Having started his preaching ministry at the age of 17, Dr. E. Dewey Smith has explosively grown his community of Macon, GA. He is the Senior Pastor/Teacher of the House of Hope Atlanta, The House of Macon and The House of Hope WestPointe – in which he’s garnered over 10,000 memberships. Clearly, he has dedicated his life to serving the people around him. With so much time spent doing for others, Dr. E. Dewey recently released his very own debut solo project and well, it was worth the wait. Over the course of his life, his love for music has only grown, yet was always put on the back burner. With the pandemic giving us so much “free time,” he decided the time was now. We had the chance to sit down with him to discuss the details of his debut project, the inspiration behind his label, Pebble Street Records, and more in our exclusive interview.
Tell us about your album, “God Period.”
It’s a longtime dream. I’ve been a musician all my life, but when I started to do ministry and pastoring, I put my music on the back burner. This is something my mother always wanted me to do. My mother passed away a few years ago. I decided to go ahead and pursue that life-long dream while also giving tribute to my mother. God Period was released on October 15th and I’m excited about it.
What was it like working on this project during the ongoing pandemic?
I’ve dreamed about it for years, since I was a kid. Last October, I had a conversation with my music team in October of last year. My producer said, ‘Let’s get in the studio.’ A lot of times people say, ‘If I had to do this, I would do such and such.’ For me, the pandemic gave me time to do such and such. I had this conversation last year and the first session we had; we came up with three songs. I said, well maybe things have slowed down a little and I should take advantage of this time to do something productive. The pandemic was so depressing for a lot of people. It was challenging. I asked what I could do to be productive during the time. I wanted to make full proof of the time. It was a life lesson for me and some people around me. You can still be productive in uncomfortable times.
What inspired the creation of Pebble Street Records?
Well, I was raised in Macon, Georgia. My family lived on Pebble Street, my grandfather lived on Pebble Street, my father was also a pastor on Pebble Street. My great uncles also lived on Pebble Street. My father put a guitar in my hand when I was three years old. That was on Pebble Street. I began piano lessons from Ms. Williams at age five, she also lived on Pebble Street. We did a lot of outdoor singing on Pebble Street. I started a band in high school and used my grandmother’s daycare center to practice, that was also on Pebble Street. For me, starting this label, I wanted to give an ode or tribute to my musical roots. Without Pebble Street, there would be no me for my music career. I’ve just loved not forgetting where I came from, so Pebble Street is where it started.
What can we look forward to seeing from you in the year 2022?
Well, we’ve signed our first artist. His name is Courtney Franklin from Memphis, Tennessee. He’s been singing for a long time and has done background with so many great artists. We signed him and we’re releasing his project in 2022. We’ve also signed Michael Lampkin. He’s a pastor in St. Louis – he was also on BET’s Sunday Best. He was a finalist. Incredible single and we’ll be releasing his project in 2022 as well. I’m looking to release four to five projects next year, including another one of my own and one with our church. It’s going to be a great year of music and I’m excited about it.
For more on E. Dewey Smith, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.
All images by Melissa Renee
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