At House of Blues (HOB), ‘gospel brunch’ translates to good news for people who like good food and great music.
Since December, the downtown Houston location has offered the traditional House of Blues Gospel Brunch.
At $38 for adults and $18 for children, the Southern breakfast buffet begins before the show. The concert hall is set up for a banquet – an appropriate word to describe the feast available to guests. Pastries, scrambled eggs, potatoes, fried chicken, biscuits with gravy, various fruits and salads are just a few of the items served.
With so much good food up for grabs, the only downside is those enjoying the meal will want their hands and mouths free for the gospel music performance that follows.
‘We’re gonna have a hand-clappin’, knee-slappin’, toe-tappin’ good time,’ hostess AltoNet said.
Bishop Fred A. Jones Sr. and the Jones Family Singers delivered on AltoNet’s promise with a lively mix of traditional and contemporary gospel music, filled with popping bass lines and a heavenly choir of voices.
The group is from Sweeny and includes five of Jones Sr.’s daughters, one of his sons, a grandson and a son-in-law. They have been playing and singing gospel music since youth, and have opened for acts, such as Ice Cube and Willie Nelson.
Jones Sr. and the Jones Family Singers have played across the continent in practically every venue that will have them, performing at music festivals, clubs, churches and even prisons.
‘We realize some people don’t ever go to church,’ gospel singer Sabrina Wade said. ‘It’s our opportunity to go forth in God and give our blessing.’
The Joneses started doing the Gospel Brunch at the New Orleans House of Blues and are now part of the regular rotation of gospel acts in Houston, frequently playing the third Sunday of each month.
In true gospel style, the audience is as much a part of the performance as the band and people celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and recent graduations were called on stage to help sing Harry Dixon Loes’ ‘This Little Light of Mine.’
Sunday morning’s crowd of about 100 was made up of families, couples young and old and gospel music fans. Whether it was their first gospel performance or just another gospel act for those in attendance, the show was well-received.
‘We were looking for a place to go out and we thought we’d try it,’ Ish Medeles said.
The Medeles family’s trip to HOB was their first experience with gospel music and they enjoyed the brunch/show combo.
‘It was really uplifting,’ Medeles said. ‘It’s a great venue to eat a nice meal and listen to great music.’
Douglas Trimmer and Cheryl Ramagos are gospel music fans who planned to go to the Gospel Brunch when their Passover fast ended.
‘We decided to go to brunch after the Passover, but we kept putting it off and putting it off and finally we had a chance to go,’ Trimmer said. ‘It’s the first time I’ve ever seen them; they were good.’
Dave Profit, an audio technician at HOB, said the Gospel Brunch is particularly fitting at the Houston House of Blues, the location of the largest collection of Southern art.
‘All the Houses of Blues are founded on Southern culture; gospel music is inherently Southern,’ Profit said. ‘It’s a conglomeration of all Southern culture.’
HOB hosts the Gospel Brunch at 11 a.m every Sunday. Tickets and more information can be found at http://houseofblues.com
