Southern Gospel Concerts

Jeff Stice gives a few solo concerts during the year when he is not busy with Triumphant Quartet’s performances.  I was able to attend one of them recently at Jeff’s home church, Valley Grove Baptist Church in Seymour, Tennessee, near Knoxville.   Jeff is an extremely gifted pianist and his concerts are a mixture of sacred and secular music combined with some very entertaining dialog.

Here’s my favorite song from the evening.  On his new CD, this was performed with tracks, but here Jeff performs it on the grand piano alone.

Here’s what was on the program:

• He’s Worthy - This is such a wonderful opening to any concert or worship service.   It has bits of the Hallelujah Chorus in it.
• Wait Til You See Me In My New Home/Mansion Over the Hilltop - This is a nice combination of these two songs!
• Jesus Saves - This song was written by Roger Bennett and was arranged by Jeff as a piano solo as a tribute to his friend.
• Sinner’s Plea - For all of you folks that like the REALLY old hymns, this one’s for you!  This is a terrific bluesy arrangement that Jeff plays differently every time!   It has lots of really nice touches and some unexpected lightheartedness.
• When We All Get to Heaven - This is a very lively rendition of the hymn along with a really fun theme and variations treatment of the Do-Re-Mi song from the Sound of Music.
• ‘Til the Storm Passes By - This is a very special arrangement that Lari Goss helped Jeff with and that he performed at last year’s Parade of Pianos program in Shipshewana.  It combines ‘Til the Storm Passes By, You’ll Never Walk Alone, and Climb Every Mountain.  Though not from this concert, HERE is a video of this song.
• John Thompson’s “Teaching Little Fingers to play.”  If you ever get to one of Jeff’s concerts, you’ll love hearing about his first piano lessons and how he progressed as a pianist!
• Last Date - According to Jeff, Floyd Kramer’s “Last Date” is one of the most popular solo piano pieces of all time.  It’s always a crowd pleaser. 
• Theme from Exodus - This was absolutely beautiful.
• Georgia - Jeff used to play this one often at Triumphant concerts and he explains that after seeing Ray Charles perform this, he can’t sit still when he plays either.  Ya gotta love the sunglassses he puts on, too!  
• I’m Seeing My Father In Me - This song from Jeff’s “In the Shadow of Virtuousity” CD pays tribute to his own father.
• Chopstix - Jeff related how he was able to play the glass piano at the Liberace museum in Las Vegas and then he played this pretty amazing version of Chopstix - Liberace style for us!
• Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho - This has been a favorite of Jeff’s fans since his Kingdom Heirs days when he performed it with the band.  
• When They Ring Those Golden Bells - The electricity went out during this song but it just wasn’t a problem!  Fortunately, this one was just piano and when it was over, it earned a standing ovation.
• Amazing Grace - This was another wonderful song and arrangement performed without tracks.
• What A Friend We Have In Jesus/There’s Something About That Name - This one had the audience singing on chorus at the end. 
• It Is Well With My Soul  - This song from his brand new “Rhyming Notes” CD also won a standing ovation. 
• Hallelujah Chorus - I would probably call this Jeff’s “signature song” since he has played it throughout the years and it is such a powerful arrangement.

Jeff has three more concerts coming up soon.   He will perform at Mill Creek Resort in Pigeon Forge, TN on July 28 at 7:00 pm (potluck supper, too!), Tunnel Hill United Methodist Church, Tunnel Hill, GA  on Aug. 8 at 6:30 pm, and at Lilburn Oaks Baptist Church in Lilburn, GA at 11:00 am on August 9.

Elkmont Baptist Church had their Homecoming event on June 14th this year and Tribute Quartet lead the morning worship service.    This was not Tribute’s first appearance at the church, so most of the people in the congregation  had heard them before. 

The church service began with some announcements, a welcome, and some congregational singing.  Then the choir was asked to come to the loft and they sang several hymns accompanied by organ, piano, and percussion.  And there was as much singing from the congregation as there was from the choir!  Everyone seemed to really be enjoying the music. 

