The gospel world this week: Tasha goes unscripted, Anthony Brown returns, Gaither gets a tribute

A 34-track live album out of Atlanta, a seventh record after a three-year silence, and a Nashville red carpet for the Gaither songbook. What actually happened in gospel music this month.

September 26, 2026 at 4:52 PM Pacific · By the Gospel Desk, Gospel News Access

TASHA COBBS LEONARD went back to Atlanta and did not plan it too tightly. "Tasha Unscripted," released September 11 on Motown Gospel and Capitol Christian Music Group, runs 34 tracks recorded before a live audience — more than a decade of her catalogue revisited, with room left for new arrangements and unrehearsed worship to go wherever it went.

The guest list is close to a census of contemporary gospel: Jonathan McReynolds, Karen Clark Sheard, Kierra Sheard, Israel Houghton, William Murphy, Le'Andria Johnson, Travis Greene, Dante Bowe, Melvin Crispell III, Jonathan Nelson and Lisa Knowles-Smith all appear, along with country singer Mickey Guyton. Her Unscripted Nights tour opened the same day in Charlotte to a sold-out house and its announced routing runs through tonight, having passed through Brunswick, Atlanta, Washington, Dallas, Raleigh and New York.

It has been a long few weeks for Cobbs Leonard. She collected the Aretha Franklin Icon Award at the Stellar Awards in August, and she is among the announced performers at the Dove Awards in October.

ANTHONY BROWN & GROUP THERAPY broke a three-year recording silence on September 18 with "Disclosure," their seventh album, on A Major Entertainment with Tyscot and Fair Trade Services. It is ten songs, produced by David "Glo" Outing II with Brown co-producing, and it moves between urban contemporary grooves and full orchestral ballads rather than picking one.

The lead radio single, "Always Be Good," has climbed into the top five of both the Billboard and Mediabase gospel airplay charts, according to the label's announcement. Pre-orders had been open since August 14.

THE GAITHER SONGBOOK got its own night. "You Are Loved: A Tribute To The Songs Of Bill & Gloria Gaither" was released September 25 on DVD, CD and digital, and Gaither Music marked it with a red carpet screening in Nashville for artists and industry guests. The Gaither catalogue has been a shared inheritance across Southern gospel, Black gospel and country for six decades, and a tribute record is overdue rather than early.

ALSO THIS WEEK: The Edwards Family release "Even Till The End" digitally on September 28. And Brothers of the Heart — Jimmy Fortune, Bradley Walker, Mike Rogers and Ben Isaacs — are on the bill at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival at the Moody Center in Austin on September 26 and 27, which is not where a Gaither Music quartet usually turns up.

ONE THING TO GET RIGHT: a headline moving this week has Kirk Franklin joining the SoundExchange Hall of Fame. The honour is real — SoundExchange recognised Franklin as one of the most-streamed artists across its two decades of administering digital performance royalties, an award whose recipients include Mariah Carey, Billy Joel and Usher, and it was presented to him backstage at HBCU Awarefest at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. It is not news from this week, though: SoundExchange announced it in April 2026. What moved this week was a re-report of it. We are spelling that out because our own wire is carrying the later item, and a reader could reasonably take it for a fresh announcement.

TWO DATES TO KEEP: the 41st Stellar Awards leave broadcast syndication on Sunday, September 27, closing the window that opened on September 5. And the 57th Annual GMA Dove Awards are on Tuesday, October 6 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, broadcasting on TBN and the TBN+ app on Friday, October 9 at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Eastern, simulcast on SiriusXM The Message. The Doves will carry a tribute to Richard Smallwood featuring Jonathan McReynolds, Kierra Sheard and Donald Lawrence with original members of his ensemble Vision.

One thread worth following: Lisa Knowles-Smith took five Stellars in August, holds her first two Dove nominations next month, and turns up as a guest on "Tasha Unscripted." After a career spent largely outside the spotlight, she is having the kind of year that rearranges a touring calendar.

How this was sourced: release dates, labels, credits, track counts and guest lists are drawn from the artists' and labels' own announcements, Shore Fire Media, Billboard, the Gospel Music Association, Gaither Music and The Urban Music Scene. Chart positions are as stated in the label's announcement and are not our own measurement; the GNA charts are published separately and on their own methodology. The SoundExchange award and its April announcement date are from SoundExchange's own release and the Gospel Music Association. Gospel News Access attended none of these events and does not report as though it did.