Southern Gospel Concerts

Enlisted is one of my favorite local groups.   I get to see them a few times a year, sometimes at their home church, Victory Baptist in Rockmart, Georgia.  This church actually has members of at least three touring groups in their membership and they love southern gospel music.  For this concert, they invited The Joymasters, a quartet based out of Canton, Georgia, to join them.

This was my first time seeing The Joymasters, even though a friend of mine had loaned me one of their CDs and had been encouraging me to try to see them in concert.  Well, I finally got the chance and was so glad I did.  This group has been traveling for over 44 years.   The current lineup includes Billy Forrester, Tim Jennings, Jeff Vinson, Eric McVey on vocals.  The band members are Mike Bailey, Adam Dodd, Andrew Hart, David Phillips (who wasn’t with the group at this concert), and Vell Young.   Original member Jerry Forrester is the manager/owner as well as the sound man.

Here’s what The Joymasters sang.  I’m guessing at several of these titles!

• How Great Thou Art – This is always a crowd pleaser and set the tone for the concert.  Tenor Jeff Vinson was featured on the verses.  It’s not often you see a group with a 4-piece band, and one of their band members was actually absent or there would’ve been five!  The lead guitar player filled in on the drums instead!
• I’ve Never Been This Homesick Before – Baritone Billy Forrester was featured on this classic.
• He’s Alive  – Tim Jennings had the verses for this slower number.
• Thank God I’m Free -  Billy was featured again.
• Living In Canaan Now – They picked up the pace with this one!
• Take Off Your Shoes - I’m sure this isn’t a new song, but I don’t remember hearing it before and I enjoyed the bass line very much!
• Going Home – This arrangement had the verses in the lead position.  They performed it very slowly and effectively.
• We Will Rise Up From the Grave to Meet the Lamb -  I really enjoyed this song which was another new one to me.
•  This Is Just What Heaven Means to Me – This was also performed very slowly and expressively, adding one voice at a time through the first verse.
• Praise His Name – This was a very emotional end to their set and Tim stopped in the middle to give a testimony about how God has been so faithful during several bouts of cancer in his family.  Very, very touching.

Enlisted includes mother/son members Pam Atcheson and Joey Saxton and Debbie & David Mitchell.  Debbie & David merged their previous group, Mercy Road, with Enlisted just a few years ago.  A brand new CD entitled “It’s a God Thing” was released at this concert that includes many favorite songs that Mercy Road had previously recorded.  They premiered several of the songs during the evening and I’ve noted those with asterisks.

• *I Woke Up This Morning -  Enlisted started out with this very lively one from the new album.
• *Trading This Old Cross for a Crown  -  Great old quartet song!
• *Shining Light – Joey was featured on this  high-energy song!
• *That’s God – David wrote this one and is featured on it!  They’ve been singing this one for quite a while in their concerts.  They’ve added an a capella reprise to it now but here is a video from a previous concert.
• * Nothing Shall Separate Me  -  What a sweet, sweet song!  Debbie was featured on it.
• It’s Not About Me – This was a song that Pam wrote and it’s funny but true!  Here’s a video from a previous concert.
• Door of Grace – Pam wrote this beautiful song and a member of their church came to the stage to perform sign language for it.
• *Still Blessed – This is the song that the Perry’s did a few years ago.  Pam played the piano for this one and brought up a child from the church to help sing it.
• *Nothing’s Too Hard for God – I loved this little song which mentioned so many seemingly impossible circumstances from the Bible and then brought it to the present.     It was such an encouraging song to end the concert with!

My readers will no doubt know much more about The Rebels Quartet than I do!  I’m a relative newcomer (about 10 years) to the Southern Gospel music genre so I did not have the honor of hearing the group during their original touring in  the 50′s thru 70′s or 80′s.  Thanks to the Facebook page that Robert York has created for publicizing  North Georgia Gospel Singings, I read that Rick Fair, a former bass in the original Rebels group, and others were debuting a brand new lineup to carry on the songs and heritage of the Rebels.   When I spoke to Rick before the concert, he said it was like coming full circle because he started his career with The Rebels and now he back singing with The Rebels!