Then Tribute began their program.  They sang many of the songs that I have heard recently on their program, so I didn’t get videos of their performance.  They always sing and blend well together and  I enjoy all of the singers but I enjoyed Brian Alvey’s smooth tenor the most that day.   He did a particularly good job on the song that seems to be his signature song - Who  Am I - accompanied by Josh Singletary on the keyboard.   They sang a several “peppy” songs but it seemed to me that most of the songs were geared toward the altar call during which quite a number of people came down to pray.  

Here’s what they sang:

• Is It Good News
• The Cross Jesus Carried
• Over on the Other Side
• The Plan of Salvation
• This I Know
• Who Am I
• Outside the Gate - with the final chorus sung a capella - this received a standing ovation
• Be Still and Know
• God Knows

One of the church’s members, Mark Hood, played a duet of “Meeting in the Air” with Josh Singletary during the taking of the love offering.  It was such a fun way to end the service.    Here are some of the videos I’ve taken previously of Tribute Quartet.

I recently had the opportunity to hear The Perrys in concert in the beautiful state of Tennessee.  I had seen the write-ups and videos of the songs on the new CD, so I was really looking forward to seeing them performed live.    The concert was at the First Baptist Church, a beautiful facility that seats about 300 or so.   The church was almost full and most of the people there had not heard the Perrys before.   By the end of the concert, the Perrys had almost 300 new fans!

I had only seen the Perrys sing one song since Troy began singing baritone with them but seeing him at this concert shows that he has just fit right into the position.  The first standing ovation of the evening came after He Will Hide Me featuring Troy.   Other standing ovations came for pianist Bryan Eliot’s rendition of Keep on the Firing Line (boy, it is fast!!), If You Knew Him (my favorite of the evening), and Damascus Road.  They ended up singing seven of the ten songs on the new “Almost Morning” album, and every single one of them was great!   The service actually ended with Joseph Habedank telling about his writing of the song Almost Morning and then he performed it as a solo.  It was very moving.  Here’s a video of it:

Here’s what they sang:

• Gentle Shepherd
• I Love to Tell of His Love
• I Know It Was the Blood
• He Will Hide Me
• Did I Mention
• Keep on the Firing Line - Bryan’s piano solo
• You Can’t Improve on the Truth
• Tracy’s chain saw imitation
• I Wouldn’t Take Nothin’ for My Journey Now
• Living in Canaan Land
• If You Knew Him
• This Old Sinner Testifies
• The Potter Knows the Clay
• Damascus Road
• An Old Fashioned Altar Call
• Holy Shore
• Almost Morning

The June concert that is promoted by Hayne Tatum (T&T Promotions) in Gainesville, GA is such a good one every single year. As with many years, this one included Triumphant and Greater Vision. This year it also included the Crist Family and Archie Watkins.

Leading off was Archie Watkins. He seems to be doing quite a number of solo concerts since he left the Inspirations. He did a mixture of Inspiration songs and new songs and, although I’m not a big Inspirations or Archie fan, he really presented some great songs.   Archie did mention that he and his wife are enjoying travelling together and he is singing at more concerts than he had expected to.  He sang for about 45 minutes total and here is what he sang:  (I’m guessing at many of these titles!)

• On the Sunny Banks
• Touring That City
• He’s Pouring Out Blessings Again
• He Will Remember Me
• The Gospel According to John
• I’ll Not Turn My Back on Him Now
• My Lord’s Been Walking on a Troubled Sea
• Two Shoes
• I Want to Stroll Over Heaven With You

The Crist Family was new to many of the people at this concert, but they sure did make a great first impression!  I have seen them several times during the last 3 or 4 years and they just get better and better.  What I like the most about them, besides their gorgeous voices and their blend, is that their word endings and phrasing are always right together and are so precise.  With seven people to work with, they form different ensemble groups for different songs, much like the Collingsworth Family.   On tonight’s program, they performed some old classics, including He Looked Beyond My Faults that they performed during last year’s “Song of a Lifetime” showcase at NQC.  And they sang quite a few from their brand new album, Declaration.   They can do the slow stuff, they can do the fast stuff, and they do it all very, very well.  I’m not the only one that thinks this.  The Crist Family is in the Singing News Fan Awards final five on the ballot for Horizon Group and Breana Crist is on the final five for Horizon Individual.

