Live, self-produced project marks start of Winans’ new venture, MLW Productions, Inc., in partnership with Central South Distribution and Syntax Distribution…In Stores June 26

Multiple-award winner and one-fourth of legendary gospel group The Winans, Marvin Winans, has his sights set on the June 26, 2012, release of Marvin L. Winans Presents: The Praise & Worship Experience, his first album in five years and debut offering through MLW Productions, Inc., a new company he started that provides him an opportunity to work closely with his son, Marvin Winans, Jr., who serves as President/General Manager.

One of gospel music’s foremost vocalists, Winans — alongside a who’s who of gospel music’s biggest names and tastemakers — took to the stage at the very church he planted in 1989, Perfecting Church in Detroit, Michigan, to record  The Praise  & Worship Experience, a display of the singer’s love of church music.

“The first thing I hope people walk away with from this Experience is the joy and the presence of the Lord,” says Winans, who self-produced the album. “I also hope people walk away more intelligent with respect to gospel music — that it’s not just one genre, but a broad spectrum of praise and worship.”

Indeed, The Praise & Worship Experience runs the gamut from joyous, Latin-infused praise (“Glory to God”) to airy, Andraé Crouch-styled melodies (“Eyes on You”) and choral Sunday-morning fare (“Reach Out and Touch Him”). The project’s leadoff single, “Draw Me Close/Thy Will Be Done,” has already impacted radio and is rising on the gospel charts with each week on the airwaves.

In good pastoral fashion, Winans leads the Perfecting Church mass choir and praise-and-worship team through a seamless collection of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs — and invites a number of friends and fellow worshippers to the proceedings, including ministry colleagues Donnie McClurkin, Marvin Sapp, Bishop Paul S. Morton, Mary Mary, Don Moen, and his mother, Delores “Mom” Winans,” among others.

Distribution for Marvin L. Winans Presents: The Praise & Worship Experience will be handled by Central South Distribution at Christian and general-market retailers, while marketing and distribution at digital outlets will be controlled by Syntax Distribution.

“Marvin Winans and the Winans family have been the cornerstone of my successful music business career,” said industry veteran and head of Central South Distribution, Vicki Mack Lataillade. “I worked on some of the very first Winans recordings and was actually in the studio in Los Angeles when The Winans sang ‘The Question Is.’ I remember being mesmerized by Marvin’s incredible voice. That sound has continued to revolutionize and elevate gospel music to this day.”

“It’s an honor to be able to use our team’s skills and abilities to come along a legend — a legend not only in gospel music, but in music, period,” said Tim Trudeau, president of Syntax Distribution. “Many of the artists we have worked with over the years have been inspired or influenced by Marvin, so it’s nice to get to work with the root of our businesses’ legacy.”

Winans recently took to YouTube to speak his heart about The Praise & Worship Experience, and in the process reflected upon a landmark year in many areas — from the passing of family friend Whitney Houston and a recent carjacking incident to the spiritual lessons learned in between.

Renowned gospel singer Marvin Winans is a GRAMMY®, Stellar, and Dove-winning member of the legendary Winans family, as well as co-founder alongside his brothers Carvin, Michael and Ronald of the trailblazing gospel quartet, The Winans. Together, the siblings bridged the gap between gospel and mainstream music with such high-charting singles as “Tomorrow,” “It’s Time,” and “Ain’t No Need to Worry,” paving the way for crossover gospel acts in decades to come. When he is not recording or performing, Winans pastors Perfecting Church in Detroit, Michigan, a congregation of more than 4,000 that he helped co-found in 1989. The Praise & Worship Experience, Winans’ first album under MLW Productions, Inc., a new imprint he runs with his son Marvin Jr., releases June 26th and can be pre-ordered here.

A division of Quality Junk, Syntax Distribution is a digital distribution and aggregation firm based in San Diego, California, handling many of the top independent artists such as David and Tamela Mann of Tyler Perry’s Meet The Browns, Disney’s Next Big Thing winner Jasmine, as well as award winning emcee Flame. Their clientele includes Central South, Crossroads Music, and Bema Media, among others. To learn more about Syntax Distribution, visit: http://syntaxcreative.com.