Lawrence took on The Tri-City Singers after a friend vacated his position as musical director. (NOTE: The three cities that The Tri-City Singers come from are Spartanburg, SC, Gastonia, NC, and Charlotte, NC.[2]) The group debuted in 1993 with A Songwriter's Point Of View on a then-brand-new independent record label called GospoCentric Records. The set debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Gospel Charts. The group's follow-up release Bible Stories would top those same charts when it arrived in 1995.[4] It was the first to be billed as Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers and featured black church-ubiquitous hits such as "A Message For The Saints", "I Am God" and "Stranger". The album was released on Lawrence's newly minted label Crystal Rose Records which was distributed through Sparrow Records.