Just a note about these videos.  I always have problems with the lighting at this venue so I knew that videos wouldn’t be the greatest.  So, I’ve just made some “medleys” to give you a flavor of what was sung.

Here’s the list of songs they performed:

• I’ve Come a Long Way
• When I Get Carried Away
• The Rock
• My Heart Knows
• He Knows the Way Home
• There Is No Name
• He Looked Beyond My Fault
• The Great Beyond
• Joy’s Gonna Come in the Morning
• Lift Up the Cross
• Canaanland Is Just In Sight

Next came the Triumphant Quartet with great songs, great energy, great singers, great pianist, great message!!  Wow!   They led off with four of the best songs from their Everyday album and just  kept on going for about an hour!   These guys really do sing as a unified whole while highlighting the best features of each individual.   David Sutton (tenor) was terrific on Jesus Built This Church and On That Wonderful Day, Clayton Inman (lead) was wonderful on Welcome to Heaven and The Old White Flag, Scotty Inman (baritone) was supurb on Somebody Died for Me and Do You Know that You Know, and you cannot find a better version of He Loves Me than is done by bass Eric Bennett.  Jeff Stice shone on his Til the Storm Passes By solo and the piano/harmonica duet of Goodbye World with David Sutton.  It’s no wonder these guys are on the Singing News Fan Awards final five ballot in NINE categories!   

Songs they sang included:

•  I’m Amazed
• Everyday
• Jesus Built This Church
• Do You Know That You Know
• Welcome to Heaven
• He Loves Me
• On That Wonderful  Day
• Goodbye, World, Goodbye
• Somebody Died for Me
• The Old White Flag
• Til the Storm Passes By
•  When the Trumpet Sounds
• Terrible Time Down There
• He Is
• I Know I’m Going Home

Greater Vision was featured last on the program.  These men also have nine entries on the Singing News Fan Awards ballot and, as you would expect, they gave a very skillful performance.  They had a nice mix of slow and fast songs including several of their more lively fan favorites.   This was the first Gainesville concert for Greater Vision since Jacob Kitson joined them so there were quite a number of people seeing Jacob for the first time. 

Their songs included:

• We Are So Blessed
• He’d Still Been God
• You Were Faithful Yesterday
• I Want to Know that You Know
• Little Is Much
• I’m Too Near Home
• It Pays to Pray
• My Name Is Lazarus
• The Source of My Song
• It Means Just What It Says
• I Know He Heard My Prayer

This was a another great concert!  Thanks, Hayne!!

I’ll do a concert review later, but I just wanted to pass this along in the meantime!

This was at the end of a concert on Sunday, June 14, during an impromptu piano duet with Josh Singletary (Tribute Quartet) and Elkmont Baptist Church member Mark Hood. Josh was just being Josh but you’ll see who got the last laugh!!!

On May 31, The Old Paths appeared at the Central Baptist Church in Marietta where Mark Fuller is the church pianist.  For those who may not know him, Mark was the accompanist for Eva Mae LeFevre for a number of years. 

The Old Paths are now traveling as a trio like they did when they first formed.  The members are Douglas Roark (baritone), Tim Rackley (lead), and Jeremy Peace (tenor - and pianist on selected songs!)  This evening’s concert included several songs from their new album, Journey Down the Old Path Vol. 3.  I see this group fairly often and I always enjoy their rich harmonies and blend.  I particularly enjoyed their a capella portions of several songs as well as Jeremy’s solo on Look For Me at Jesus’ Feet.  And the sky-high harmony during the chorus of Look for Me between Jeremy and Tim is always stunning!    Here is my favorite song of the evening -  In The Valley He Restoreth My Soul which features Jeremy Peace:

Mark Fuller delighted the audience with several numbers during the concert including Mansion Over the Hilltop and How Beautiful Heaven Must Be with The Old Paths, Eva Mae style instrumentals of Winging My Way Back Home and Goodbye, World, Goodbye, and then he sang a song with The Old Paths, Remind Me, Dear Lord.  Mark is a wonderful musician and he has a solo album out called Mark Fuller - Southern Gospel Piano that you can purchase on his website.    Here are some clips I put together of Mark’s appearance:

Here’s the song list for the entire evening:

