Interview With Damita

Q and A with Damita Haddon | (Questions by Lin. Woods. Answers from Damita Haddon)

By Lin. Woods

Damita Haddon has been on the gospel recording scene for over a decade. Although many know her from her Stellar Award winning work with the Voices of Unity and from singing with her husband, Deitrick Haddon, she is a force to be reckoned with and highly respected in gospel. I recently talked with her about her latest CD, No Looking Back (Tyscot). This is what she shared.

Lin: Your parents were both in ministry. Were they strict on you?
Damita: My parents were both preachers and pastors. Gospel was all I remember hearing in the house, from James Cleveland and Shirley Caesar to the O’Neal Twins. We were a musical family; and it was just church and music. I remember running around the house picking up records, brushes and combs and singing into them when my mom would play a record.

Lin: Who did you listen to that has influenced your musical style?
Damita: The Clark Sisters, Rance Allen, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Sting, Celine Dion, Cold Play and The Winans.

Lin: How did you meet your husband Deitrick and end up singing with the Voices of Unity Choir, which earned you a Stellar Award in 2006?
Damita: We were introduced to each other by a mutual friend in high school. During my senior year in high school I started going over to his church. We started singing together in the choir and traveling together. We’ve been married for twelve years now.

Lin: When did you get your professional break as an artist?
Damita: In the 1990s my twin sister Margarita and I formed Adoration and Praise; an all girl a cappella group. We were invited to sing at the president of TM Records’ birthday party. We didn’t even know this guy had a record label. Immediately after we sang, he asked us if we were interested in signing a deal and recording on his label. And within a couple of months we were in the studio. Our first release was Time Is Running Out.

Read entire article by Lin Woods at TheUrbanNetwork.com