Deondra Felton
Gospel vocalist out of Minneapolis, Minnesota — a voice cultivated in church pews, choir risers, and thirty years of ministry.
The Artist
Deondra Felton has been singing since before she can remember not singing — a voice that got noticed in a church pew long before it ever got near a stage. Thirty years of ministry, a debut album in 2011, and a music department she built from a tape recorder in a living room later, she's an independent artist who's really just getting started.
Deondra Felton was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, singing from as far back as anyone can remember. That early voice carried her south to Tuskegee University in Alabama, where she became part of the Golden Voices Concert Choir — an ensemble with roots stretching back to 1886, with a history that includes performances at Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the White House, and a shared stage with John Legend and Common.
From there, she spent years performing all over the country in churches and in ministry, wherever a voice like hers was needed. Slowly, that road turned into something of her own — a solo and independent artist journey that's been building ever since.
Deondra founded the music department at The Holy Christian Church, and to her children and everyone who came up under her, that work has one name: The Blueprint. It started as small as ministry gets — singing over tape recorders and CD players during home church services in the earliest, most humble days, when you couldn't move around too much or the track would skip.
From there, she helped build the church's first real team at the empowerment center and medical plaza in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, working with college students who had nothing to bring but hope and a dream. Most of them had only ever been exposed to contemporary Christian music. Deondra led them, taught them how to add flavor, style, and soul, and helped baptize them into real Gospel music — working tirelessly in the process to develop the sound The Holy Christian Church still carries today. As students graduated and new ones came along, she kept guiding the teams that followed her, learning as she went just how many doors the work of ministry keeps opening.
The work carried her to Mounds View Community Center and to In The Word Church, which at the time was a set-up-and-tear-down ministry — load in, lead worship, load out, week after week. From there the team kept growing, the musicians kept developing, and Deondra kept shining, writing, and letting her voice be a beacon of hope for whatever was coming next.
Over the better part of a decade, and through every version the Praise Team went through, she helped build Brooklyn's Praise Team, the Cathedral "Bula" Choir (an inside joke that's stuck for years), and the Youth Praise Team, and encouraged the growth of the Dance Ministry and the Drama Team right alongside them. Deondra is the reason her son had a strong foundation to build from — the blueprint, quite literally, for where he started.
Deondra's voice has been cultivated over a lifetime and tried through every obstacle her journey has put in front of her — and she's come through every one of them still singing. Her independent artist journey is really just beginning.
"I'm Alive" is an anthem of hope — a journey through the resilience of how God keeps us. "Worship You" is an inspirational song built to carry on for generations, in how we sing and how we honor God in song.
Today, Deondra is preparing more music, more tours, and more of everything that's headed this way.
The Blueprint, In Practice
Discography
The Deluxe Edition was executive produced, arranged, written, and engineered start to finish by her son, Daniel James Collective.
Coming soon
"I'm Alive" & "Worship You"
An anthem of hope, and a song built to carry on for generations. Stay tuned.
Follow the Next Chapter
More music, more tours, and more of everything headed this way. For bookings and ministry inquiries, reach out through I See You Family Media Group.