Sound comes from the heart and soul

At the time, it seemed like Clint Poulsen was on the fast track to fame and fortune in the pop music world. The native of Maryland, who had been singing since he was 3, had hooked up with Johnny Wright, who was working with the likes of *NSYNC and Britney Spears.

Poulsen and a guy named Jared Avery had formed a pop duo and were performing in clubs and on TV programs in the Washington, D.C., area. They had appeared with KC & the Sunshine Band and opened for Christina Aguilera, and they had three major labels interested in recording their songs.

"But it didn't feel right," says Poulsen. "It didn't feel like I was going in the direction I should be going."

He decided to go on an LDS mission instead.

Now back from his mission, Poulsen is attending Brigham Young University and has hooked up with Greg Hansen and Earl Madsen and the Inspirational Music Showcase, where he is featured on the label's newest release: "The Whole Armor of God: Favorite Seminary Songs."

It was a struggle to make the decision to walk away from everything he had before. "It had all been handed to me on a silver platter," he says, "and it was hard to give it up. It was a sacrifice. I prayed about it for two years. But I realized that as fun as it was, it was not the right thing for me. When I met Earl and Greg, it was like coming home."

Poulsen's story doesn't surprise Hansen all that much. "If you go down our roster of artists, you'll find it's a story many of them could tell. They have had national experience, but it was not what they are looking for, not what they wanted to do with their talent."

For the kind of music IMS strives to do, Hansen says, that testimony of the rightness of the project is every bit as important as the talent. That commitment to inspirational music means the sound is coming from the heart and soul, not just the voice, and it shows, he says. "Our label places the message over the messenger."

Although, adds Madsen, "it certainly doesn't hurt to have an artist that looks and sings like Clint. He will relate well to young people. They can look at him and see someone who has his priorities right. They can lean on him, emulate him."

Poulsen sings two songs on the CD, the title cut and a song called "Walk His Way."

Other artists featured on the collection include Jessie Clark Funk, Dave Tinney, Tanya Barkdull, Tammy Simister Robinson, Sam Payne, Brett Raymond, Joy Gardner, Barry Hansen and David Osmond.