Over the last dozen years, the songs of Kurt Carr have become as essential to Sunday morning church services as the preacher and the Bible. His sophisticated praise tunes such as “In the Sanctuary,” “For Every Mountain” and “Peace and Favor Rest on Us” are choir staples. Aside from creating a choir blueprint with his own music, Carr has also shaped and molded church music for artists ranging from R&B legend Gladys Knight and Byron Cage to Bishop Paul Morton and Lady Tramaine Hawkins.

Carr was born in Hartford, CT to a non-churchgoing family and made the decision to attend church when he was 13 years old. His teenage musical heroes were gospel greats Bishop Walter Hawkins and Pastor Andrae Crouch. “I had a natural ear for music, and my mother saw my interest in gospel, so she bought me a Walter Hawkins album around that time,” Carr says. “It literally changed my life. I listened to it every single day for at least a year or two, and I taught myself how to play piano from those songs.”

After graduating from the University of Connecticut with a degree in fine arts, Carr was mentored by gospel pianists such as Richard Smallwood and the Rev. James Cleveland. “Rev. Cleveland taught me hymns and other standard gospel songs,” Carr told Gospel Industry Today magazine in 2000. “While working with Rev. Cleveland I was exposed to many great pioneers of gospel music, including the Caravans, Shirley Caesar and the Mighty Clouds of Joy. What I didn’t realize is this exposure would be the foundation to support my ministry of music today.” He began working with Cleveland in 1986 and served as the maestro’s musical director until Cleveland’s death in 1991.

Meanwhile, Carr assembled his own ensemble, The Kurt Carr Singers. They signed to Light Records and released their debut CD Together on Light Records in 1991. The album was noted for its gospel version of Mikki Howard’s “Love Under New Management” and his classical meets Pentecostal arrangement of the hymn “Holy Holy Holy.”

Carr then moved to Gospocentric Records in 1994. His first couple of albums yielded bona fide fan favorites such as “For Every Mountain” and “Like a River.” However, it wasn’t until the release of his third Gospocentric CD Awesome Wonder in fall 2000 that the groundwork was laid to transform Carr into a household name in black church homes. Pushed by the rousing title song and the dramatic ballad “I Almost Let Go”, the CD sold half a million copies and was certified gold.

Carr’s lush, high-praise style of music became so popular that he produced Byron Cage’s breakthrough smash “The Presence of the Lord” and Lady Tramaine Hawkins’ comeback hit “I Never Lost My Praise.” Amid these productions, Carr released One Church in 2005 and saw the ballad “God Blocked It” take him to #1 on the Billboard gospel charts for the first time. His latest CD Just the Beginning features the Top Ten 2008 chestnut “Peace and Favor Rest On Us” that has also become a Sunday morning favorite.