Maurette Brown Clark

A fresh voice, full of vigor and oozing with personality would aptly describe Maurette Brown Clark. Her unwavering commitment to God and gospel music is what makes How I Feel, her debut album for Verity Records, something special. Coming from a closely-knit family, Maurette credits her parents for her introduction to music. "My farther was an aspiring singer, somewhere along the lines of the Rev. James Cleveland," Maurette recalls. "He gathered my brothers, my sister and myself and formed a family group called Brown Singers. Living in Long Island, New York, we sang around the local metropolitan area. My mother made sure everyone had piano lessons and provided lots of love and encouragement."

From this Maurette continued to sing and play for various church choirs, school functions and groups. God provided the open doors and Maurette walked through them. She was featured on various national recording projects, with the most recent being with Richard Smallwood and Vision on the Adoration: Live in Atlanta album for Verity Records performing on the song 'Angel'.

Maurette's talent and commitment has afforded her the opportunity to share the stage with a diverse group of artists, including: John P. Kee, Hezekiah Walker, Kirk Franklin, CeCe and Daniel Winans, Angelo and Veronica Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, Fred Hammond, and the 'King of Pop' himself, Michael Jackson.

Along with displaying her enormous vocal abilities, How I Feel also shows Maurette's talents as a songwriter and producer, two areas not commonly frequented by women. "I've had material appear on projects for the other artists and as far as this project goes, I pretty much spearheaded things in the initial stages of the recording process. Having written the bulk of the album, I decided which studios to use, brought in singers, and made a majority of the decisions in reference to what was going to go on tape. After I signed with Verity, they brought in producer Steven Ford (The Winans, Donnie McClurkin) to refine everything."

I met Tara Griggs Magee, the head of Verity Records, a few years ago. She was always an encouragement to me. She was excited about my participation on the Adoration project. I gave her a tape so she could listen to the material I was working on for my custom project. She called me one day later and said, 'I'm going to make this happen.' I was surprised but very, very happy."

For Maurette, her aspirations reach far beyond that of only being a singer. "I never wanted to be just a straight stand up singer. I want to have a long-term ministry and career in gospel music. In order to do that, I need to be able to sing, play, write, arrange, produce, everything. But in doing all that, continue to be a 'lady'. I'm aware of the challenges of being a woman in this industry, but I'm ready. I've got the Lord on my side. I'm thankful for Verity respecting and having faith in my talents as a songwriter and producer. They allowed me the freedom to basically come in as if I were an established artist and literally call the shots to make this album. That is something unheard of for a new artist - man or woman. This album express my feelings for Him," Maurette explains. "I appreciate the Lord so much; for life with all its ups and downs. I wouldn't trade anything for my journey."