Heirloom (Part Two)
This month, we conclude our look at a short-lived southern gospel ladies trio known as “Heirloom”. Recall from last month that Heirloom – which consisted of Sheri Easter, Tanya Goodman Sykes, and Candy Hemphill Christmas – was launched in late 1988. Heirloom was an overwhelming success, and the demand for concert dates increased. At the same time, Sheri’s ministry with her husband Jeff, Jeff & Sheri Easter, was also taking off. “Torn” between the two, Sheri made the decision to step away from Heirloom. In September of 1989, it was announced that Barbara Fairchild was joining.
A quick side note, in a 1990 interview with Paul Heil of The Gospel Greats radio program, Barbara mentioned that, even before Sheri announced her departure, she had a notion to call Tanya and Candy and offer to fill-in any dates that Sheri could not make. Before she even made the call, Tanya and Candy had already decided to offer her the position full-time.
Heirloom’s “sophomore” recording, featuring this new lineup, was entitled Apples Of Gold, and was released in 1990. The album’s title comes from Proverbs 25:11 (KJV): “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”
Similar to their debut recording, Apples Of Gold features a wonderful blend of country and light contemporary stylings – some songs lean heavily one way or the other, while others blend the two styles almost seamlessly. Two songs from this recording were “singled” to southern gospel radio, and found a place on the Singing News Magazine Gospel Charts: “Prayin’ Up A Storm” (peaked at #27 in January 1991), and “I Know Jesus” (peaked at #42 in July of 1991). Newcomer Barbara Fairchild co-wrote two of the ten songs on the recording, the title cut (“Apples Of Gold”), and another song entitled “Faces Of The Poor”.
Despite their continued success, Heirloom remained largely a “studio trio” – meaning that they performed very few concert dates. Recall that all three members we also in solo ministry at the same time.
Heirloom’s third recording, Uncommon Love, was released in 1991. Compared to their previous recordings, this one certainly leans more “inspirational” or even “light contemporary” in style. The only decidedly “country” or “southern gospel” cut, “Uncommon Love”, peaked at #23 in June of 1992 on the Singing News Charts. Although this album is decidedly different, it is no less a wonderful recording, with songs that could easily find a home on either southern gospel or Contemporary Christian stations at the time.
Here is where I personally feel there was a little “misstep” on the part of the Benson Company, their label. Uncommon Love was a very “middle-of-the-road” recording (between gospel and contemporary), and was even marketed to contemporary stations. In short, the style was a bit too contemporary for most southern gospel stations…yet not contemporary enough for most contemporary stations. Sadly, that’s why I feel this recording is often “overlooked”.
After the release of Uncommon Love, Heirloom seems to quietly fade from the southern gospel scene, as Tanya, Candy, and Barbara continued in their respective solo ministries. However, in 1995, the newly-formed Chapel Music Label re-united the three, along with former member Sheri Easter, to record a hymns project, Hymns That Last Forever. This recording returned Heirloom to their southern gospel roots, featuring hymns like “Faith Of Our Fathers”, “In The Garden”, “I Am Thine, O Lord”, and “In The Sweet By And By”.
Since the mid-1990s, it appears that Heirloom has only reunited once, and that was in 2014 at the memorial service for Norman Holland, who produced all four of their albums. During the service, Sheri, Tanya, Candy, and Barbara, came together on stage to perform a song from their 1989 debut recording, “Bedside Of A Neighbor”.
Heirloom truly is one of southern gospel’s “hidden gems”…their time on the southern gospel scene was very short-lived, and their songs rarely broke the “top ten” on the charts. But, if you ever speak to someone who’s been involved with southern gospel for quite some time and mention the word “Heirloom”, chances are their eyes will ‘light up’, and they’ll say something along the lines of, “that was a wonderful group!”.
I encourage you to take the time to listen to some of their recordings. Unfortunately, like so many other great southern gospel albums of the time, all of their projects (with the exception of Hymns That Last Forever) have yet to be “officially” released to streaming platforms. However, a quick YouTube search of “Heirloom gospel group” will yield all of their recorded music, uploaded by a number of southern gospel fans.
(Some of my personal favorite Heirloom songs include “There’s Still Power In The Blood”, “Prayer Warrior”, “That’s What Love Is For”, “Apples Of Gold”, “Suffer The Little Children”, and “Let The Walls Fall Down”).