The concert was held at the Antioch Baptist Church in Cumming, Georgia, where my friend Travis Bridgeman is the pastor and who, along with his precious wife Alicia, are the duo known as The Bridgemans.  Antioch hosts southern gospel concerts about once a quarter but they arranged to host this extra concert since they have been friends with Alan Kendall for a while.  They even had popular radio DJ Danny O’Day on hand to perform the emcee duties.

The Bridgemans opened the concert for us with a few songs.  They sang:

• I’m Climbing Higher Each Day – I really enjoyed this charming song!
• If There’s a Crown for Me  – This is their current radio single.   It has such a wonderful message.   This video is shortened because there were some people being seated in front of me, but I wanted you to at least get to hear the first verse!
• When I Get Carried Away – I love this old Gold City/Phil Cross classic!
• The Greatest of All Miracles  – This song relates how salvation is the greatest miracle.
• He Has Never Failed Me – This song was a wonderful song of assurance of the faithfulness of God.
• New Day Dawning – I can’t hear this song without thinking of the Whisnants!   I enjoyed hearing this arrangement.

The Rebels were next.   Their members are Mike Young (tenor), Alan Kendall (lead), David Fair (baritone), Rick Fair (bass), and pianist Barry Patrick.  They haven’t had a chance to get all of the members together for very much practice but they wanted to get in front of an audience.  It was short notice for the concert but there was a respectable sized crowd which was very appreciative of the singing they heard.  Here’s the first song of their first performance!!!!

Here’s the full song list.  I’m not really sure which ones of these songs were actually Rebels songs and I’m also not sure of all of the titles, so please feel free to leave me a comment if you have corrections!!

• The Other Side – Right away, it was pretty obvious that the crowd was going to enjoy hearing this group!
• That’s Enough -  I’m used to hearing this sung by The Talleys, but I like it even better sung by a male quartet!!
• More Like Thee – This was a slower song that featured the beautiful voice of lead singer Alan Kendall
• It Is No Secret What God Can Do – I’m pretty sure this was performed by the original Rebels.  I do remember this song so well from my youth and I loved the way Rick sang it!!   Their arrangement also reminded me of the Lawrence Welk show with its big band style.
• Who Am I – Beautifully done by David.
• Up Above My Head (There’s Music In the Air) – To me, this is a fun song no matter who sings it!!
• Goodbye, World, Goodby -  This was a piano solo by Barry.  Barry did a wonderful job all night long!
• But For His Grace – Barry wrote this slow, beautiful song and David was featured on it.  “All hope was lost but for His Grace”
• Another Hero’s Coming Home – After a very touching intro by his son David, Rick was featured on this song.
• The Robe of Calvary -  This was a solo by Alan (until the last chorus) that he has recorded on his personal CD,  By the Grace of God.
• Oh, My Lord, What a Time!   – They did 2 reprises on this one, and the audience was  on their feet!
• I’m Winging My Way Back Home – This was a quartet that included Barry while Alan stood aside – and it was played on Kazoos instead of being sung!!!  I”d love to show it to you, but they made me promise that I wouldn’t post the video on youtube!!    Fun times for sure!
•  Everybody Ought to Know (Who Jesus Is) – The Rebels’ signature song!
  
• Hide Thou Me and Beulah Land – These were performed as requests from the audience!  Pretty gutsy move, huh???  Both were done very well.
• How Big is God Medley -  I had seen this performed at NQC by Southern Sound.   The only difference, of course, is that Alan is at the lead position.  This was also a request from the audience, but I’m pretty sure they were planning to end the concert with it anyway.   Of course, it received a standing ovation even before the end of the song.

