As much gentle evangelism as music documentary, Stay Prayed Up, directed by D.L. Anderson and Matthew Durning, follows Raleigh, North Carolina gospel singer Lena Mae Perry as she gets ready to make her first record—at the age of 83. Perry’s resilience and beaming personality, as well as the blues-tinged music she’s been making with the Branchettes for nearly half a century, make it hard to resist her story. And her long life, lived in service to the community in and out of church, makes a strong case for her message as well.
While the central figure is a village elder, it’s encouraging that the first face you see is of the younger generation, a kid inviting the viewer to church (whose front stoop is being swept clear in last-minute prep-work). “Most of your friends might even be in there!” Inside, Perry is holding hands with her fellow musicians as a montage unfolds, old video footage demonstrating her steadfast dedication over the years.
And then you’re immersed in a typical service. Perry is filmed from a slightly low angle, all the better to showcase her charisma, and as her voice booms, her face, weathered by the years, is full of wisdom and enthusiasm; she’s been through a lot, but she’s endured. How does she do it, and how does she still have spirit to spare?
As the action shifts from church to “One Week Earlier” and a shot of a blooming rose bush, images tell more of a story than you’d think. Such unassuming establishing shots set up a backdrop of grace and bounty in a world that is so often thorny. And footage of rehearsals show how welcoming she is; her band includes elders from the Black community like keyboardist Wilbur Tharpe (who died in 2021), but also younger members like Phil Cook, who looks like an indie rocker/record store owner; he’s as sincerely enthusiastic as Perry, grinning from ear to ear as he plays along with the people gathered in the Perry home.
Stay Prayed Up traces the Branchettes history to 1973, when Perry, along with Ethel Elliott and Mary Ellen Bennett, formed an impromptu group when they were the only members of the Long Branch Senior Choir who showed up for a church program. Their three-part harmonies took traditional spirituals and steeped them in a rich blues—it’s telling that the only Branchettes tracks you can find outside of their 2021 album Stay Prayed Up are on blues compilations.
Perry began singing in church when she was a little girl, at a time when Klan activity was strong in the region. She used to run a popular local restaurant, Mae’s Country Kitchen, and has suffered from the death of her husband (who used to hold down the fort at home when his wife took her music on the road) and her oldest son. But she never lost her faith, and as she used to feed the body, she continues to feed the soul. The steadiness that has seen her through life can’t help but rub off on the people around her. Like Cook, who convinced Perry to make her first album. Cook comes from a different religious background in Wisconsin, and admits he was drawn to gospel music because of the Whoopi Goldberg vehicle Sister Act; the Lord acts in mysterious ways.
These ways aren’t so mysterious to Cook: “She’s opened me up so much more,” he says of Perry, ”to where I see God every day…in people, in nature, in all kinds of things.” That’s what makes Stay Prayed Up so effective; through the example of Perry’s art and her well-lived life, the filmmakers, who may not themselves believe in a higher power, reveal a genuinely inspirational spirit.
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