Encore: Talk to us about the dynamic of working in ministry with your family, the legendary Pace Sisters.
LaShun: I come from a big family with 9 girls and 1 boy. Every family has its ups and downs. They have the good, the bad, and the in-between. Working with my sisters, we have our moments, but thank God for a praying mother. Everyone knows mother Betty Ann Pace and if you don’t know her, you will. My mother wouldn’t allow some things, we didn’t fight, fuss and argue. If we tried to start, she knew how to stop it. God has given her that knack, she knows how to pull the family in, she keeps us in line. She’ll have a meeting with us if something is wrong. Sometimes in rehearsals, she would just walk the floor and listen, she don’t say much, but if something would get out of hand in rehearsal, somebody want to act funny, she would say, "I think we all are supposed to be saved." Everything would get quite and in order. We are each other’s friends, we talk every Monday night and we try to have family night. Working with them is excellent and God keeps us together in prayer, I love them, they are the jewels in my crown.
Encore: You have such a distinguished career, can you talk about some of the influential figures who had an impact on you?
LaShun: Edwin Hawkins really was instrumental and I traveled with him a lot. He loved me and I loved him. The Lord used him to get me to do the movie "Leap of Faith," with Steve Martin and Debra Winger. While I was doing the movie I became friends with Albertina Walker, who became my daughters Godmother. James Cleveland was also very influential, I worked and talked with him and he christened my first born. The list goes on, I worked with some of the greatest and that’s why I am who I am, because of who God put in my life.
Encore: You are a vocal powerhouse, can you talk about some singers who inspired you and shared their techniques?
LaShun: I got to give props to Tremaine Hawkins and Patti LaBelle, who helped me with protecting my voice. They taught me that your voice is like an instrument and like any instrument if you don’t keep it in the case, you can damage it. Keep your throat wrapped, stay protected and lubricate your vocal chords with mineral oil, I use olive oil. I do excercising when I can and it's very important to stay in the presence of the Lord. Richard White also helped me, everybody knows him as "Mr. Clean." I lost my voice for almost a year and he told my mom, "Don’t let her have that surgery, it will mess her up." I’m glad my mom listened to him, and we did not do the surgery. But, for 8 months I was only able to write on paper, I thought I was going to die. I had never been through something like that before. I had polyps on my vocal chords and he said the surgery would have made it worse. Now, I just try to do my best to take care of my vocal chords.