Editing Take 6 (section)

===Oakwood College years===
In 1980, Claude McKnight, older brother of R&B musician [[Brian McKnight]], formed an a cappella quartet, The Gentlemen's Estates Quartet, at Oakwood College (now [[Oakwood University]]), a [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventist]] university in Huntsville, Alabama, where he was a freshman. He auditioned students for the group. While rehearsing in a campus bathroom to prepare for a performance, Mark Kibble heard them singing. He joined the harmonizing, adding a fifth part with them onstage that night.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.singers.com/take6.html |title=Take 6 Contemporary Christian A Cappella Group |publisher=Singers.com |access-date=May 23, 2014}}</ref> Kibble invited [[Mervyn Warren]] to join the group, which performed under the name Alliance.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> Alliance performed in local churches and on campus with a changing roster of members. In 1985, the lower half of the group (bass, baritone, and second tenor) left after graduating. Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, and David Thomas joined.<ref name="LarkinSM"/>