A funny thing happened on the way to this debut concert.  Rick Fair filled in for a Palmetto State Quartet concert at a church about 30 minutes east of Atlanta on Sunday morning before he hurried to Antioch Baptist Church which is about an hour or so north of Atlanta for this evening performance.  I attended the Palmetto State concert and sure was surprised when Rick walked in with them!  I’ll be writing a review of the PSQ concert very soon!

They are still working to get their website fully operational, but you can contact them at rebelsquartet@gmail.com.  They have also set up a Facebook page.

The next concert scheduled at Antioch is on Sunday, April 15th at 6:00 pm when they will be hosting the Blackwood Brothers Quartet.   If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll make plans to attend!

Several weeks ago I was privileged to attend one of the kick-off weekend concerts for the new Poet Voices!  I watched part of a webcast on Friday evening and it was enough to show me that I needed to see these men in person the next night!  The event that was held at at Refuge Campgrounds  in Carnesville, Georgia was almost a last-minute addition, so the crowd was small but enthusiastic as Phil Cross (lead), Donny Henderson (baritone), and Dan Callahan (tenor) took the stage.   Popular radio DJ Danny O’Day was on hand to emcee the concert.

The host group, Dillard Hudgens and Refuge, opened the concert with several songs.  The group was made up of the man who owns/runs the camp and two ladies who happen to be twins.

I think that Phil Cross is best known for the exceptional songs that he has written through the years including Champion of Love, I Am Redeemed, One Holy Lamb, Jesus Built a Bridge, Yes I Am, When I Get Carried Away, He’s Already In Your Tomorrow (one of my personal favorites!) and many, many more.  There have been several iterations of the Poet Voices group both as a quartet and as a trio.  This configuration is a trio and these three gentlemen are great together.    When they took the stage, they had a really neat video presentation that introduced them  via a large, flat-screen TV on one side of the stage.  I didn’t find out who the narrator of the video was but he certainly had a wonderful speaking voice!

Here’s what they sang.   I think that if Phil didn’t write all of these songs, then he wrote the vast majority of them.

• Lord, I Want to Praise You -  As their introduction stated, the purpose of Poet Voices  “to write, sing, and most of all, they worship!”  This was the perfect song to start this Grace and Glory experience!  It was so smooth, beautiful, loving, very reverent and worshipful.
• Mary Rocks the Rock – Donny had the lead on this tender song about Jesus’ mother.
• Jesus Is the Miracle – Phil had the lead on this more upbeat song that included many of the events in Jesus’ ministry but emphasized that He is the real miracle.
• Jesus Built a Bridge – This song was introduced by a video that featured several really cute kids and they continued the video presentation during the song.  This is one of Phil’s songs that went to #1 on the charts.   Dan was featured on the verses.   This is the first group that Dan has sung with and he did a fabulous job during the whole concert!
• Grace and Glory – This is their theme song – and it also went to #1 in the past!   They have produced this video of the song and posted it on their youtube channel and played the video as they sang.   Actually, there are several items that you’ll want to check out on their channel, including their personal testimonies.
• My Redeemer Lives – Dan was featured on this slower song and he really presented the song as a heart-felt  testimony.
• Pourin’ Rain – Donny did a great job on this more soulful song that seems to plead for God’s blessings.
• Grace Will Bring Me Home – This was a testimony song from Phil.  There was also a video presentation during this song showing Phil at different points in his childhood.  This song is about how he was teased as a child but he had a friend that helped him through it.  And then he relates about another faithful friend (Jesus) and the grace that He gives to bring us through difficult situations.  Phil also incorp0rated a verse of Amazing Grace into the melody of the song.  Just beautiful!!
• I’ll Fly Away – This isn’t the one you’re thinking about!!  It’s one that Phil wrote!  Dan was featured on the verses.
• Yes I Am – Phil told the very entertaining story of how he wrote this for the Hoppers one morning when they were looking for one more song for an album they were recording.   It gave me a lot more appreciation for what Phil does as a songwriter!!
• I Am Redeemed – This IS my all-time favorite Phi Cross song!
• Grace and Glory – They did a short reprise of this song to wrap up the evening —– but then -
• I’ll Fly Away – A older gentleman came partway down the aisle to ask the group to please sing I’ll Fly Away again.   He just really loved the song and was willing to do what he had to do to get their attention for his request.  Of course, they sang it again for him and we all left very happy to have had our spirits uplifted by the gifts of these very talented and sincere vocalists!

