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"Keep Hope Alive" announces Pee Wee's presence with smooth, Philly-styled soul, thumping, four-on-the-floor bass, and even old school, double-octave guitar riffs as Callins encourages listeners that they can make it through life's storms. Pee Wee's memorable, midtempo love song to his Creator, and the first single from Street Soul - "Sunshine" - is the aural equivalent of flecks of light illuminating stained glass, with multiple background vocals floating out of the speakers and coloring Pee Wee's commanding lead vocal. So many rainy days/felt like the sun had left my world/but You gave me hope/many nights I tossed and turned/but You became my peace of mind.
Not surprisingly, Pee Wee's melodic roots extend back to the tender age of three when he started playing drums in his grandfather's church in Plant City. "I watched my uncle play the drums, my aunt sing, and my father play the guitar," Callins recalls. "I started playing the drums and the keyboard shortly thereafter, without formal lessons."
Adorned with the natural giftings of a prodigy, Pee Wee kept on this astounding path, becoming minister of music by the age of 12. It was during this time that God's calling on Pee Wee as a musical minister really starting to grow. By 1988 he started touring locally with his aunts, they called themselves Pee Wee and the Heavenly Voices. By 1992, Pee Wee moved with an uncle to Atlanta to pursue a career in R&B. With a record deal on the table, Pee Wee instead chose to move back home to fulfill family obligations, and it was during this period that God stirred Pee Wee's heart toward gospel music.
After recording and much more touring sharing stages with the likes of Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, and Shirley Caesar for the remainder of the 1990s and beyond, Pee Wee's musical direction took another turn.
"Most of my career, I sang traditional black gospel," Callins explains. "But it wasn't until I listened to Out of Eden's last album that I felt the urge to broaden my singing experiences. During this time I received confirmations from the Lord that he was going to fulfill all the promises he made to me. And while fulfilling those promises, he would use me to further the gospel and save, restore, deliver, and heal souls." Pee Wee finally closed the last length on the circle when he was led by the Spirit one day to call his old friend, Todd Collins. "That's when he informed me about Beatmart Recordings," Pee Wee exclaims. "Ironically, I was only one week away from embarking into another live gospel recording. However, God knew my destiny was in Beatmart. I'll never forget when I received the call a few days later - I am now living the dream."
