In a time when many of us feel untethered, Mississippi-rooted collective Annie and the Caldwells speak about faith and music as anchors, steady forces that pull people back toward themselves and toward hope.
It isn’t every day you speak with a band that can move effortlessly from Southern gospel to funk to disco without blinking, but Annie and the Caldwells make it feel completely natural.
Ask what kind of music they make and Annie answers without hesitation.
“It’s a little bit of everything. Gospel, soul, disco, whatever they want to call it.”
The music feels woven together rather than boxed in, sacred melodies threaded through groove and rhythm. “I describe it like gospel and sacred music with the funk and disco,” Annie says. “Everybody likes music. They like a mixture.”
Annie and the Caldwells
- When: 10 March
- Where: Melbourne Recital Centre
- Tickets: here
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For Annie, music goes beyond expression. It feels closer to a calling, something given rather than constructed. “Music come from within,” she explains. “However they say, if God brought it to them, that’s how they get their music. That’s how we begin when we write.”
Growing up in Mississippi, Southern gospel shaped the foundation of their writing and performance. Church choirs formed their harmonies and strengthened their sense of community. The church was a place where voices grew stronger and faith was tested and affirmed. Those early lessons still echo through their sound today.
“When you go through some stuff,” Annie reflects, “and when I was a little girl, and even now, life feels like sometimes there’s no hope of tomorrow, and you feel like there’s no peace, but then you hear the Lord, He says, ‘I got you. I love you.’”
You don’t have to share her beliefs to understand that feeling. Everyone knows what it is to crave reassurance when tomorrow feels uncertain. That universal longing is why their music travels so far.
Love, comfort and togetherness are languages people understand everywhere.
That reassurance sits at the heart of what the Caldwells offer. Their songs reach toward those who feel worn down. “People that are struggling and feel like no hope for tomorrow,” Annie says, “then the music, you can feel the Lord lift your head.” She smiles as she describes the release. “It make you cry sometimes. Make you laugh sometimes. They can shout.”
Performing as a family deepens that emotional current. There is a visible sense of grounding when they take the stage together. Shared history and memory shape the room before a note is even sung. Annie sums it up simply.
“Like a family that pray together, stay together. Prayer got a lot to do with it.” Years of singing side by side have built a trust that runs far deeper than rehearsal. Their harmonies grow from shared life as much as musical skill.
The visual side of their performances carries the same spirit. Annie designs the vibrant, joyful and colourful outfits herself, clothing that nods to church tradition while embracing bold self-expression. The look feels celebratory and intentional. “I feel like the Lord show me what to pick,” she says, speaking about style with the same conviction she brings to her music.
When Annie considers how far their sound has travelled, she speaks with humility. “I don’t know why the Lord have it so different,” she admits. “But I do know that hearing it got us a long way. People are hearing what you’re saying.” She has watched audiences connect with gospel for the first time through their shows. “They don’t know gospel,” she says. “But thank God He let us carry the gospel.”
At their performances, the atmosphere feels closer to a reunion than a concert. Annie describes audiences as sweet and beautiful, open and ready. “We all just get together and have a time,” she says. There is joy in that simplicity, a sense that something shared is unfolding in real time.
Australian audiences will experience that energy firsthand when Annie and the Caldwells take the stage at the Melbourne Recital Centre on March 10. In a country that often sees itself as increasingly secular, its message may arrive in surprising ways. Annie is less concerned with belief and more interested in feeling. When the music begins, what matters is the lift in the room.
When asked about their approach to their live show, Annie puts it simply: “expect the unexpected,” and Annie and the Caldwells don’t disappoint.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Melbourne Recital Centre.
