Dathan Thigpen & Holy Nation

By Sherry Lucas
slucas@clarionledger.com

Dathan Thigpen is a jubilant whip of energy, his slight body swirling around the songs and joyful noise of his gospel choir Holy Nation, coaxing it, building it, riding it to the level of praise that raises roofs.

He's not still for a second and rarely are they.

Thigpen bounces in place, rocks side to side, marches, crouches, jumps and claps. A cardboard poster tube makes a handy prop: a megaphone, a microphone, a baton, a flag, a parade mace, a percussion instrument, a dance partner.

This is only a rehearsal but the spirit is there lively, electric, contagious.

As Thigpen says of his young choir and their current recording project, "It's definitely a God idea."

The live recording for their debut CD, with renowned gospel producer David Blakely, was this weekend at Word of Faith Christian Center in Jackson. Their theme will be the title: GET UP.

It stands for Get Exposed To Unadulterated Praise pure, straight from the heart praise that can sweep listeners right up in the worship, whether they're at a concert in Jackson or in a car in New Mexico. The hope is to line up a distribution deal for the self-produced CD, tour to promote it this fall with expectation for release the first of next year.

Thigpen believes they're on the verge of something big. "I tell the choir all the time this is bigger than I think. It's humbling. Something great happens not because we want to see our names in lights or make a billion or million dollars.

"We love to do it. We're sincere about it. God helped us to do it. Or rather, commissioned us to do it.

"I honestly feel like this is an assignment."

Good genes

When Thigpen's eyes close and a song takes hold, it's like he's transported to some place divine, irresistibly pulling listeners right along with him.

Thigpen, 24, has been steeped in gospel music since birth and singing that long, too. His genes carry a double dose. His mother, Dorcus, is directress of the chart-topping Mississippi Mass Choir; uncle David Curry Jr. is its co-founder; aunts and uncles are members. He eventually was, too, and still is. His father, Don, a musician, does gospel sheet music arrangements and is a pastor at Noah Ministries.

Thigpen's recording start was with the Mississippi Children's Choir, leading a song on its first CD. Usually a professional singer would handle the lead, with the children singing backup, he said.

"There was one particular song I liked and I thought, well, I'll try," Thigpen said of There Is Hope. "I'm an extrovert. I'm open to anything," he shrugged, grinning. "For me, that was really the start of something I never really knew I had."

Years later, he'd lead the title track for the Mississippi Mass Choir's The Amazing Love CD (1999).

"I have watched him from a child all the way up. It's kind of like seeing a butterfly metamorph," said Jerry Mannery, gospel director at Malaco Records.

If gospel lineage is a family tree, consider Mississippi Mass Choir the roots, Mississippi Children's Choir the trunk, Dathan Thigpen & Holy Nation the branch.

Dorcus Thigpen, also a member of Holy Nation, gives a pleased sigh when asked about her middle son. "It's just a blessing to see him. It's a blessing to see all five of my sons and to know they're all in the church rendering service to the Lord. ... I feel like a millionaire."

All are in gospel music and have helped with Holy Nation: Donavon, keyboard player and music director; Dominic, manager and percussionist; Dorran, musician and vocalist; D'Andre, vocalist. In addition to his brothers and mother, Holy Nation includes aunts Leah Curry and Rachel Curry Woods.

Expectations are already high, Dathan Thigpen said. "This is the genesis stage of how the Mississippi Mass Choir began and they're still doing great things," he said.

"This is our opportunity to be in the same shoes as they were. It feels like an honor."

New commitment

Thigpen received his master's degree in mass communications from Jackson State this spring.

He was pondering his two passions for music and broadcast production when the choice was made for him. The Holy Nation debut concert fell on a day he originally had scheduled off as a news photographer for WJTV. His work schedule changed but he made the decision to do the concert. He lost his job a month later.

In January, he made the music his full-time focus. "From then on, God has been opening doors. I think that step needed to be made. I was just planning to make it later, when I graduated," he said, chuckling. One day, he'll probably combine the music and the media, he said.

"It's been a rocky road, a rollercoaster," he said, "but in the end, it's all worth it. At the end, man, it's awesome."

A milestone

The urging of colleagues and power of prayer prompted Thigpen to put together Holy Nation, a handpicked selection of family, gospel choir colleagues and church contacts, ages 19 to 48. "I would hea - The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS