Nancy Taylor:Greene Publishing, Inc.
Saturday evening, Sept. 23, brought community members together for a wonderful time of fellowship and sweet music at Midway Baptist Church. Church members and guests gathered in the church’s fellowship hall at 6 p.m. to enjoy freshly boiled peanuts and wonderful homemade desserts while they joined in fellowship. An hour later, they moved to the sanctuary to hear Jessica Ratliff and her children sing some great gospel music. Ratliff has been singing since she was five or six years old. After she grew up, she sang with the local group, Life Song for six years before sensing the Lord calling her to launch out on her own. She has been performing as a soloist for about one year now. However, she’s not really a solo act anymore. Her son and daughter sing with her on many of her songs. Her son, Wyatt, is four years old and daughter, Emery is seven. Emery sings a higher range harmony part on many of Jessica’s musical selections, and Wyatt sang the bass part on the song, “Have a little talk with Jesus.” Emery sang the song, “Mountain Mover,” as a solo, and the children sang “Be like little children” as a duet. Jessica says she loves having this opportunity to make so many memories with her children. She is also having the opportunity to spread her wings as a songwriter. Two of the songs she performed during the concert were “Make my heart a home” and “You can tell me then.” She wrote “You can tell me then” based on part of her father’s testimony. When he was 14, his younger brother – and best friend – was killed in a fatal gun accident. She produced a music video to accompany this song, and she said she knew God was in it because the video and the music came together “without a hitch.” Ratliff and her husband, Jimbo, live in Greenville where they serve as youth pastors at St. Johns Baptist Church. To learn more about Ratliff and her music, or to contact her about singing, call (850) 253-5242. You can e-mail her at jessicaratliffgospel@gmail.com. You can also find her on Facebook, or go to her website at jessicaratliffgospel.com.