| Smokie Norful |
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Norful, a minister who is also the son of an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister, was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas but grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma , deeply involved in his father's church. He was interested in music from a very young age, reportedly picking out one-finger piano melodies from the age of two. His parents supported him with music lessons, and, unusually for his background, allowed him to experiment with and listen to the current R&B and Soul Music of the day as well as Gospel Music . Norful graduated from the University Of Arkansas as a History major and spent four years teaching high school. In 1998 he felt "called" to the ministry, and pursued a Masters of Divinity degree at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois . Upon graduation and ordination, he took a position as assistant pastor at a church in Chicago. He participated in an album release by the Thompson Community Choir, a well-known gospel group, and contributed a song as well as solo vocals. He was then offered the opportunity to make a solo album for EMI Gospel, ''I Need You Now''. The album was a slow starter but eventually went gold, spending two years in the upper reaches of the Billboard Gospel Charts. He was nominated for and won a Grammy in 2005 for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. He is also signed to Disney Music Publishing as a songwriter and has contributed songs to other projects for Disney . He performed on June 6, 2005, for President George W. Bush in a concert honoring Black Music Month. Norful's music is best described as a fusion between gospel, 70's soul and contemporary R&B; the influences of artists such as Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway and other male soul/R&B vocalists of the 70's and 80's is clear. EXTERNAL LINKS
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