Just for fun – here’s a picture of Phil taking a picture of me while I took one of him before the concert started!  I’d much rather be the one TAKING the picture!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Omega, a trio based in Dahlonega, Georgia.  I had seen them during a main stage appearance at NQC and at a Tribute concert, and those single-song performances were enough to make me want to see and hear them again.  This concert was at Pine Level Free Will Baptist Church and the church used the concert and a dinner afterwards to honor their oldest member on his 90th birthday.   If I’m still around at age 90, I hope my church will do this for me!!

Omega is made up of Doug Pittman (tenor), Dustin Simmons (lead), and Logan Hice (baritone).  Doug and Dustin and former member Monroe Bennett formed the trio while attending Brewton Parker College together several years ago and they welcomed their new baritone to the group just 4 weeks before this concert.   Logan arrived just in time to be included on the group’s brand new album, The Favorites, which was going to be ready the week following this concert.

Here’s what they sang:

• It Makes Me Wanna Go – This is one of the songs on their new CD that was previously recorded by Tribute Quartet.  I love the quartet sound but Omega does a fine job on it as a trio!   The audience got right into it with their clapping.
• Second Opinion – This featured Logan on the first verse,  Dustin on the second, and Doug on the third.
• Giver of Amazing Grace – Greg Day wrote this wonderful song.
• The Tree – This title song from their first “feature” album was  written by Joseph Habedank.
• I Want My Stage to Be An Altar – Yes, this is the Akins’ song that went to #1!  It featured Logan on the verses.  This young man (he’s only 18) has a beautiful voice, so be looking out for great things from him!!
• Homecoming Day – Dustin and Doug shared the featured portions of this song which was written by Melissa Brady and is a nominee for Song of the Year for Tribute Quartet.
• Damascus Road – This older song was such fun!
• I Wish I Could’ve Been There – Logan was featured on the first verse with Dustin on the rest.  They did a reprise and the crowd just loved it!
• Save My Family, Save My Friends – The group’s lovely harmony was really evident on this slower song.
• If It Wasn’t for the Cross – Dustin was featured on this beautiful number.  It will be on the new CD.
• I’m Coming Again – Dustin wrote  this song and I would go so far as to call this a signature song for them.   This is the one they sang on the NQC main stage and here’s a video of that performance.

This is definitely a group to watch as they develop even further.  I hope they’ll be able to do even more traveling outside of Georgia so more of my readers will be able to see them in person.  I’ll be seeing them again in a few weeks and I’ll be sure to give you a progress report as I hear more of the songs from the new CD!

This big line-up seemed appropriate for the inaugural performance at the new Mill Town Music Hall!   The hall is a converted supermarket and will hold somewhere around 1000 people in a concert setting.    The venue is located off of I-20 a few miles inside the Georgia border and is convenient for West Georgia and East Alabama fans.   The hall is industrial in style with its concrete floor, low ceilings and support posts at regular intervals within the seating area.   The stage is raised about 3 or 4 feet and is fairly large, although with the number of artists on the bill and the setup for the Dips’ band, it was pretty crowded!   It does seem to me – although I am certainly not a sound technician – that the venue is somewhat challenging for sound because of the cement and the low ceilings.   The bass tones from the singers and the instruments/tracks were frequently distorted.   Danny Jones was the emcee for the evening and Robert Vines, who is now the pastor at The Ole Country Church in McDonough and who previously was with a SG radio station and sang in the Robert Vines Trio in west Georgia, led us in the invocation.

