|
 Betty
J. (Sis. B.J.) Wilkerson is an American musician, guitarist,
vocalist, songwriter, producer and is one of eight
children born to the late Bro. and Sis. Edward Lee Wilkerson, Sr. of
Temple, TX. Like her brothers and sisters before her, she was
brought up in church and taught to live a life for CHRIST and to use
her talents to the glory and honor of GOD. At the age of 8, Sis. B.J.
began to take interest in the guitar as a result of being inspired
by her older brothers. She learned the notes from her mother and
with an anointing from God, she taught herself to play the guitar.
In her church there were four main instruments: piano, drums, bass
and guitar. Back then the guitars were dominant - sometimes even the
preacher or bishop played one; their sound captivated 8-year-old
girl.
"That type of sound just caught my ear," she said, so much so that
when she saw the saints playing she took up her own "guitar," her
handheld fan.
It wasn't long before the "air guitar" became a real one and Sis.
B.J. began to learn how to make the high notes she loved in church
and all the others that were needed to give voice to her own guitar.
Her mother, the late Lillie Mae Wilkerson, pianist at the church,
was her teacher.
"My mother taught me my notes and God just did the rest," she said.
Playing gospel guitar wasn't a hobby for Sis. B.J. It wasn't a
passing fancy; it was, and is, her way of praising God. She would
play at church and with her peers at the church's state meetings.
Sis. B.J.'s musical interest and talent heightened. She began to set
goals toward a musical endeavor which included going to college for
sound engineering, opening her own studio, B.J.'s Recording Studio.
In 1981, this dream became a reality when she made her first 45 rpm
record, played for gospel recording artists Dorothy Norwood, Carolyn
Traylor, Albertina Walker, Dorinda Clark Cole and Darius Brooks and
also recorded live on Chester D. T. Baldwin (Sing It On Sunday
Morning!II.)
On her mother's side, Sis. B.J. said, almost everyone was musically
inclined. That inclination stretched generations from her
grandfather, who made and played his own guitar, to Sis. B.J. and
her siblings, three brothers and three sisters (one sister and one
brother is deceased).
Her mother not only taught her how to play guitar, but also the
character it took to be a musician. Learning the instrument was
important, but just as important was always trying your best, always
striving to accomplish your goals and even going beyond them.
She's dedicated her first CD in 2006 title "What Momma Likes" to her
mother because of her mother's encouragement. One track on the CD,
"Momma," is a live recording of her mother singing.
The track that reminds Sis. B.J. of her mother the most, though, and
which is the inspiration for the title "What Momma Likes," is the
classic "Amazing Grace." It was her mother's favorite. She feels
with this arrangement, all instrumental, that the voice of the hymn
can be heard in the guitar.
One other matter her mother taught her, perhaps the most important,
was always to glorify God. When Sis. B.J. recalls the saints playing
at her church, she comes back to the sound, to a particular sound -
the high notes the guitarists picked out. At the moment those notes
were hit, at the moment the guitarists seemed anointed by God, that
was when the people in the church seemed at the highest moment of
praise, the peak of rejoicing in the Lord.
Always as a musician, striving to glorify God, striving to reach
that high note, she has played with the hope to bring a blessing to
the people she plays for. It's all in God's time, she said, of when
that moment comes.
The last track on her CD "Pentecostal Time" is an attempt to capture
that moment, as well as a tribute to those times at church when
praise was at its height.
"I've seen the saints praising the Lord," she said. "This
('Pentecostal Time') is the type of music I grew up with."And as
she recorded the piece, as she has played it, she has come to
realize the spirit is inspiring her; it's a high moment of praise.
"Notes come to me that I can't play at home, but God anoints me with
them. I just totally give myself to him, and he takes over. When God
takes over, I love it when he does it."
In 2012 she recorded her second CD titled "I Owe My Life"
In 2017 she recorded her third CD titled "Fill My Cup"
|
