Their Award-Winning Ways

What advice does a veteran skirt-wearing-man give a newby? Jim Sonefeld had one word for our guy this month - moisturize. Or at least that's what Darryl Izzard told us. (That's Darryl, below, just after borrowing lotion from a choir member to use on his legs.)

By now, you may know that Jim (of Hootie and the Blowfish fame) and Darryl (who directs the Benedict College Gospel Choir) collaborated to record an a capella version of Hootie's Hold My Hand.  That song and video have brought the choir to a new audience.  But it hasn't distracted them, as Darryl and the choir demonstrated by winning yet another competition last weekend. You can read that good news here.

Photographer Molly Harrell and I spent some time with choir members when we shot photos of Darryl last month. We learned that they do more than sing; they have jobs managing the business side, which includes international tours, competitions, and selling their new CD.  Molly (in photo below) is always so generous about pitching in; she volunteered to help some of the students shoot interviews for the choir's marketing video.