The Diplomats were the hosts for the evening’s festivities.  Jimmy Pearson has been promoting concerts in the west Georgia area for years and was very involved with the establishment of the music hall.   I’m sure he was happy with the turnout for this first event.  If it wasn’t a sell-out, it was pretty close to it!  Their group members are Jimmy and Rita Pearson, their son Corey, Joe Brown, Michael Lott, and Jeremy Chupp.   Here’s what the Dips sang:

• There’s a Light Guiding Me – This  lovely, mellow song was such a nice opening!
• I Must Thank Him – I think that Corey Pearson is one of the most talented guys in Southern Gospel music and I always enjoy hearing him sing.
• Meet Me Over on the Other Side – They picked the tempo up on this one!   Here’s a video from their pre-New Year’s Eve concert.
• Old Time Religion – The band was terrific on this instrumental.  I’m just sorry that I can’t show it to you – my camera outsmarted me again.
• Soul Healing – This was what they call their “cajun” song and it features bass Joe Brown on the verses.
• Lonesome Road – Joe always enjoys singing this song and the audience always loves it!  Here’s a video from a previous concert.
• There’s a Blessing Somewhere -  Rita was featured on this wonderful song of assurance.
• Wouldn’t Take Nothing for my Journey Now – This is a classic that the Dips do so well!
• As usual, the Dips brought Les Beasley to the stage and Corey, Jimmy, and Joe joined him on One Day at a Time and I’m Standing on the Solid Rock.

The Kingsmen were next.  I was very happy to be able to see Little Ernie Phillips with them since I hadn’t seen the group when he was with them previously.   It was also Randy Crawford’s first concert back since his heart surgery in December.  Randy sang well but he looked pretty thin to me – I was jealous!  It was also my first time to see new lead singer Bob Sellers with them.  While the K-men haven’t been high on my list of favorites in the past, I really enjoyed seeing them that night.

• Traveling Home – Great song – and Ernie nailed some really, really high notes at the end!
• I’m So Glad that Jesus Saved My Soul  -  I only caught part of the song on video, but it also showed Ernie doing his thing!!
• That’s All I Need – This is one of my favorite Kingsmen songs.  Sadly, there were some problems with sound distortion on it pretty much throughout the song and the reprise.  Bob Sellers did a fine job on it!
• If Not for the Love of Christ – Randy had complications from his surgery when the breathing tube pressed against his vocal chords so he hadn’t been doing a lot of talking – much less singing -  so it was great to hear him.
• Healing  – Ray Dean Reese was featured on this  song.  Distortion struck again on this and the next song but the performance by the singers was good.
• Beautiful Home – Great, lively song about heaven!
• God Saw a Cross – This song has a few high notes but it also shows off the lower tenor range and I really enjoyed hearing Ernie sing it.
• Old Ship of Zion – I’m just not fond of this old song no matter who sings it, but the crowd seemed to love it!!

The Talleys were next.  Lauren’s husband, Brian Alvey, had the flu so he didn’t ride the bus for the weekend of this concert.   I sure did hate that Brian was sick and wasn’t at this concert, but the Talleys did a really good job on their set.   I think I may have missed writing down one or two of their songs but here’s the song list I have for them:

• Good Things – Lauren had the verses on this peppy song!
• Hands of Grace – This is such a nice song featuring Roger.
• Amazing Grace – It was Debra’s turn to be featured on this favorite hymn.  She has such a nice, rich voice.
• The Broken Ones – Lauren did such a good job on the story song.
• The Promise – Lauren was featured on this song as well.
• My Hope Is In the Lord – Roger was featured on this one which was very well received by the audience.
• The Healer – Debra had the lead on the first verse and then Lauren had the rest.  This has been a favorite Talley song for quite a while.
• He’s Alive – This made for a very dramatic end to the Talley’s very nice set.  Of course, it got a big standing ovation!!

