SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW: LILY ISAACS OF THE ISAACS
SOUTHERN GOSPEL SPOLTIGHT PRESENTS:
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM MY INTERVIEW WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN THIS MONTH'S SGN SCOOPS DIGITAL MAGAZINE!! PLEASE GO CHECK OUT THE ISSUE NOW!!
The Isaacs have been a mainstay in Gospel and Bluegrass music for years! This beloved family has captivated audiences with their incredible harmony and musicianship. Most importantly their hearts for God are truly apparent! I recently had the pleasure to talk with matriarch Lily Isaacs about the group’s career and their recent Grammy nominated album Nature’s Symphony in 432: A Journey from Pain to Praise.
Justin Gilmore: Hello Mrs. Isaacs, this is Justin Gilmore from SGN Scoops.
Lily Isaacs: Hi Justin, I’m so sorry for all of this confusion. It’s just been the busiest two weeks of our year. Thank you so much for calling.
Gilmore: Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me. First, tell me about the formation of the group, the early days.
Isaacs: Well, the Isaacs started with myself and my kids’ father Joe Isaacs, who’s my ex-husband. We started singing in 1971 after we got saved. Then we had a band at the time and we performed just on weekends because we had full time jobs. And as time went on and we got busier, we went into full time ministry in 1986. As our children were teenagers, they showed a lot more interest in music and so as one band member would leave, the kids would take their place. Sonya was the first one, taking up the position of the mandolin and then Ben went on bass, and then Becky went to the guitar. So it wasn’t really a plan it just happened that way. So today we are an all family band and we also have a drummer and my grandson Levi, who now plays guitar for us as well.
Gilmore: Great! What is the group’s mission statement?
Isaacs: Our mission statement is that we want the world to know that there is hope in trusting the Lord. There’s a lot of things- most all things are out of our control- and to just put our lives in God’s hands. Trust Him with everything is the most important thing you could do. So our mission is to go out there and let people walk away with a feeling of hope and not despair. There is hope through Christ.
Gilmore: That is really awesome! Who are were the group’s musical influences?
Isaacs: We had a lot of different influences. My kids’ father Joe Isaacs, was very popular in the bluegrass industry so he would listen to groups like the Stanley Brothers and Bill Munroe. So the bluegrass end of what we do basically started with that. I personally am a folk singer. I have an album out on Columbia Records in 1968, so I loved people like Simon & Garfunkel, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Bob Dylan, so we had a unique blend of what we liked. Our kids grew up with both sides of that. My kids would love to listen to Ricky Skaggs. The Marshall Family was one of our favorites, who was a group that was very popular in the 70s. We loved listening to a lot of variety type of music. I would say that my son Ben was always a Country Music fan of the old style country that you hear on the Grand Ole Opry. So he loved that style. My daughters also would listen to a variety. Currently, you know like Eva Cassidy, and the country gentlemen who were more progressive and bluegrass influences Allison Krauss of course. So it’s just a complete mixture and I guess that’s why we have what we have today.
Gilmore: Great! What is the most memorable experience you have had in your career singing Gospel/Bluegrass music?
Isaacs: The most memorable experience I think that I’ve had is probably when we performed at Carnegie Hall. That’s one of the most memorable. We had an opportunity to go up there with the Gaithers. It was the year after 9/11 and Gaither put on a patriotic event at Carnegie Hall and we were a part of that. So growing up in New York City, Carnegie Hall was always my dream. I never dreamed that I would go there. I just wanted to go see that stage let alone be on that stage performing. It was a very memorable event as they honored firefighters, first responders, and police officers and everybody in New York City who responded to 9/11. So it was a very emotional video. But the highlight to me was my kids got to do the National Anthem and we did another song as well but my parents are Polish Holocaust survivors, Jewish, and we had my mother come out on stage that night. Bill Gaither introduced her, and at 82 years old, he asked her if she wanted to say anything. In her thick Polish accent, she said I am proud to be an American now! And she got a standing ovation. After everything she had been through in her life and losing everything during World War II, it was an electrifying moment because my parents and I became American citizens when I was nine years old. Just to stand there and have her say that and to get a standing ovation was just probably the most memorable moment of I think all of our lives.