• Homeland
• Jesus Is Coming Soon
• Guilty of Loving Me
• Oh Bless His Name
• I Know a Man Who Can
• My Lord Will Send a Moses
• What a Day That Will Be/Beulah Land
• Mansion Over a Hilltop
• How Beautiful Heaven Must Be (with the church’s Minister of Music)
• Winging My Way Back Home
• Goodbye, World, Goodbye
• Remind Me, Dear Lord
• Still Blessed (with a lady named Ann from the church)
• In the Valley He Restoreth My Soul
• Wedding Day In Heaven
• He’s Still Living
• Living In Canaan Land

I see that The Old Paths have scheduled their First Annual Homecoming event on October 3 in Hiram, GA.  Be sure to mark this on your calendar and check back on their website for more information about it later.

On Saturday, May 30, I had the pleasure of seeing Soul’d Out Quartet, which is one of the five finalists for the Singing News Fan Awards Horizon Group of the Year for 2009.   The last two members to join, Dusty Barrett (tenor) and Michael Howard (pianist), have been with the group about a year now and the group is sounding solid.  

They performed several of the songs from their latest CD, Simply Put, which features accompaniment from the piano and bass guitar.   Fans will be delighted to know that they’ve put several of the songs on this CD that they’ve already been performing at concerts such as Just a Little Talk with Jesus, I Need Thee Every Hour, and In the Garden.   I don’t remember whether this was the group’s first time at this church or whether many of the audience had seen the group before, but they performed so many songs that I would call southern gospel standards that I’m sure everyone felt connected with them from the beginning of the program.   And they sprinkled in enough of their original songs and piano solos to keep it very interesting.  

Unfortunately, I had to leave at intermision because of a long trip home, but here’s what they sang in the first part of the program.  I’m putting asterisks by the songs on the Simply Put CD. 

• We Shall Rise
• Everybody Will Be Happy Over There
• How Great Thou Art - piano solo
• When We All Get to Heaven
• Lily of the Valley/I’ll Fly Away/Goodbye, World, Goodbye - piano medley
• I’ve Got That Feeling *
• Jesus Is Coming Soon *
• I Will Meet You in the Morning
• Standing on the Rock *
• Just a Little Talk with Jesus *
• Jesus Knows My Every Need
• What a Friend We Have in Jesus - piano solo *
• I Need Thee Every Hour *
• There Is a Fountain
• He’s Coming Back Soon

Watch out for this young pianist.  As he matures and continues to polish and increase his skills, Michael Howard can be really outstanding.  In fact, he will be one of the featured artists during the Parade of Pianos in Shipshewana, IN on Oct. 23 and 24th.

It’s not that often that so many of my favorite artists appear on the same concert program, but that’s just what happened on May 29th in Fayetteville, NC.  

Bass soloist Christian Davis lead off the program with the old classic hymn, In the Sweet By and By, and then sang several classic songs from his solo album, Make It Real.  Since he usually sings only a few songs when it’s not one of his solo concerts, he chose several more of his favorites - Thanks to Calvary, It Matters to Him About You, and Make It Real.   Christian is so wonderful at connecting with the audience and communicating the messages from these songs.  I enjoyed hearing them so much!  You can see videos of all of these songs from previous concerts here.   Christian is in the process of recording two more CDs which should be out by late summer.

N’Harmony was next.  These men are really sounding solid together as a group.  Every one of them is outstanding in his own right, but put them together and they are incredible.   Shane Dunlap is a very good emcee and kept the program moving right along as they sang most of the songs from their newly released album, N’Harmony Favorites, as well as several other songs from the original N’Harmony group.   

By this time, Roy Webb had arrived, after his original airline flight had been cancelled due to some mechanical problems.  Roy took the stage and he hit the ground running!    I know that Roy is known for his wit, but I really appreciate him even more as a pianist!  He has a jazzy style on many of his arrangements and he makes it look so easy.  He played a variety of songs from old gospel classics, to Agnus Dei, to a Christmas song he had recorded with Gerald Wolfe doing some of the vocals.   He has a brand new CD out that is called Timeless and it includes many of the enduring songs of the church like Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, The Old Rugged Cross, Amazing Grace, Blessed Assurance, and 7 more.    Here’s a video from this concert of perhaps Roy’s most famous piano solo:

Here’s the list of everything he played:

• Just a Little Talk with Jesus
• The Old Rugged Cross
• Agnus Dei
• Oh, Happy Day
• Amazing Grace
• Oh Holy Night
• Old Time Religion with the William Tell Overture

N’Harmony came back to the stage and sang several more songs with Roy playing for them.   I wish they’d had time to do even more, but the evening came to a close with N’Harmony and Christian Davis singing Midnight Cry.   Here’s a list of everything N’Harmony sang:

• The Plan of Salvation
• There’s Peace In Knowing
• Step Into the Water
• Old Time Religion
• It Is Well With My Soul
• Run On
• Somebody Touched Me
• He Touched Me (with the audience)
• The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power
• Out of the Blue
• He Loves Me
• Ten Thousand Angels
• Midnight Cry

I traveled to the outskirts of Cartersville, GA, (near the thriving metropolis of Emerson) to see the Dixie Echoes at a morning worship service on May 24.  It was a fairly large church to be in the small community where it was located.  The pastor said that the worship center could hold about 350 people and it is normally about 80% or more full.  The church is considering what to do next to be able to accommodate more people.  

I always enjoy seeing these men and this was no exception.  Although the singers were all pretty much “under the weather” with colds and/or sinus issues, they lead the service very well and sang many of their most popular songs.  A large majority of the congregation had not heard them before and I doubt that they would have detected the little bit of hoarseness or roughness in the voices.    One funny remark that Randy Shelnut made was that 4 out of the 5 of them were sick and the other one was crazy —- so Stewart started pretending to cough!!    Good try, Stewart!  The group members are Wesley Smith (tenor), Randy Shelnut (lead), Scoot (Randy, Jr) Shelnut (baritone), Pat Barker (bass), and Stewart Varnedo (pianist).

I didn’t take as many videos as usual because I have so many of their songs already recorded, but here’s what they sang:

• I’ll Be Ready To Go With Him — Scoot always does a great job on this one
• Miracles Will Happen On That Day
• The Plan of Salvation
• Up To The House of Prayer
• Just a Little While - piano solo - I think the crowd was amazed!!
• Until You Find the Lord
• If We Never Meet Again - this one was probably my favorite of the day.  Wesley was able to do a great job on this song despite his very sore throat.
• Little Is Much
• Ole Brother Noah
• Just a Little Talk With Jesus
• The Devil and His Old Suitcase - the crowd really loved this one, too!
• How Great Thou Art

I was just disappointed that there wasn’t time for more and that they didn’t perform How Big Is God.  But this was a very good service and I was so glad to be able to attend.

On May 21, 2009, Greater Vision made their annual visit to the Rome Civic Center.   Opening the concert was Kirk Ayers, a Rome native who used to sing with a group named First Impression that was well-known to the local folks.  Kirk sang 8 songs, mostly with a country feel to them, and he did a good job.  

Kirk sang:

• How Great Thou Art
• Lighthouse
• Me & God
• Tell Me One More Time About Jesus
• Too Many Times
• Grand Tour
• Go Rest High
• Mercy Walked In

Then Greater Vision took the stage and started with one of their most popular songs - He’d Still Been God.   Most of the songs for the first half of the program were from their newest 2 cds.    There weren’t any surprises - just the solid Greater Vision songs that we have become accustomed to.  Before breaking for intermission, Gerald Wolfe invited people to come by the table to request their favorite song to be sung during the second half.  I thought that was a great approach!  They sang quite a nunber of songs in the second “half” and I know the crowd was very pleased!  Here’s what they sang:

• He’d Still Been God
• You’d Better Hurry Up
• What A Beautiful Day
• My Name Is Lazarus
• You Were Faithful Yesterday
• Little Is Much
• I’m Too Near Home
• I Want To Know That You Know

The requests that made it on the second half were:  

• The Source Of My Song
• Pile Of Crowns
• Treasures Unseen
• Sweet Hour Of Prayer
• It Pays To Pray
• I Know He Heard My Prayer

On another note, Greater Vision will begin their 20th year of ministry on December 30 of this year.  To celebrate, they will be recording a live CD on August 6 and 7 in Temple, Texas.   Tickets are on sale now and you can get them by calling 254-778-2470 or by clicking here.