I hadn’t seen Brian Free & Assurance in quite a while so there were several songs from their newest CD that I had not seen performed in concert.   I think that Grandpa Brian is looking quite distinguished with that bit of gray in his hair!   Members of this group are Brian (of course!), Bill Shivers, Derrick Selph, and Jeremy Lyle.  Here’s what they sang:

• Joyful, Joyful – This was performed a capella  and the modulations they did during the song were very nice.
• Go Tell the World – This was a great, peppy little song and has been one of my favorites since it was released.  Here’s a video from right after its release.
• Anything Is Possible – This is the title song from their brand new DVD.
• I Believe – This nice, slow song featuring Brian went to #3 on the charts.
• Glory Road – This old classic got smatterings of applause all during the song.  The crowds never seem to get tired of those really high notes!!
• Just a Little Talk with Jesus – I don’t think I had seen them perform this song before.  Seems like a lot of groups are using this song in their programs.
• The Part Where You Come In – I’m not sure why I hadn’t heard this song before but this was probably my favorite BF&A song of the evening.  It’s their current single and it’s at  #9 on the Singing News charts.
• God Will Close the Door – Finally a song that featured Jeremy!!
• For God So Loved – Wonderful, wonderful song and they, of course, have long since perfected their performance on it.
• Long As I Got King Jesus – I only remember one BF&A concert  I attended where this wasn’t the finale of their set!

The finale of the evening was Looking For a City with everyone on stage for a competition between Brian Free  and Ernie Phillips.  They got Corey to sing one of the modulated choruses – but then he bowed out to Brian and Ernie.  I sure don’t blame him!!  Those guys are just not normal!!!

The Mill Town Music Hall will be featuring a number of concerts with quite a variety of artists this year.  I encourage you to check out their website and take advantage of their offerings whenever you can.

Young’s Grove Baptist Church hosted New Ground at their morning worship service yesterday.  It’s a really beautiful church in the middle of nowhere!!!  It’s always a joy for me to see Robbie and Dale Maxwell and David Owens, although the past several times I’ve seen them, their pianist/featured vocalist, Scott Brand, has not been with them due to duties at his own church.

- - - Dale, Robbie, and David - - -

New Ground sang for about half of the service.  I don’t think there were more than a handful of people that had seen them before, but I’m sure the congregation was pleased to make their acquaintance!  I hadn’t planned to video anything but I finally just couldn’t help myself on a couple of the songs from their newest album, Another Blessing!  Here’s what they sang:

• I Know – There’s no doubt about it – this is a great song to open a program!!
• Where Could I Go – This is an old favorite!
• Heal Me – Beautiful song from their latest album – Another Blessing – that features Robbie.  I’ll get a video the next time I see them!
• There I Began to Live -  This is another wonderful song from the new album.  I’ll get a video of it the next time, too.
• Another Blessing – Here’s the title song from the new CD.  If it sounds familiar, yes, it’s an old Three Bridges song and it was a different style for New Ground!  It’s all about the message!
• That Heavenly Home- This is one of my all time favorite New Ground songs.  Here’s a video from a concert in Birmingham, Alabama from almost 2 years ago.
• I Am Headed Home – New Ground sings quite a few songs about heaven and this perky little song is one of the best.
• If You Take Me, You’re Taking Jesus, Too – This is their current single and it was well received by this congregation – including the pastor sitting in front of me!
• It Is Well – I believe this was the first single from the new album.  Here’s a video from a previous concert.
• This I Know – This is another old favorite.
• I’ve Never Been This Homesick Before – One more song about heaven before leaving the service.

I was pleased to be able to see the Dove Brothers at the Eastwood Baptist Church in Marietta – less than 20 minutes from my home!  I don’t get to see the Dove Brothers very often and I had not seen them with new tenor Keith Casstevens.  I had seen Keith when he was the lead singer for the Anchormen and enjoyed his singing.  He doesn’t have the ultra high range that Jerry Martin and Jonathan Price had, but I enjoy listening to him even more than I did those previous Dove tenors!  And on the other end of the quartet, David Cable filled in for Burman Porter who had some dental surgery and couldn’t be with the group.  It must be really nice to have a built-in replacement already on the bus!   Filling out the quartet are McCray and Eric Dove and their band Devin Dove, Joe Lane, and Jacob Danielley.

