{"id":15392,"date":"2012-07-02T14:37:57","date_gmt":"2012-07-02T18:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=15392"},"modified":"2012-07-02T14:37:57","modified_gmt":"2012-07-02T18:37:57","slug":"a-salute-to-the-next-generation-of-a-gospel-singing-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=15392","title":{"rendered":"A Salute To The Next Generation Of A Gospel Singing Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY LEON B. CREWS<\/strong>
\n Sentinel Staff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

What started off in Two Egg, Florida more than five decades ago, has now grown into a growing generation of gospel singers.<\/p>\n

The Harmony Winds<\/strong> were created by Mr. T.C<\/strong>. and Mrs. Ethel Pittman<\/strong>, and from the beginning, consisted of family members.
\nToday, Tony Pittman<\/strong> and the Harmony Wind<\/strong>s mark the second generation of the group, and overall, Tony Pittman<\/strong> represents the third generation of their family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been singing for 40 years, but as a second generation, we\u2019ve been singing together for more than 20 years. The road has been rough, but believing in prayer and having faith in God has helped carry us through.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years, we\u2019re had offers to go into secular music, but this is what we want to do. It\u2019s not about the material rewards. It\u2019s about souls and salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Pittman<\/strong> said they all serve the same God, and it\u2019s not world-renowned fame they\u2019re seeking. Right now there are 12 family members continuing the tradition, and there\u2019s another generation waiting in the wings to keep it going.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most rewarding thing for us has been sharing the stage with national gospel artists,\u201d said Tony Pittman<\/strong>. \u201cYet, we\u2019ve still maintained our spirituality and mission to keep people close to Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Pittman<\/strong> said all of their songs are composed in-house, and played by their own musicians. To date, The Harmony Winds<\/strong> have released 4 albums, and they plan to keep it going.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur plan is to keep it going non-stop as one generation moves on and another prepares to take over,\u201d said Tony Pittman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to bigger and better things from us in the future. We will continue to represent Tampa and the entire state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Pittman<\/strong> said some of them have solo careers, but once a year, they all come together for a big family show.<\/p>\n

Tony\u2019s<\/strong> son, Tyrell Pittman<\/strong>, said outside of being a great lead singer, his dad has been a great father.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always think of how he would handle a situation. He trained all of us and laid down a great foundation for all 8 of us. Anytime there was a problem, he was a father to everyone in the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, you forget who opened the door for you, but I\u2019ve never forgotten what my dad did for me and the direction he put in my life. He was strict, but now that I\u2019m older, I understand why. He taught us all to push ourselves to get better, and no matter what, stay humble to Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyrell<\/strong> said his dad was very serious when it came to everyone staying humble, and remembering where your blessings come from. \u201cWe stared this group, The Tampa Boyz<\/strong>, outside of The Harmony Winds<\/strong>, with my dad\u2019s blessing. He continues to be a mentor to all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Pitman<\/strong> credits his grandparents, T.C. and Ethel Pittman<\/strong>, with steering him in the right direction, and making sure he stayed on course.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Ethel Pittman<\/strong> said if it weren\u2019t for her grandson, there probably wouldn\u2019t be any more Harmony Winds<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI credit Tony<\/strong> with being instrumental in keeping us all together. Tony<\/strong> has won a lot of awards, but I remember someone asking him about what was his most rewarding experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel after we\u2019d finished singing on many occasions, people would come up and want to give their lives to Christ. Just to know you had a part in saving souls is all the reward you need, and Tony<\/strong> has been blessed with a great gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrs. Ethel Pitman<\/strong> said the goal of her and her husband was to raise their children to know who God is and obey His doctrine. \u201cWe never got so busy where we broke our tradition of joining in prayer before our bus would leave for a show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we come together like that, it\u2019s the greatest reward anyone could ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n

A celebration to honor Tony Pittman<\/strong> was held Sunday at the 34th Street Church of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer What started off in Two Egg, Florida more than five decades ago, has now grown into a growing generation of gospel singers. The Harmony Winds were created by Mr. T.C. and Mrs. Ethel Pittman, and from the beginning, consisted of family members. Today, Tony Pittman and the Harmony […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}