ChristianMusicDaily

Ami Rushes shows no signs of slowing down. Did you get that play-on-words? Sorry, it had to be done. But seriously, folks, this anointed singer, who lives near the ocean in a peaceful California neighborhood with her three pet cats, is a star on the rise in the black Gospel world—and, somewhat ironically, she’s a blonde, white woman.

So how did Ami, who counts Richard Smallwood and Tramaine Hawkins among her influences, first get involved in the black Gospel music world?

“Years ago my boyfriend took me to a revival in Los Angeles and the preacher was Reverend James Cleveland,” she remembers. “He pushed me up to the front, asked Reverend Cleveland if he had room for one more, and that was the beginning. The seeds were planted then.”

Ami became a member of Cleveland’s Southern California Community Choir, and eventually met producer Kurt Carr, who worked on her debut, Covering, along with her latest project, Lifting. The two have been friends since 1990.

“Kurt and I have been best friends since 1990,” she says. “ I met him through Reverend Cleveland. He is the finest producer of Gospel music in the world and I feel so very blessed to be able to work with him. He lends his genius to every artist he works with and brings out the very best of the artist. I love him dearly.”

Ami’s latest CD is unique in that Carr has her covering traditional Gospel classics, helping introduce them to new audiences. She dedicates the rousing “I Can Go To God In Prayer” to “the queen of Gospel, Ms. Albertina Walker,” and covers Cleveland’s “Oh Lord, Stand By Me.”

Showing her ability to appeal to both black and white audiences, Ami also covers Michael Card’s “El Shaddai,” a song many people are familiar with since Amy Grant sang it in the 1980s. And she also takes on Stuart Townend’s “In Christ Alone,” turning it into a moving inspirational pop/R&B tour-de-force.

Perhaps the most arresting song on Ami’s latest CD is “God’s Got It All In Control,” where she directly speaks to the audience about wanting to die after her own parents died.

“That song (God’s Got It All In Control) gives me an avenue to share my testimony, and I pray it will bless someone else and give them hope,” she says. “Even when we are at our lowest points, God really does have everything in control and He will work it out.”

Ami had to battle severe sadness and depression, and now she’s able to speak to people who are struggling to hold on and not give up.

“I would say to anyone who wants to give up and hasn't heard my testimony that I too wanted to give up. In fact, I really did give up when my dad died and it was God who restored me when I couldn't do anything for myself,” she says. “I know He is no respecter of persons and that He will restore others, too. Sometimes when we go through very dark places we think that there is no way out and that it's all over for us. I thought that way but I have learned that our God always has a way out and a plan to give us a future and a hope. His Word promises that.”

Ami, who attends West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, California, wants to make sure that her music helps bring hope to many people, and one tangible way she does this is by donating 30% of the proceeds from her CD sales to 160 orphanages throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

“My Bishop, Charles E. Blake, founded Save Africa's Children and God put it on my heart to support his vision,” she says. “I wanted my music to be a vehicle to be a tangible blessing to someone else and I wanted the people who purchase it to be a blessing to someone else as well. So not only do you get a wonderful CD— you also become a part of something bigger than yourselves and bless children in Africa.”