Here’s what they sang:

• One Day at a Time – I have loved this song since Cristy Lane did it so very long ago!  It seems that several groups have gone back and picked this song up again.
• I Recall – Wow!  David Cable did a great job on this song which is probably my favorite Dove song.
• Little Is Much – This seems to be “the” song for new tenors!  Keith did a very nice job on it.  I liked the modulations for the second verse and the last chorus.  And I really enjoyed Keith’s stage appearance.  I love seeing singers that are enjoying themselves and Keith’s smile lets you know he’s happy to be there!
• Hold On -  Another of my favorites!  I didn’t get but a little bit of video on this one since I’ve recorded it previously, but Keith nailed those high notes at the end!
• He’s Gonna Smile on Me – This one featured baritone Eric Dove.   Here’s a video I have already loaded from a previous concert.
• I’m Going Home Someday – I missed part of this nice, peppy song but you’ll get the idea!  Keith was featured again and the band was really cookin’ on it, too!
• They Wouldn’t Forgive  – Oh, my!!  What a message in this new song about how Christians don’t forgive each other.   McCray was featured on this one and even played the bass guitar while Jacob really did a nice job on lead guitar.  In the reprise (which I wasn’t expecting and didn’t get a good video of), he turned it around and sang as though it was from God’s perspective.
• He Is Here – I’m so glad to hear groups performing this fabulous Kirk Talley song in their programs.
• Didn’t It Rain and Get Away Jordan – They performed these two back-to-back because they were requested.  They didn’t do any extra reprises on them and I actually enjoyed them more this way!!
• I Thought That He Walked on Water  – This was a very “country” styled song reminiscing about the influence of a godly grandfather.

I heard from one of my readers that Keith’s old group, The Anchormen, will be in concert at his church.  If you’re within driving distance of Norcross, Georgia, try to attend this concert at Norcross First Baptist Church, 706 N. Peachtree Street, on Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 6pm.   There is no admission charge and a love offering will be received.

I will admit that there have been quite a few concerts that I attended but that I never reviewed – either because I just didn’t find the time or because I had seen the same artist and reviewed them so many times within a short while that I didn’t need to review them again.   Most of the time I load at least a few videos to YouTube even if I don’t do a review.  But I’ve withheld a few good videos that I’m going to share with you now!   As a little gift to my readers,  these videos will be available exclusively to you by using the links below – unless you folks copy them somewhere else!

• The Old Paths – This is the first Old Paths concert I attended after bass Daniel Ashmore joined them.   They always have fun with the song Have a Little Talk with Jesus, but I thought the conversation during an interlude was absolutely hysterical!   Tim Lovelace did a nice job on the keys for them on this song, too.

• From the same concert, a group named Simple Faith was visiting from Northern Ireland and was traveling with The Old Paths for the weekend.  They really weren’t dressed to perform but with much arm-twisting they were convinced to sing one song at the beginning of the concert -  Forgiven Again.  If you’d like to see them “cleaned up,”  here’s a link to a very nice video of the same song!

•  Also from the same concert, here’s Tim Lovelace singing Side Effects.

• And two more from that same concert:   Burman Porter hadn’t been back with the Dove Brothers for very long and everyone really enjoyed hearing him on some songs that were popular when he was with the group before -  When King Jesus Comes Again  and  Operator, Information.  Yes, that’s Tony Peace in the background filling in on the bass guitar!

• Here are some clips from a concert featuring the Hullendar Family (Jeff Hullendar was with Gold City as a bass guitarist from 1984-1988), Wilburn & Wilburn, and Jay Parrack.   From Jay:   Oh, Yes, I’ll Live in Glory, No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus,   I Don’t Want to Live Without Jesus.  Jay, Jonathan & Jordan Wilburn – God’s Promised Land.   Jay, Jonathan & Jeff – John Saw.

