studio-owner Doug Jansen Smith, took note of Warren's abilities. Soon, Warren became a regular session-performer at Sound Cell, contributing to arrangements, playing keyboards, and singing on the radio and TV while performing pop, rock, country, and contemporary Christian recordings. Many of those sessions included Warren's friend Mark Kibble, also an accomplished arranger, pianist, and vocalist (and future member of Take 6). As early as the age of 13, Warren and Kibble had performed concerts together, singing solos and duets, while taking turns providing accompaniment at the piano. One of the duets began with Warren singing and Kibble at the piano; then, halfway through the song, Warren would leave the stage and take over at the piano, at which point Kibble would take the stage to sing. In 1980, while both juniors in high school, Warren and Kibble joined a preexisting, male a cappella vocal quartet, at Oakwood University. The resulting sextet became known as Alliance. Alliance became known for its highly unique and complex vocal arrangements, primarily of well-known negro spirituals. Most of Alliance's dazzling arrangements were created by Mark Kibble, but later on, Warren contributed as well. Alliance was very popular and performed not only on the campus of Oakwood University, but in various cities across the United States. In 1983, Alliance recorded an album at Sound Cell Recording Studio, entitled Something Within for Legacy Records, a custom label founded by Henry Mosley, then-professor at Oakwood University. Mosley also served as the group's manager. Later, an unmarked, cassette copy of Something Within was given by recording artist Michael Martin Murphey to Jim Ed Norman at Warner Bros. Records in Nashville, Tennessee. Norman loved the recording, but neither he nor Murphey knew the identity of the performers. In 1987, Norman finally discovered the group's identity, and promptly signed Alliance to a recording contract with Reprise Records, a division of Warner Bros. Records. Upon discovering that a rock music band had already recorded under the name "Alliance", the vocal group Alliance was renamed Take 6. They then released the album Take 6 and went on to earn worldwide acclaim. In 1981, Warren enrolled at Oakwood University and joined the highly regarded touring choir The Aeolians, under the direction of Professor Alma Blackmon. Warren remained a member of The Aeolians throughout his four-year matriculation, later becoming the ensemble's stage director, assistant conductor, and alternate accompanist. With The Aeolians, Warren toured extensively throughout