| Michael
& Regina Winans Michael & Regina Winans have a lot to celebrate. Amid the emotional storms that cloud the lives of so many couples and families today, Michael & Regina can rejoice in nearly 20 years of happy marriage and parenthood. And, of course, the name Winans--—by birth or by marriage— is almost synonymous with extraordinary musical gifts. But there’s something more about this couple than just the obvious. Much more. And it’s profoundly written, powerfully performed and produced, and dynamically delivered throughout the 12 cuts of Michael & Regina Winans’ MCG Records debut, Always Remember. The twosome are more than songwriters whose talents are a hand-in-glove fit, and singers who can soar as if their voices were one. Michael & Regina are two hearts that beat in perfect sync, with one another and with the Lord whose praises they sing. Michael, of course, is one of the four brothers, known to the world as The Winans, who over the last two decades have become one of Gospel and R&B’s most popular and enduring acts. But make no mistake about it. Though Michael inevitably brings his immense talents to any musical endeavor of which he’s a part, Always Remember is very distinctly and decisively Michael and Regina Winans. And they wouldn’t have it any other way. “Heavenbound” is an irresistibly hooky, hitbound description of the glories of the hereafter and the soul’s natural longing for its eternal home, put to an easy, radio-ready funk groove. The album’s title song is a touching prayer to be remembered when Christ returns to gather His faithful that glides gracefully atop a setting of smooth, quiet-fire, contemporary pop/R&B. A solid backbeat drives the uptempo celebration of ”It Feels So Good to Know,” while “My Heart” is a gorgeous ballad of love and devotion to the Almighty that bears the master’s touch that graces all of the duo’s signature songs: meaningful, memorable and unmistakably Michael & Regina. Michael and Regina were first introduced—at Michael’s request—by a mutual friend at a church musical production in their hometown, Detroit. The couple began dating and were married two-and-a-half years later. Although Regina at the time was attending college, studying to be a nurse, and Michael was singing in a local Gospel quartet called the Testimonial Singers, they both soon found their plans changed in unexpected but exciting ways. The Testimonial Singers changed their name to the Winans and exploded onto the national music scene. Regina, always a gifted singer, was invited by several of her famous musical in-laws—--including BeBe & CeCe Winans—to join them on tour as a background vocalist. It was an offer too good to turn down, and she soon found herself trading her pursuit of nursing for a life as a singer, as well as the Winans’ business manager. The couple had their first child, Michael Jr., in 1982, followed by daughter Lashay two years later. After several hectic years of juggling sometimes arduous road trips with the full-time job of mothering, Regina decided to take a sabbatical from her career in Gospel music to focus all her time and energy on making and maintaining a stable, happy home and life for her children and husband. And she happily and contentedly fullilled that role from the late-’80s through the mid‘90s. Michael and Regina had written songs together for years, and even as Regina shifted into the role of homemaker, the couple continued their collaboration, co-writing a number of songs that were recorded by various-- acts in the talent-rich Winans family, as-- well as other major Gospel artists. Indeed, Regina’s “time-out” had been undertaken from the start with an understanding and shared vision with Michael that there would come a day, in God’s perfect order and time, when the two of them would venture forth together as husband and wife back into the world of music and ministry. That time is now, and Always Remember is music and ministry at its finest. And as both husband and wife agree, it’s also strong confirmation of the wisdom in waiting upon the Lord. “Staying plugged into friends and family, and the real world’.. .homework and soccer games and grocery shopping... is a vital part of who we are as people, musicians and Christians,” says Regina, “and the Lord has a perfect plan for us all if we’ll just ask, wait on His answers and then obey. Family is the foundation He intended life to revolve around, and after Him there’s no greater priority in our lives. And it helps us connect with the people we sing to. We share the same joys and sorrows, happiness and hassles. We live the life we write and sing about.” Michael and Regina began working on what would become Always Remember in 1998, and even though they had been musical and creative partners for most of their married life, the couple found themselves taking their time-—once they were finally in the studio together as an act unto themselves—cultivating and refining their own distinctive, unique sound. The rewards of that patience and pursuit of perfection, shimmer and shine in every word and note of Always Remember. Yet even more crucial to Michael and Regina than the singular sound they have found together is the essence and message of the ministry to which they find themselves called. Whatever the future holds for Michael and Regina, it’s certain that idle time is nowhere in the plan. In addition to The Winans’ ongoing career and continued popularity, and the couple’s opening of a high-fashion men’s accessory shop in Dearborn, Michigan, both Michael and Regina are deeply connnnitted to making space and an active place for their own individual calling. “We’re doing something new,” Michael says. “This is a Gospel album in that we are very clear about Christ and who He is in our lives. But the songs—and what we have to say in concert—is very much oriented to the family. It’s not for one particular market or niche. It crosses those lines. This is an album that people of all races, denominations, churched or unchurched can latch onto. Your musical preference might be Gospel, urban, pop. - .it’s all there, and it’s all real. “It’s anew millennium and we’re taking new music to people and places where it’s never been before. There’s no limit to what God can and is doing. And being a part of that is beyond words. All I can say is these are very exciting times.” So consider this your personal invitation to feel the Spirit. Catch the vibe. And let the excitement of Always Remember sweep you away.
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