Kinston natives Alvin Woods and Elijah Woods Jr. recently published a book on the history of gospel groups in eastern North Carolina. The book identifies 81 different gospel groups in the region.

Alvin Woods, the owner of Alvin Woods Media, said the idea for the book came to him in 2017 when he noticed that there were billboards on the main street of Kinston advertising R&B groups, but only one billboard for a gospel group. He decided to research the history of gospel groups in the area and discovered that there was a strong legacy of gospel music in eastern North Carolina. He and his brother decided to write a book on their father, Elijah Woods Sr., who was a gospel singer from 1947 to 2007, and to include information on other gospel groups in the region.

Elijah Woods Jr., a Lenoir County School Board member, said he did a lot of the research for the book, and that it was easy for him to do so because he had grown up listening to gospel music and had attended many gospel singing events in the area. He said that one thing that stood out to him during the research process was how talented the people in his community were.

"We realize how blessed we were and how we were surrounded by talent in the book itself," Woods said.

The authors said that the book has provided a lot of information to the North Carolina Arts Council, which has been trying to research gospel singers for years.

"We didn't realize that the book we wrote provided them with a lot of information that they have been waiting to find for years," Alvin Woods said.

The authors said that they hope the book will help to preserve the history of gospel music in eastern North Carolina and inspire future generations of gospel singers.

"We just want to keep the legacy alive," Elijah Woods Jr. said. "We want people to know that there is a rich history of gospel music in this area."