cover image Sandi Patti: The Voice of Gospel

Sandi Patti: The Voice of Gospel

Don Custic, Don Cusic. Doubleday Books, $8.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-385-24353-7

Thirty-year-old Patti has the highest income of any performer in gospel music, but unlike gospel/pop performer Amy Grant, who created a controversy by taking her Christianity to the secular marketplace, Patti is fully embraced by the gospel community because she sees her career as a ministry and is committed to ""sing for the Lord.'' In this engaging and inspirational biography, music journalist Cusic (Billboard, Contemporary Christian Music, Music City News) traces her life and career, from her early years as a Bill Gaither Trio backup singer to her current concerts, performed not with a band but with tapes of the same tracks heard on her albums. Since the ``financial backbone of Christian music'' lies not in recordings but in print music (songbooks, folios, sheet music, song collections), Patti's success, Cusic concludes, is due to her performing songs that can be sold as print music to church choirs. Complete Patti awards, chronology and discography. (March)