The McCrary Sisters on holiday benefit concert, inspiring Nashville's musical community

Nashville-based gospel favorites The McCrary Sisters are pairing with a who's who of and musical legends for the 14th edition of their "A McCrary Kind of Christmas" holiday concert on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. CT at East Nashville's Riverside Revival Center.

The event benefits Memphis' St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and individual families in need in the greater Nashville area.

"St. Jude, to me, is one of the most spectacular hospitals in the world. Because if you have children, and they become ill, it is bad enough to be concerned about them and praying that they're gonna be alright. But at St. Jude, you don't have to worry about the bills," Ann McCrary said in a news release.

Alongside the McCrary Sisters, acts including Grammy and Americana Music Award winners Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller and Margo Price, plus Kyla Jade, Etta & Bob Britt, Tammy & Steve Crawford, the Travis Logan Unity Choir, BIZZ, Danny & Mabel Flowers, Gayle Mays, Dwight Ross, Wil, Will Barrow, Dave Pomeroy and more are scheduled to appear.

Tickets are on sale now and donations are also being accepted. Global live-streaming of the event will also be available via the VEEPS service. Live stream tickets are also currently available.

Eighteen months ago, the McCrary Sisters lost the second-eldest sibling of their quartet, Deborah, 67, after she suffered a second severe stroke in under a decade.

The McCrarys, now a trio, have continued, bowed, but not broken, since their sisters' passing.

By being authentically themselves and humbly able to navigate styles undefinable by traditional genre lines, they and the artists appearing on Dec. 8 have continued to achieve timeless acclaim.

"Whether you went to jail or school at Yale, the power of knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord, Messiah and savior of the world is powerful enough to unify you with others and make you understand the value of giving back some of the gifts that God has so unselfishly given," Regina McCrary joked to The Tennessean.

"[Events like Dec. 8] allow all of us, as performers, to unite as servants coming together to lift the emotions of those in need."

For the McCrary Sisters, that call has been lifelong with incredible, multigenerational ties.

Their father, the late Rev. Samuel McCrary, was a founding member of the iconic gospel quartet the Fairfield Four. Thus, before forming as a unit in 2011, they sang at home, in their father's church and alongside artists including Bob Dylan, Isaac Hayes, Elvis Presley and Stevie Wonder.

Over a half-dozen albums and two decades into their artist careers, The McCrary Sisters count numerous appearances onstage at the Americana Music Awards (among many venues), plus work with acts including Country Music Hall of Famer Hank Williams Jr., Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sheryl Crow, Gregg Allman, the Black Keys, Eric Church, Dr. John, Delbert McClinton, Maren Morris, Carrie Underwood and The Winans among career highlights to date.

"Providing anointed, inspirational singing requires accepting that what comes from the heart [can directly] touch another heart," said Ann McCrary.

"We're singing harmonies unified by our family ties and [achieving vibrational energies] more than by [traditional vocal ranges]," added Regina McCrary. "When we're onstage, you're seeing family unified under a personal and spiritual accord. That makes our performances fun and unlike anything else in the world."

Remaining humbled in such an exciting calling requires the trio to stay perpetually grounded in their spiritual roots moreso than directly pursuing fame alongside success. They also sing material that foremost aligns with what Regina McCrary calls a "pure heart and sincere spirit."

That sincerity is borne of mirroring not just their father and the Fairfield Four but also acts including The Caravans, Shirley Caesar, Rev. James Cleveland and the Staple Singers. Those artists' ability to connect secular-minded people to timeless gospel songs like "Amazing Grace," "God Specializes, "(Jesus Keeps Me) Near the Cross" and "Precious Lord" is carried forth in the modern era by the McCrarys.

Consistently swaying the line between secular and spiritual material requires what Alfreda McCrary calls an "uncompromising" vision of the power of a well-seasoned and "unprecedented" sound.

She describes their family's sound as uncategorizable by genre titles and driven instead by the the values of hard work and inspiration over idolatry as what has allowed the McCrary name to achieve a century of renown both in Nashville and worldwide.

Regina McCrary offers a note describing how the McCrary family is a tree with roots and branches that all serve the equal purpose of humbly serving the gifts that God has afforded them.

When asked to summarize the power of what Dec. 8 yields not just to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in donations but to Nashville's unified creative community, Regina McCrary smiled and offers, as expected, a spiritual response:

"God continues to create mind-blowing performers who we continue to inspire in the same way that we were years ago," she said.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: The McCrary Sisters on holiday benefit concert, inspiring Nashville's musical community