Most gospel music fans know the smash hit “Praise Is What I Do”—the title track from Shekinah Glory Ministries’ 2002 gold-selling album—much better than they do the name of its writer, William Murphy. But that is about to change, and in bold and dramatic fashion.

With the release of William’s own label debut album, The Sound, the world can now hear the amazing voice and deeply moving songs of a young man who already is one of the brightest lights in the firmament of contemporary praise & worship music.

Possessing a voice that is nothing short of stunning, in range and dynamics, and with seasoned hit-makers flare for instantly accessible, engaging and unforgettable words and music, William makes music that crosses all lines of age, creed and color. William Murphy makes for the masses, and The Sound is the calling card introducing one of the most formidable talents in contemporary music.

Recorded live before a vocally enthused and inspired audience, The Sound runs a gamut of musical influences from modern gospel, urban, R&B, rock and pop, all drawn together into a brilliant and original combination that defies easy, preexisting categories. Don’t bother with labels. Just call it William Murphy, and be prepared to be amazed.

The title track “The Sound,” the album’s first single and video, showcases William and his band and vocal ensemble soar above it all, giving new life and high-octane energy to the venerable standard.

William was given a solid foundation in both the church and its music, as his father and grandfather were musically gifted, and the elder a Baptist minister and his son a minister and bishop. Both men, still active in the ministry and in strong voice, join William on The Sound.

“Church is what I’ve known all my life,” he says. “My family is rich in the heritage of the Gospel, in spoken-word ministry as well as music. That was the foundation I grew up on.”

Although he had cousins who had been, proverbially, singing from the cradle, William’s talents were later in coming to the fore, as he sang for the first time in front of a congregation at age 14, after having first been active in school musical programs. “I was the late bloomer in the family,” he remembers. “I just woke up one morning and discovered I could sing! For a number of years I thought I would just use that gift in my father’s and grandfather’s church, and that would be it. His first major step up the ladder of recognition as a worship leader came when he met Bishop Paul S. Morton, the International Presiding Bishop at a national convention of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship in 1995. William was asked to record a song for the album released from that conference, on which Bishop Long gave a spoken introduction. The two became friends and William was soon after offered the position as the Fellowship’s worship minister.

As his presence rose in the fellowship, and word of his immense talents spread ever farther, William was presented the opportunity by Bishop Long to serve at New Birth in 2001. William and his wife and two children moved to Atlanta as he became the church’s Senior Minister of Worship, a position he held until December 2005. In January 2006, he and his wife, Pastor Danielle launched the dReam Center church. The dReam Center church is alive in the earth teaching men to cultivate, strengthen and build their personal relationships with Jesus, their wives, their children, their families and their communities thru prayer, worship, family, evangelism, education, wealth development and social action.