrow Records]

Best Traditional Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

* Live - One Last Time
The Clark Sisters
[EMI Gospel]

* The Grand Finale': Encourage Yourself
Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers
[EMI Gospel]

* Life Changing
Smokie Norful
[EMI Gospel]

* Thirsty
Marvin Sapp
[Verity]

* Cherch
Bebe Winans
[Koch Records]


Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album
(For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)

* Grateful
Coko
[Light Records]

* Free To Worship
Fred Hammond
[Verity]

* V2…
J. Moss
[Gospo Centric/Zomba Gospel]

* T57
Trin-I-Tee 5:7
[Spirit Rising Music/Music World Entertainment]

* Alone But Not Alone
Marvin Winans
[Pure Springs Gospel]

And the Winner is...

Crystal Aikin. BET's Sundays Best, hosted by Kirk Franklin, wrapped up its Season Finale with picking the winner of the Gospel Talent Competition on Dec 5th. The Competition brought in 1.5 Million voted for this show. Crystal Aikin, is 33 and from Tacoma, Washington. She was a crowd favorite for her personality and beautiful voice. Crystal wins a Recording Contract with Zomba, and a 2008 Toyota Camry. Hmm maybe I should try out next year lol.

“This journey has been busy, exhausting, fun, and anticipatory,” said Aikin. “It's a blessed and privileged opportunity to be the SUNDAY BEST winner and to God be all the glory.”

Congratulations to you Crystal, I am very happy for you. GOD BLESS YOU and I pray that your career takes you where you wanna go. Its great to see people getting where they wanna go in the Gospel Industry.

Mary Mary Christmas Live!

Gospel Duo Mary Mary are having a Concert at the Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham Alabama on December 16th. Its a Special unplugged version of there Christmas album released last year. This is one stop on the Mary Mary Christmas Unplugged Tour. If your planning on attending the Alabama show make sure your on time because the first 3000 in attendance is eligable for the 1000 give-a-way. Wish I lived in Birmingham, lol! Also make sure you pick up a copy of their Christmas LP. Its a great listen, GO COP DAT!

Stellar's 2007

It is that time of year again, The Stellar Awards are back for the 23rd time. Saturday, July 12, 2008, The 23rd Annual Stellar Awards will return. Being held at the Grand Old Opry House in Nashville TN. The host will be Cece Winans, Kirk Franklin and Byron Cage. My guy J. Moss leads the pack with 7 nominations, followed by The Clark Sister with 6. Its a family affair because they are really dominating the Charts. GOOD JOB GUYS! Vickie Winans, Kelly Price, and Tremaine Hawkins are still representing with 5 nods each. From the list of Nominees, Host and activities, this will be a great show. I will let you know of any performers as soon as I can. This is a huge night for all singers, songwriters, producers, musicians that are in the Gospel genre, so its definitely inportant to me. I will have the pleasure of attending one day! Name it, claim it, lol! Make sure you tune in...I know I will.

BeBe takes us to "Cherch"

Bebe takes us back to when we didn't just go to church, we went to Cherch! We were excited about the experience. We anticipated being drawn closer to God in all that we did, what we heard, what we sang. It was more than just a style. It was a journey, an expression of the very soul, lifted to God.

More than just a distant memory, or remeniscent of the way things were, this latest release from one of Gospel music's most prolific artists takes us into the heart of what a Church Experience can be. This album was released on October 30th, GO COP DAT!

Packaged as a double disk set, get ready for Cherch!

For more information visit the "Cherch" Page.

Taken from

Christmas Tops Gospel Charts

Christmas is taking over ther Charts so far this month. Love's Holiday: A Gospel Christmas takes the Number One spot on this week's Billboard Top Gospel Charts. Marvin Sapp's "Thirsty" bows to the Number 2 slot. WOW Gospel Christmas takes a slight jump to Three this week with Vickie Winans' holiday effort Happy Holidays from Vickie Winans right behind (GO COP DAT). Last but not least Israel & New Breed's A Deeper Level ends this weeks top album's



On the radio Charts "Never Would Have Made It" from Marvin Sapp has been number one for the 15th consecutive week. Maurette Brown Clark's "One God" is at the Number 2 spot. J. Moss is still toping the charts with "Praise on the Inside" holding on at Number 3. Bruce Parham's "Call Jesus" is at 4. And the Clark Sisters is doin they thang at the Number 5 spot with "Livin'" I love dat song, lol

Kierra's New Project for 2008!

Now I am a huge Kierra fan and have been for meaning years, so this is VERY exciting for me, lol. But EMI recording artist, daughter of the Legend Karen Clark Sheard, nice of The Clark Sisters, brother of the up-n-coming producer J.Drew, and cousin of the talented singer/songwriter producer J. Moss (whew that was alot, lol) is currently in the studio recording her next album.

