The Glorifying Vines Sisters are one of North Carolina’s longest-established quartet-style gospel groups, as well as one of its leading family music ministries. The Vines Sisters come from a large family and first sang with all of their siblings as the Heavenly Ten at the Union Grove Baptist Church near Farmville, North Carolina.
“The way we started singing gospel music was through my dad. My dad was a singer and he taught all of his six girls how to sing,” said Alice Vines during an panel discussion PineCone held on Zoom in 2022. “My mama she sang a little soprano, but it was my daddy really was the one in the family that taught us. I just love what I do and my sisters love what we do together. The family is knitted together so each one knows what the other is going to do.”
The Vines family all sang together before evolving into the smaller group that would become known as the Vines Sisters. Alice Vines says the music is a direct expression of her faith, “…you are never too old to receive your blessings from God.”
Alice says she was brought up on gospel but that her mom exposed them to all kinds of music. “I love gospel music, but I still like rock and roll. All these things were put on this earth to enjoy. Of course there are certain kinds of music you can’t put in to the church but after you leave the church there’s nothing wrong with listening to a good love song.”
After more than sixty years as professional touring artists, and over a dozen records, the sisters still live by a belief learned from their mother: “If you listen to music in the right way, you always can get a blessing.”
