The Dedicated Men of Zion come from a singing tradition that has flourished for decades in eastern North Carolina, around the city of Greenville and its small neighboring town of Farmville. Trained in the church and the home, the group's four vocalists share the bond of that music and the literal bond of kinship. They are all related by blood or marriage.
Sharing bonds of music and blood kinship, the members of the Dedicated Men of Zion bring down a joyfully harmonious version of the gospel in a style so akin to soul music that we refer to it as "sacred soul.".
Theirs is a community dense with talent and legendary impact on the origins of gospel, funk, R&B, soul, and jazz; a place where the sounds of Saturday night and Sunday morning couldn't help but jump their lanes. The group's own backgrounds tell that story. Anthony Daniels, the eldest of the group, led a career in R&B down in Atlanta, backing up the likes of Bebe Winans, Toni Braxton, and Elton John. Antoine Daniels, the youngest member and son of Anthony, was playing keyboards and organ in church while simultaneously injecting his hip-hop production work with traditional gospel roots. But the church was always the backbone.
Dedicated Men of Zion caught the attention of the Music Makers Relief Foundation while opening a church concert for the Glorifying Vines Sisters, the longstanding Farmville gospel group composed of Anthony's mother and aunts. The group ultimately signed to 's artist management roster. Through , the group connected with Bruce Watson's ( Fat Possum Records)) newly founded record label Bible & Tire Recording Company
Dedicated Men of Zion recorded their debut album, Can't Turn Me Around, in Memphis at Watson's Delta-Sonic Sound studio backed by a star-studded band of studio aces. The album's songs were covers of tunes drawn from the label's catalog of obscure sacred soul recordings from Memphis. The 2020 release won national notice resulting in many invitations to perform and tour. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the globe that March, making travel impossible. Critical attention from the release spawned an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, a virtual set at the year's globalFEST, and Fresh Grass Fest. In late 2021, Dedicated Men of Zion returned to Memphis to record with Watson and his all-star studio group, the Sacred Soul Sound Section. The quartet issued the single "Lord Hold My Hand" in January 2022. The ten-song full-length The Devil Don't Like It appeared in March.
In 2026 their third album Coming Up Through the Years (co-produced by Jimbo Mathus of the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Bruce Watson of Fat Possum Records).