Here is a little Graphic I made...


No news, yet on Producers, collaborations, release date or even a possible album title. BUT, I will let you know, ASAP. Cuz trust me, Ima be on it, LOL! She is a all around amazing artist. Each album, her skill grows by leaps, so there is no telling how Amazing this album will be. I would love to write for her, that is a special goal of mine. She is just an amazing singer. Below are a few pics from her first session, Looks good so far, GO HEAD KIERRA! LOL

Gospel Music Channel Video Awards

The very popular Gospel Music Channel, recently started there first annual Video Music Awards. Only this time the fans were the ones voting. There are 6 different categories. Including Rock, Country, Soul, Hip Hop, Contemporary, and Latin. Poll will close on Dec, 5. The Winners will be announced on-air on the show HOT-List: Viewer's Choice 2007. On Dec 29 at 7:00pm (ET) Make sure you tune in as well as visit to learn more about the awards.

Also, tune in to the special edition of GMC video countdown with airs on through Dec 2nd. Thats 83 hours of music videos, GOTTA LOVE IT, LOL!

J.R. Album Coming Soon

J.R. an up and coming artist from Cross Movement label, will be releasing his Sophomore effort "Life by Stereo" on Dec 26th. The album will includ guest appearances from DA T.R.U.T.H, Flame, Iz-Real from Everyday Process, and Trip Lee. I got a chance to purchase his first CD when it came out, and I enjoyed him sound. I see J.R. is rockin' a new look now-a-days so this most likely means his sound will be different as well. Review coming soon. GO COP DAT!

New Kirk Frankin!

The Biggest selling Gospel Artist, Kirk Franklin, is getting ready to release yet another Album. Its called "The Fight of my Life" which hit stores Dec 18. His first single "Declaration (This is it) has already impact radio. It seems like just yesterday he released Hero. I enjoyed his last CD, so I will be most likely picking up this one as well, YOU SHOULD TOO!, LOL. When it comes out, I will have a Album review for you guys..

Go to to hear his first single.

Vickie Chooses "Amore"

In early October Gospel Legend Vickie Winans held "The Special Day Singers/Songwriters" Contest. Each contestant had to write a one minute song about love and post it on youtube. So I entered, nervous as ever. Anyone who really knows me, knew how badly I wanted this. This contest was all I talked about. I lost sleep, and almost lost my job over it, lol! Hundreds of contestants including some of my closest friends entered and on October 22, 2007 they narrowed it down to the top 12. And I made it! That was amazing for me in itself, just the thought that Vickie Winans, Fred Jerkins, Marvin Winans Jr. and Walter Milsap, people who I admire and look up too in the industry saw my video, and enjoyed it enough to put it in the top 12. I was floored (that word is funny...floored, lol) Anyway, with that victory also came fear. Just being up there alone, and not knowing what would happen next, it started to get to me. Now I know it was only the Enemy who wanted to still my joy and turn God's blessing into something else. I got a chance to first talk to Vickie because she wanted to personally congratulate the top 12. Again, another crazy moment for me, just being on the phone with such a Gospel Icon, it was surreal. A few days later the narrowed it down to the top 3, which was unexpected because I didn't even know that was the plan in the first place. But again, God allowed me to make it to the top 3. A that part, I felt like I was in a movie, just so surreal.

As the day approached the nerves got greater, but God really kept me calm. Through family, friends, and everyone started giving me words of encouragement and love. That really did my heart well (and my nerves lol). The day of, Vickie announcing the winner I was soo nervous, by that time not only did I have the contest to worry about but a possibility of me losing my job. I was sooo worried about it, that I couldnt sleep so one of those days I overslept for work. So I thought I was gonna lost my job. Thank God they understood and gave me a break. As that day went on I couldnt focus on work, or anything only Vickie. She had told me that at 4 she wanted me to do a radio interview, so I was tryna prepare for that. As the time for me to get off approached my boss came to me and ask could I help him clean the fountain drink machine. Not even thinking I said ok, and started to clean it. I did notice that it didnt look dirty but after he let me keep my job, I was down for cleaning anything, lol. Out of nowhere I can "And the winner of the Vickie Winans Singer/Songwriters Contest is BRANDON COLAR" I turned around and saw lights, cameras, people and my song playing on this Giant boombox, and Vickie Winans running to give me a hug. I almost fainted LOL. She really made this aspiring songwriters dream come true. I have so much more respect for her, she took the time out her busy schedule, flew to Chicago on her only off day. To come see little ole me, and give me money, LOLOLOL! No matter how far I will go in this industry I will always be grateful for all her help ::tear:: lol.

Here is the video that I posted on Youtube.com


Also make sure you go to Vickie Winans Official Website and pick up her Christmas CD "Happy Holidays from Vickie Winans, ITS HOT! The website is in the Affiliates section.