SISTERS SHARING SONG

"Smile."

LaKaren Ware-Porter, who only moments earlier had been sharing a memory and a laugh with her sisters in the sanctuary of House of Prayer Church, was all game face as she and her sisters began rehearsing a song. LaKaren's is one voice in the five-member singing group appropriately named the Ware Sisters. Other members of the group are Shelly Ware-Moore, JoAnn Ware McCauley, Brenda Ware and Eric Ware.

No, it's not a mistake. Eric Ware is the baby brother of the family. He joined the group about five years ago because "We knew he had a good voice and wanted to sing," said JoAnn.

No one was surprised by LaKaren's admonishment because it fits her role of "showman" in the group. The baby sister and soprano voice develops much of the group's choreography and stylistic moves, while oldest sister Shelly, the second-soprano voice, writes much of the music and plays the piano. JoAnn, who is pastor of House of Prayer, sings alto and will "go to town on the tambourine", while Brenda, who sings first tenor, is the more-serious of the sisters. Eric occasionally plays drums for the group.

They make all of their own outfits and take turns singing lead.

"We have a four-part harmony. It's like God intended it to be that way," said LaKaren.

JoAnn said there is no bickering over who will lead a song. "It depends on whose voice the song fits best, but sometimes one of us will bring in a song we really want to sing," she said.

The Ware Sisters have been making music together all their lives, but they made their professional debut May 20, 1982, when they performed a concert for the Sikeston, Mo., chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The group performs a mixture of traditional and contemporary gospel, but they also sing secular songs that have uplifting or positive messages.

"We're not locked into anything," said Shelly. "As long as it has an inspirational message, we'll sing it."

The sisters said they began singing together while attending churches first in Sikeston, and later in Cape Girardeau after the family moved in the late 1960s. Although they resisted being in the church choir -- "We thought there were other things we could do in the church" -- they took every opportunity to blend their voices.

Shelly learned to play keyboards by ear after a next-door neighbor gave the sisters an old piano. Her halting efforts were always heard by her sisters, whom she soon learned to accompany.

"We would gather around that piano and spend endless hours," she said. "I think that if you just start klunking around, you don't realize you can do that until somebody says 'Oh, you can play.'"

JoAnn said she and Shelly often gave impromptu performances for anyone who would listen as children.

"People used to pay us quarters to sing at talent shows in Sikeston," she said. "Shelly and I would be too young to be in the talent shows, so we'd stand at the bottom of the steps and sing the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, whatever. Mama just didn't know we were out there singing that stuff."

But their music wasn't always so well-received. During the early 1980s, the Ware Sisters were often not invited to churches and programs because their music was too contemporary.

"They would tell us 'Y'all can't sing here no more because this is not what this area wants'," said JoAnn.

"Times changed. The church became more open and accepting, I think because of television evangelists," said Brenda. "Christians began to change and it sort of caught up with us."

The group has opened shows for some high-profile gospel acts, including Karen Clark, whose former group the Clark Sisters was an inspiration to the local group.

They now are working on their own compact disc, an effort the group hopes will project them into a national spotlight.

"You want to know what our future is: The Grammys," said Shelly amid a chorus of laughter. "They just haven't heard us yet."