Karen: Tell me, who is Carine?
Carine: I am a mother of four and a born again, Spirit-filled woman of God. I love the Lord with all my heart, and I just happened to be called to the ministry of gospel music.
Karen: Describe that special moment when you knew you really wanted to sing?
Carine: Well, [I was that] little girl with the hairbrush standing in the mirror [singing]; that was a great indicator for me. Also, I was always singing on the school bus. No matter what, I was always singing.
Karen: When did you receive your call to Christ?
Carine: I became a born again Christian 13 years ago, and that’s when the gifts started coming back to me. I wasn’t sure that I was going to be a singer in the future. I thought that [opportunity] had passed, but the Lord reawakened the dream, and it just wouldn’t leave me, so I continued to pursue the Lord and my relationship with him. I continued to develop the singing, and then the anointing came with the call. I pressed on for the anointing more than the singing. I don’t consider myself a singer or an artist so much as I consider myself a minister. The anointing is my priority, so real ministry is my focus.
Karen: Tell me about the new project.
Carine: The project is called It’s My Turn, and it was produced by Noel Hall, the famous producer to Fred Hammond and Martha Munizzi. Noel is what I would call my “dream come true” producer. The CD was entitled It’s My Turn because of a prophetic word that was given to me many years ago before I started recording it. In a sense, “it’s my turn” to present my gift before the Lord. It’s a gospel CD with a praise & worship emphasis that I use as a tool to build my overall ministry upon. Instead of traditional concerts, I do events called “A Praise and Power Encounter with Carine” where I bring praise and dance to the platform, preach, and then move in all-out worship where prophetic song and the power gifts can flow. I love that because it means totally yielding to the Holy Spirit. I love helping people and seeing the freedom that the Lord brings, whether it be physical healing, encouragement, or deliverance; it is so great. I am honored to be used of God to help that happen for people. After many years of waiting and faithfully submitting myself to the Lord and His release, I now present my gift to the Lord, so “it’s my turn.”
Karen: Who were your biggest influences?
Carine: I heard the voice of Tata Vega years back in the movie The Color Purple. She sang the song “God is Trying to Tell You Something”. I remember asking, “You mean God can tell me something? You mean God speaks? What does that mean?” I wasn’t even born again. I would always sing that song over and over for years, and then I came upon the Lord, and I received him as my Savior. Then I found artists like Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Israel Houghton and Martha Munizzi; they all inspired me.
Karen: How did you connect with Detroit Gospel?
Carine: I think DetroitGospel.com is wonderful! I leaned on that resource many years ago when I was looking for a producer. At that time, I was not in the [business], and I didn’t know where to start. I just knew that I was called to do gospel music, and the community that I was in didn’t know anything about it. I knew that I was not called to [go to] Nashville; the Lord told me that He had something for me in Detroit. So I found Detroit Gospel on the web. I was led to the Straight Gate Recording Studio, and eventually a friend of mine, a recording artist named Eric Shawn gave me the connection to Noel Hall, so praise God for DetroitGospel.com. You guys are awesome!
Karen: Do you have any final words of encouragement for aspiring artists?
Carine: I would encourage everyone that is pursuing the Lord and the things of God to live their dreams. I would encourage them to pursue their dreams on purpose and know that they have a call, a future and a hope in the Lord. His gifts and callings are without repentance. That means that they can do all the things that God has purposed for them to do as long as they partner with him and continue to pursue the call. “Worship your way there. Worship God. It is amazing what flows out of a life of real worship.”
Thank You, Carine, for a wonderful and inspiring interview!
-Karen Hunt-Barker
Listen to Carine’s music and learn more about Carine at www.carinemusic.com/index.html. You can also check out Carine’s MySpace page at www.myspace.com/carinegospel.
