Liz, I honestly cannot believe that I am speaking with you today. I was introduced to your music by one of my dear friend, Bil Carpenter and I must admit that I have been hooked ever since!

Oh, God bless you, Bill is wonderful, I have known him for quite a long time. He’s a great writer and real music lover, historian and a great person.

You won the “Best International Album” at the 2^nd Annual En Sound Music Awards, were you surprised at all by this?

Oh, I was very surprised by it. I just want to say thanks to all of the people who have voted for me and to your organization… I mean that.

You reside in France, am I correct?

Yes, I am but I am a born American.

What is gospel music like in France; is it huge or is it just beginning to gain exposure in that country?

It started off with a big bang that happened years ago. It’s been happening for a long time because I have been going back and forth for a very long time and traditional gospel has always been big over there. People really don’t know this, but some of the new gospel artists were not even born as yet. They would play Mahalia and other great artists from back in the day. Many of the Jazz festival in Europe include gospel. I went to Mascow about 15 years ago, and one young man was singing James Cleveland’s “God Has Smiled On Me”, and he sounded just like him! This was in Eastern Europe. So gospel music is loved there and has been coming a long time. Back then it was a kind of underground music, but now it has really exploded.

Why does it seem as if gospel music is more accepted overseas than it is here in the United States?

I think that when you’re used to having good things around, you take it for granted and you don’t really appreciate it until it’s not there anymore. I feel that we’ve had the very best of everything; we’ve had the best of democracy…you name it, we’ve had the best of it, and we take it for granted and we should not, we should be thankful at all times.

When one mention names such as Nina Simone, Etta James, Jesse Norman and other great vocalists; one cannot help but to mention Liz McComb among them. Why do you think that your music is so well accepted globally and among your peers?

I am a fan of the music and have been listening all of my life. I grew up in a musical family and also the influences of the African-American culture are heavily within my family. My brother plays Jazz Trumpet, we all played and sing. My mother is a Christian lady who wanted everyone home, and if we were going to play music, we would be at home doing it, so she knew where we were at all times. We grew up with all the influences of the culture. My uncle and his wife played Boogie Woogie piano. We had everything musically going on in our family. And that was passed on within the family.

There lots of artists around today; and lots of them feel that the world revolves around them and yet they are here today and gone tomorrow. Why do you think it is so?

I think a lot of their problem is that they watch too much television and a lot of these reality shows and everybody is a star in their minds, and I think it ruins a lot of people in that the humility of being an artist is not there anymore, and I hate to say this but it’s true.

As an artist who have lasted this long in this industry; what words of advice can you offer to any young, aspiring artists coming up today?