- The Winans, Mattie Moss Clark, the Clark Sisters, and of course, Aretha Franklin.

The list of gospel artists who have strong roots here in Detroit is long and it continues to grow.

In conjunction with the PBS celebration of gospel, Detroit Performs: Live from Marygrove, produced two gospel-themed episodes with hosts Satori Shakur and Bridge Detroit's Orlando Bailey.

Here's a portion of their conversation with Detroit gospel artist, Darius Twyman, along with his performance of "Made It Over."

- Growing up- - Yes.

- In the city of Detroit, for me, in the late '80s and into the '90s, in the church- - Okay.

- In the black church, in particular, you cannot have grown up in the era that I've grown up and not have heard of your name or have not experienced you.

- [Darius] Bless you, bless you.

- How do you hear that?

How do you receive that?

- It's really humbling because, you know, we can be great in our minds and really not great.

And for others to tell you that something that I've written, that God has given me, has been impactful.

I had an opportunity once I was standing in a store, and a gentleman walked up to me and he said, "Hey, you're Darius Twyman?"

I said, "No," 'cause I didn't know if I had owed him money or something, so I didn't wanna say yeah.

You can't say yeah too quick.

He was like, "No, man, you're Darius."

I was like, "Yeah, man, I'm Darius."

And he was like, "Man, that song that you wrote called 'Coming Soon.'"

I said, "Yeah."

He said, "Man, listen, I almost took my life, until I heard that song.

It changed me.

It made me wanna get my life right, because if God came back, I wasn't ready, so I had to get ready."

And those are the little things.

You know, I'm not trying to reach everybody.

I got an audience of one because I'm like, my mindset is that if it's a team sport, when you got a basketball team, you got one ball, and everybody's passing it and passing it, but only one person can take a shot at a time.

And you only get one goal.

And if you hit the goal, everybody wins because it's a team sport.

And that's what this is.

This is a team situation, trying to reach one.

If each one can reach one, I believe we can make another one better.

So to hear my name as a child, I'm humbled.

To hear my name as an adult, I'm humbled, because I don't take it for granted.

- I wanna hear you talk about Detroit, right?

- Yes.

- And you know, its place.

I heard PJ Morton describe it as a modern Mecca for gospel music.

How do you see it?

- That's a dangerous question for me.

Gospel music, again, is not like it was when I came up.

So, but then I have to understand that what I contributed to gospel music was not what my mentors had at first either.

So I had to be open to what God has given the new generation.

So gospel music in the city of Detroit, is the foundation of music across the country, why?

Because gospel music was birthed here.

And what do I mean by that?

Yes, you have Thomas Dorsey, who is the father of gospel music in terms of hymns.

You have James Cleveland, but they all came to Detroit to figure out how to do it.

The Gospel Music Workshop of America was started by D.K.

Craig.

He passed away and James Cleveland took the vision, and then ran with it.

And so now, he's considered the founder of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, but he didn't have the dream.

Just as if Martin Luther King had wrote the speech and then somebody else gave it, he still would have been the dreamer, and then it would continue.

So therefore, it's now still continuing, because you have Dr. Matty Moss Clark.

But before Dr. Matty Moss Clark, you had an Elmer Hendricks Parham, who owned a little record store on the corner of Oakland and Owen in the city on the North side.

- In the North end.

- North end, right?

- Yeah.

- And so Elmer and Carl's was the foundation where before there was a gospel, where you would go and get your music.

I was four years old.

She picked me up, I wasn't full 36 at the time.

(Orlando laughs) She picked me up, sat me on the counter, and said, "You're gonna be a great musician."

So that's what I am in terms of gospel music today.

I was spoken into.

She spoke that into my life at four years old.

I didn't know what she was talking about, but my mama and my big mama knew.

And so they made sure that the culture was available for me to sit in and that I was cultivated and groomed.

And then God gave me a gift and an anointing.

And so from there, that's what Detroit music is for me.

It's the cultivation, it's the whirlwind.

'Cause when you hear a Kirk Franklin song, you hear Thomas Whitfield.

When you hear a Donald Lawrence song, you hear Thomas Whitfield.

When you hear a commission, when you hear a Joe or Boyz II Men, you hear commission and the Whines.

Everybody got a little bit of the gumbo from Detroit.

They might not wanna claim it, but we gave it and we put it out there.

And it's still here in the city.

And you have artists like Kevin Stewart and Mark J., and all these other young guys.

And you got Kiera, you got folk that are shifting and bringing this new generation to us.

I just asked them, "Don't forget about me.

Let me come and sing."

I open up for them now.

I'm the old school, I'm the OG.

But that's what gospel music is for me here in the city of Detroit.

- What is "Made It Over" about?

- "Made It Over."

Well, without being too deep, I work in an environment that's a little different from some situations.

I'm a counselor and an advisor at a college here in Detroit.

And I'm the first and only African-American male counselor that they've ever had in history of that school.

And being that, sometimes, I sit in my office by myself, and right prior to COVID, I was in a situation where I didn't really wanna be bothered with nobody but me.

And so I was sitting in my office, and God began to deal with me.

And I wrote seven songs in two days in that office.

And it was only on my lunch breaks because I was working.

And I wrote seven songs on my phone, went home, put the full music to it.

And I wanted to be an encouragement to one of my students who was kind of going through something.

And I was like, "What do you mean?

You're not gonna make it.

We've already made it, we're overcomers."

And so I said, "How we made it over, how we were set free.

Sometimes we were in darkness, but yet we still walked in victory.

We need to be grateful for our covering from dangers unseen.

Thank you, Lord, for keeping me."

And so that's what "Made It Over" is.

It's about being kept by the grace of God, and just knowing that we all have something in common, whether your struggle is this or that, at the end of the day, the victory is yours, but only if you believe.

♪ He keeps on keeping me ♪ Keeps on keeping me I need everybody in the building to say that with me, come on.

♪ Said he keeps on keeping me ♪ Keeps on keeping me ♪ How we made it over ♪ How we were set free ♪ Sometimes we were in darkness ♪ ♪ But walked in victory ♪ I'm grateful for your covering ♪ ♪ From dangers unseen ♪ Thank you, Lord, for keeping me ♪ ♪ Thank you, Lord, for keep ♪ 'Cause he keeps on keeping me ♪ ♪ Keeps on keeping me ♪ Everybody clap your hands right there, hey ♪ ♪ I said he keeps on keeping me ♪ ♪ Keeps on keeping me ♪ Hey, da-da-da-da-da ♪ We made it over, hey ♪ How we made it over ♪ Everybody clap your hands ♪ How we were set free ♪ Sometimes we were in darkness ♪ ♪ But we walked in victory ♪ I'm grateful for your covering ♪ ♪ From dangers unseen ♪ Thank you, Lord, for keeping me ♪ ♪ 'Cause he keeps on keeping me ♪ ♪ Keeps on keeping me ♪ Do I have a witness ♪ Do I have a witness, say ♪ He keeps on keeping me ♪ Keeps on keeping me ♪ Say it one more time, say how we made it ♪ ♪ How we made it over ♪ How we were set free ♪ Sometimes we were in darkness ♪ ♪ Da-da-da-da-da ♪ We walked in victory ♪ I'm grateful for your covering ♪ ♪ From dangers unseen ♪ Thank you, Lord, for keeping me ♪ ♪ 'Cause he keeps on keeping me ♪ ♪ Keeps on keeping me ♪ Hey ♪ Keeps on keeping me ♪ This is my testimony ♪ Say he ♪ Kept me ♪ When I could not keep myself ♪ Kept me ♪ It was Jesus and nobody else ♪ Kept me