• Here are a few clips from a Chuck Wagon Gang concert in Rome, Georgia.  This was the first time I had seen Shaye Smith, who was just back from maternity leave, and Jeremy Stephens with them.   I’ll Meet You in the Morning, Heaven’s Jubliee, Light at the River,  Someone To Talk To.

• When David Sutton was out for sinus surgery in December, his dad Denny filled in with Triumphant Quartet.  He did a terrific job and knew all of the TQ songs.  This is one of Denny’s songs – The Hand of the Lord.

I received this comment on an Inspirations post from a while back.   Since most people probably won’t be going back to read old reviews and comments, I wanted to make sure the folks near the north Georgia area of Calhoun got the word, so I’m re-posting it here!

Here’s the comment:

“Have you heard about the Gospel Singing Competition at the Harris Arts Center in Calhoun, GA? It is a Saturday April 21, 7pm singing competition and the prize money goes to the church of your choice. $1000 First Prize, $250 Second Place and $100 Third Place. You should sign up! Auditions are Feb 6, 5-8 pm and Feb 11, 3-5 pm. You have to pre-register by calling 706-629-2599 and get an application at http://www.harrisartscenter.com.”

I also saw this info that you might want to know up front.  Gospel groups consisting of no fewer than three with a maximum of ten are eligible to compete for the church of their choice.   Here’s a direct link to the information specific to this event.

Other than at NQC, it is a rare occasion for me to get to see two groups on back-to-back nights who accounted for 11 of the 2011 Singing News Fan Awards!   On Saturday, I saw The Booth Brothers in concert and on Sunday night, I saw Triumphant Quartet.   That’s a whole lot of GREAT singing packed into one weekend!

"Clayton Inman, David Sutton, Scotty Inman, Eric Bennett, and Jeff Stice"

Triumphant was hosted by Mt. Olive Ministries in Cleveland, Tennessee during their evening worship service.  I would guess that at least half of the attendees were visitors who had come especially to see Triumphant.   The program was a little different than usual with two a capella numbers and no Old White Flag!!

Here’s what they sang:

• They started off with their 10th Anniversary season video.  I imagine they’ll be playing it throughout the year wherever the venue has the capability of projecting videos onto screens.  If you haven’t seen it yet, here it is!
• Saved By Grace -  The #1 song in November last year, this is a song that sticks in your head and has you singing it to yourself for days after hearing it in concert!
• He Is – This has been a BIG favorite for a long time and it got the first standing ovation of the evening.  Here’s my favorite video of the song with the Sojourner Dance Ministry.
• He Is Here – This was a beautiful a capella rendition featuring David Sutton on the verses.  I’m really hoping that this in an indication of more a capella songs to come this year!
• Forgave Me, Saved Me, Raised Me – Another old favorite!
• Goodbye, World, Goodbye – with Jeff on the piano and David on the harmonica, this peppy song always delights the crowd.
• The first part of the program ended with Jeff playing his arrangement of Down From His Glory.  During the offering, Jeff played and invited the audience to sing Mansion Over a Hilltop.  The crowd knew the hymn and sounded pretty good singing it.
• Don’t Let the Sandals Fool Ya – This is another of their songs that has been in the top 10 for the Fan Awards favorite song of the year.
• Welcome to Heaven – You might have seen the “Smackdown” posts on Steve Eaton’s “Southern Gospel Views from the Back Row” where he compares two versions of a song and lets his readers weigh in on which one they like the best.  Last week he had a smackdown of this song between Michael English and Clayton Inman.  Of course, I preferred Clayton’s version, and if you watch this video, you’ll understand why!
• After the altar call, Eric had Scotty lead out on a very touching a capella rendering of Because He Lives.
• To close the service, they sang Almost Home!

One of the committee members that books concerts for the church announced the following concerts coming up this year.  The services start at 6:00 pm and the address is 3522 Harrison Pike, Cleveland, TN.  If you’re close enough to this area, I hope you’ll make it a point to attend and support these artists.

• April 29th – The Browns
• August 26th – Dallas Rogers and Restored Trio
• October 21st – Collingsworth Family