Part of the Family is the debut of the Collingsworth Family on Ernie Haase and Wayne Haun’s StowTown Records.  Their recording history to this point has been a musical growth chart, with each new release exhibiting the vocal development of the Collingsworth children.  Although this is their first release on the label, their music and style don’t sound significantly different from their previous recordings.  As someone who tremendously enjoyed especially their last two (We Still Believe and The Answer), that is a very good thing.  The continuity can most likely be attributed to the Collingsworths’ vision and to producer Wayne Haun, who has had his capable hand on each of their last four studio albums.

The voice that stands out the most on Part of the Family is that of 17 year-old Phil Jr., who shows off his now fully-developed lead/baritone on several features.  The project’s first single, the inspirational mid-tempo ballad “Tell the Mountain,” is his strongest performance yet and features the trio configuration of Phil Jr., Courtney, and Brooklyn.  The increased reliance on this configuration (including three full songs) may be a signal of the future of the Collingsworth Family.  One other such song is “I Found It All,” a beautiful Wayne Haun/Helga Kaefer composition that features Courtney.

The other notable vocal development is that of 13 year-old Olivia.  While obviously not fully matured yet, she has gone from singing cute, novelty songs to serious and strong material.  She sounds confident on the acoustic ballad “I Pray,” which is effectively a solo, with some background vocals by the rest of the family.  The same is true of Brooklyn’s feature, “Nothing’s Worrying Me.”  The light jazz is not particularly my favorite style, but there is no doubt that Brooklyn turns in an excellent and seemingly effortless performance.

The Collingsworth Family doesn’t have a weakness in absolute terms.  In relative terms, their uptempo songs have generally not been as strong as their ballads.  This remains true on Part of the Family.  “Joy Unspeakable” is a typical jazzy and brassy Collingsworth number out of the same vein as “I Shall Not Be Moved,” “Not the Same,” and “We Want to Praise Jesus” before it.  It’s a fine vocal performance, just not the strongest of songs.  A little better is “Just Another Rainy Day,” which is a foray into a Cajun country sound (think “I Catch ‘Em, God Cleans ‘Em”) that features the sibling trio.

The old saying is that “strength lies in numbers.”  For the Collingsworth Family, the versatility that having six highly talented vocalists gives is definitely their biggest strength.  To listen to them weave seamlessly from configuration to configuration in a ballad is quite an experience.  As they showed on “Oh the Thought That Jesus Loves Me” from The Answer, this experience isn’t limited to power ballads.  Part of the Family’s answer to that is “That’s the Place I’m Longing to Go,” a gorgeously soft and poignant acoustic ballad with a classic hymn-like feel.  When the music fades away on that last chorus, and just the voices remain…wow.

Three songs can be placed in the power ballad category, and they are probably my three favorite songs on the project (with “Place I’m Longing to Go” being the possible exception).  The album opener and “title track,” “God’s Family” is a wonderful Lanny Wolfe composition.  I’ve heard the song before in church, but this is my first recorded version, and it is superb.  Midway through the album is a sweeping arrangement of the hymn “At Calvary.”    The family ensemble is featured first, followed by the ladies’ trio (Kim, Courtney, and Brooklyn) in the second verse, and Phil Jr. (with help from his sisters) in the last verse before the power ensemble finish.  The disc closer “The Resurrection Morn” is a relatively obscure Gaither number about the great and final resurrection of the Church.  The arrangement is as dramatic as it gets, utilizing unison singing, Phil Sr. and Kim solos, and five key changes to build to the victorious finish.  The song’s subject deserves the triumphant arrangement and performance the Collingsworths give it.  It is a perfect finish to the album.

With Part of the Family, the Collingsworth Family has stepped up another notch vocally, which for them and their already sky-high standard, is quite a feat.  The previously ubiquitous instrumentals are gone from this offering, and really, who wants to hear just instruments when you have voices like this?  To me, the elimination of the instrumentals is a plus.  Another huge positive is consistency.  The family made no wholesale stylistic changes, and really didn’t break much new ground with this release, relying on the formula that has gotten them to this point.  They just took the same formula and added a couple more years of growth and maturity.  The Collingsworths are still looking for a breakthrough, strong uptempo song, but the ballads, soft and powerful, more than make up for that minor complaint.  While this album’s power ballads don’t quite reach the level of some previous (“Fear Not Tomorrow” and “Blessed Be the Lamb,” for example), they are very close, and the rest of the album is the most overall enjoyable collection the family has released.    This is more than a worthy addition to any southern gospel collection.

Album Rating: 5 stars

Song list:

1. God’s Family (Lanny Wolfe)
2. Tell the Mountain (Lee Black/Sue C. Smith/Kenna West)
3. Joy Unspeakable (Wayne Haun/Caleb Collins)
4. Jesus Is All I Need (Marty Millikin)
5. Nothing’s Worrying Me (Marty Fundeburk/Jerry Kelso)
6. I Pray (Lyn Rowell/Wendy Wills)
7. At Calvary (William R. Newell/Daniel Towner)
8. I Found It All (Wayne Haun/Helga Kaefer)
9. Just Another Rainy Day (Daryl Williams/Cindi Ballard)
10. Praise You (Bill Gaither/Gloria Gaither)
11. That’s the Place I’m Longing to Go (Robert Batton)
12. The Resurrection Morn (Gaither/Gaither)