Gilmore: Wow! That is pretty incredible!
Isaacs: Pretty amazing. It was incredible! And she had never been honored for anything in her life, why would she be, and it was so unexpected and Bill was so gracious to get her out on stage. I was kind of nervous as she had never been to a Gospel show before and had heard our family sing Gospel music, (that’s a whole other story in itself). She came and when he invited her on stage, I was a little anxious and I wasn’t sure what she would say, but it was perfect! She was charming. She was just perfect!
Gilmore: Great! Talk about your latest radio single and integrating your Jewish heritage into your music.
Isaacs: Well our latest single is “This Is The Year,” which talks about this year being the year of Jubilee. It actually was supposed to be over in the end of October and every fifty years, in Judaism since the beginning of time, there is a year called Jubilee. My girls studied it quite a bit. It speaks of it in Leviticus 23 about how all debts would be cancelled, all people would be healed, and it was a year of new beginnings, a new start. You know the Jewish people were excited about this particular time because it would give them a fresh start. So studying about this, the actual holiday began on the eve of Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement. So we happened to be in the studio that day and recording the vocals on that particular song. So we decided that it would be so cool to have someone open the song with a shofar, which is the instrument that’s used in the synagogue for every celebratory holiday, so it happened that the engineer knew how to blow a shofar, so we waited until sundown and had him blow that shofar and we had some of our friends join us. You know this has been a year of Jubilee. We had a change in our people and our country giving it back to God, you know it just seem s that the song is very timely. We just wanted to get it out there this year especially for that reason. We being Jewish, the DNA of the mother passes through so my kids though their father is not Jewish, are considered full blooded Jews and we have dual citizenship in America and Israel for that reason. It’s just all of our lives, and my kids lives, you know we always pay attention to that because the New Testament is an extension of the Old Testament. Jewish people believe in God, very beautiful religion, and very religious Jewish people are godly people. However, they don’t except Jesus as Messiah. But I think one day they will. So we just incorporate what we can and we are proud of heritage. My ex-husband is from Kentucky and his parents were preachers. So it was quite a unique upbringing my family had so we do what feels good, we don’t try to fit in a box. My girls wrote all the songs on this new album so we were able to expand our territory that way.
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Gilmore: Fantastic! Any advice for aspiring groups or Gospel singers?
Isaacs: I guess my advice would be: be yourself! You know so many people try to be who other people are that I think if you have a talent or a desire to just be yourself. If you love what you do, the music you do or the songwriting you do, go for it!! The American Dream is to go after it and don’t give up. You know if you have to get a job as waitresses of waiter, while you’re doing your songwriting, do it! But don’t give up your dream! I think that would be my advice. A lot of young people these days have a spirit of entitlement, but it doesn’t come with that. We The Isaacs for example have been singing for forty years and we are still working. You don’t get it handed to you on a silver platter. You have to work; you have to be dedicated. Keep focused on the ministry and keep focused on the Lord. Be yourself!
Gilmore: That’s very true! What can fans expect from the group this year?
Isaacs: Well, we are going to the Grammys in February so we’re excited about that. We are getting ready to back into the studio to do another recording perhaps later this Spring. My daughter Sonya is expecting a baby girl in April so we’re excited about that. We are going to Israel in July. It’ll be our 13th trip and we love going and taking people with us. Terry Bradshaw, who is the executive producer of our new album, is also going to be doing an album this year on the House of Isaacs Music label and we’re thrilled about that. A lot of positive things coming up but a lot of work. Hopefully, we can just continue doing what we are doing and meet all the people out there who are faithfully going to our shows.
Gilmore: Awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me!
Isaacs: Thank you so much Justin!