In the Spotlight Singer's goal is 'to touch the hearts of the people who are listening'

Feb. 18—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — When Darlene H. Seals sang quietly as a child, her mother would say, "When you sing, you sing with that outside voice."

"I think that, initially, I was a little shy about singing because to me it was just something fun to do, playing church with my brothers," said Seals, who lives in Johnstown's West End. "I have three brothers — a set of twins, James and John, and my baby brother's name is Merle.

"We would play church, and needless to say, I was the choir. I would sing for them.

"But to go out and sing in front of other people, I really wasn't very comfortable with that."

She eventually acclimated to singing in public — with her bold "outside voice," as her mother, Frances Elizabeth (Herndon) Howard, encouraged — and has now been entertaining and inspiring listeners for decades.

Her first public performance that she remembers was when she was about 6 years old.

"One Sunday, for sure, (my grandmother) put a chair up in the front of the church, and we sang a song together," Seals recalled. "I think that's where my career in singing got its start."

Seals has been inspired both by internationally known performers and by teachers in her daily life.

She received instruction and encouragement from Larry Foust, the former music and band director at Conemaugh Valley High School.

Some of Seals' favorite performers during her developmental years were opera singer Leontyne Price, and Ella Fitzgerald from the jazz world, along with Diana Ross, Patti LaBelle, Tina Turner and Nina Simone. Other music filled her home, too — from The Supremes, The Temptations and The Isley Brothers to local polka tunes on the Sunday radio. Seals credits her sister, Sandra Scott, for turning her onto the soul and R&B music in their youths.

Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson was one of the first performers who "really inspired me," Seals said, by showing how she was "on a mission to draw people closer to Jesus Christ."

That helped make gospel and religious music central to Seals' life.

She now sings at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in the city's Hornerstown section for Sunday services, weddings and funerals.

"Singing at my church means the world to me," Seals, an ordained minister, said. "It allows me to utilize the gift that God gave me. I can remember being a very young girl and my grandmother would say to me ... 'You don't take the glory for singing in God's church. The glory goes to God, because what he gave you can easily be taken away.' and I'll tell you, that stayed with me over my lifetime.

"And so when I sing in a church environment, I sing to touch the hearts of the people who are listening. We don't ever know. People can come to church with a smile on their face, but their hearts may be broken. And so if the words of my songs can encourage someone, can comfort someone, then I've done exactly what God wants me to do."

She added: "I think that when I sing, I don't sing to impress anyone. I just sing to allow people to hear the words of the song melodically — hoping that because of what I sing, it would touch their hearts in a way that it would be of comfort to them, it would be of inspiration to them and that I'm giving God the glory."

Seals once sang for what she estimated to be a crowd of more than 30,000 people at the A.M.E. Zion Church's international conference in Washington, D.C.

Outside church settings, Seals regularly performs for individuals and groups, including Veteran Community Initiatives. She also used to organize music events at the Hiram G. Andrews Center where she worked for more than three decades.

She frequently collaborates with pianist Devon Haselrig, whom she affectionately refers to as a "taskmaster."

"Devon will have me singing on the corner of Main and Market streets if he could because we just make such wonderful music together," Seals said with a laugh.

She still remembers a bit of advice he gave her when they first started performing together around 45 years ago.

"He said to me, 'What I want you to always remember is be a creator and not an imitator,' and that was so profound to me, and it has stayed in my heart and in my mind over the years," Seals said.

"There are already greats out there," she said. "There are already singers that are so noted worldwide for their gifts and their talents. They don't try to emulate anybody else.

"They're just who they are, and they do what God gifted them to do. And so that's what I try to do with every performance that I'm able to do ... be myself and create something a little different and stay in my own lane."

Seals added: "It will always be my mission to never allow what I do to be predictable. I have been blessed with a gift to bring joy to the hearts of the listeners. I will forever stay true to the assignment."