The UAB Gospel Choir release “After You’ve Prayed About It” is on XM Radio’s Spirit Channel 33 play list – and the choir is the only independent recording artist being played on the channel.

Listen to "After You've Prayed About It."

Jay Bryant, program director at XM Radio, phoned Choir Director Kevin Turner two weeks ago to give him the news. The track, from the new album Gospel 101: Go Dominate! debuted at No. 23 on Spirit’s rankings the week of Friday, June 20, among artists such as Phil Tarver, Regina Belle, Kirk Franklin and Image.

Now the single sits at No. 4 on the chart for the week of July 4.

“This truly is incredible news and something I’m certain the students enrolled in Gospel Choir are cherishing as much as I am,” says Turner. “Even with our previous recordings we were not elbow-to-elbow with renowned recording artists and Grammy award-winners – and that was when we had record deals in hand.”

The choir also was added to The Myriad Gospel Music Countdown on June 29. The Countdown is a one-hour weekly recap of the Top 10 gospel albums in the country and is heard in more than 30 radio markets across the country, including Birmingham. Ron Marshall, a disc jockey at Kiss 98.7 FM in Birmingham, informed Turner of that honor.

“Hardly a day goes by that I don’t get a phone call or an e-mail from a DJ sending a compliment or asking for additional copies for sister radio stations,” Turner says. “While we’re grateful for this exposure, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank our local stations WAGG, WAYE, KISS 98.7 FM, JAMS 95.7 FM and WATV 900 Gold for the love and support they’ve given us.”

Turner says Melvin “Jay” Terry, producer of the album, the band and all of the students deserve credit for making the project a success.

“Everyone involved has made this project an amazing experience,” Turner says.

“I hope that because of its success we will be able to continue recruiting students to our university to consider a music degree.

“We have new facilities and studios, incredible faculty, we’re an All-Steinway School, a trend-setter in music technology and we also have tremendous support on campus.”

The Gospel 101: Go Dominate! CD/DVD is available on campus at Barnes & Noble in the Hill University Center. The project also is available online at iTunes and Amazon.com. Visit www.myspace.com/uabgospelchoir for videos and other information.