Pioneering music company Chapel Lane re-emerges with new releases.

ONE OF the early 80s premier Christian music companies Chapel Lane based at its Hampton Bishop studio, near Hereford, has just announced a new batch of releases.

Top of the pile is an album of traditional hymns 'Redeemer Love' by Oliver Raper. The album produced by John Daniels, contains a sleeve note by international evangelist Reinhardt Bonke in whose crusades Oliver often ministers. Another new release is by new contemporary Christian music singers Sue North. Entitled 'Love Calling' it has, in the words of Chapel Lane head Rob Andrews "some of the early Sheila Walsh magic about it." Sheila Walsh, along with artists like Bryn Haworth and Norman Barratt, all recorded for Chapel Lane in the early 80s. Explains Andrews "We lost nearly £200,000 during our high publicity days and it took nearly eight years to clear our debts. But God has honoured what we've been doing and now with a newly refurbished studio we feel we can look forward to exciting new era of ministry." Welsh worship artist Ray Bevan recently left Chapel Lane after an association going back several years to sign with Word (UK). Chapel Lane have compiled a CD of Ray's best earlier recordings 'Something Special'. Says Andrews "It's been a bit disappointing loosing artists down the years to larger companies. We could feel we're just being used as a stepping-stone to further artists' careers. But anyway our whole emphasis is ministry, finding artists with a real desire to minister as well as make music, and within those parameters we've been very successful.

The studio refurbishment with a new DDA AMR 24 track desk will in the words of Andrews "enable us to produce albums with a top league sound."