At different points during A Special Blend's six-year continuance, vocalists Andraetta Huff, Sheryl Bihm, and Michelle Mayne each briefly served as members or alternate members. In reality, neither A Special Blend nor Alliance complied with Blackmon's "Rule of Four." However, she granted an exception for A Special Blend, since they were technically a quartet that Warren accompanied at the piano. Alliance, on the other hand, was in clear violation, but Warren, along with Mark Kibble and Claude V. McKnight, III, continued to perform with Alliance stealthily. Although Kibble and McKnight also sang with The Aeolians, they each did so for only one year or less. Warren remained a member of The Aeolians throughout his four-year matriculation. In 1982, A Special Blend won the first-place trophy at the Alabama State Fair's talent competition. In 1983, A Special Blend recorded a collection of several songs at Sound Cell Studio, to serve as a demo to help the group acquire a recording contract. Like Alliance, A Special Blend caught the attention of Henry Mosley, who became the group's manager. In 1984 A Special Blend recorded an album entitled "Nowhere But Up", which Warren produced. The album was recorded at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee, for release on Mosley's Legacy Records. To attend sessions, Warren and the group and band members made the 100-mile trip many times—often departing for Nashville after the day's classes, recording for a few hours, then returning to Huntsville after midnight, in time for the next morning's classes. Despite Oakwood University's rich tradition of vocal groups, which had spanned decades, "Nowhere But Up" was the first student album to feature a full rhythm section plus orchestration, including a string ensemble, a big band, a pop horn section, synthesizers, and exotic percussion, all of which Warren arranged, though at the time he had received no formal training in orchestral writing. Upon its release, "Nowhere But Up" caused quite a stir within Oakwood University's rather conservative community. While a small number of the most conservative faculty members expressed discontent with the album's decidedly jazzy style, the project was highly celebrated by students, other faculty, and enthusiasts, both within the Oakwood community and around the United States. Only a few thousand copies of "Nowhere But Up" were pressed, and it is today considered a collector's item. As of 2010, there are discussions of a possible re-release of the album on the iTunes Store in 2011, the 30th anniversary of the group's formation.