He goes on to say that the original letter has been restored on their blog.

Rather than trying to paraphrase Dave’s well written explaination, I would suggest that you check it our for yourselves:

http://chuckwagongang.proboards58.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1199384582

(The entire thread vanished there…not just my post.)

When I saw that several people were reading about the situation here and responding with comments, I thought this would be a good place to re-express the points I had made on the other forum.

(I hate spending all that time writing a post only to see it go away without even a puff of smoke to show for it.)

I apologize for not making it clearer the first time. I wasn’t taking exception to what you had said specifically.

Now, I will respond to something you wrote:
“Let’s be honest, what groups are more widley recognized today? The Crabb Family or the LeFevres? Statesmen or GVB?

If we’re not dilligent, our past will be ignored and eventually forgotten in the near future.”

I agree completely. I don’t want the past history of SG to be forgotten.

What you’re describing is always going to be the case. The new is going to overshadow the past at all times.

To me, the real question is whether or not the current groups are making music that will be remembered 50 years from now. Most, I’m afraid, are not. Once in a while, there’s a song like “Midnight Cry” or “Mary Did You Know” that are marked for permanence, but those are few and far between.

I’ve looked over the list of number one songs from the Singing News monthly charts…with an alarming number of them from the past 15 years or so, I can’t even remember the tune, much less the lyrics. If I go back further, I can remember the vast majority of those. The odd thing is that I’ve been actively covering SG for the past 10 years. My only conclusion can be that the songs that make it to the top of the charts now aren’t as memorable as a whole compared to the songs that went to the top of the charts and tended to stay for several months at a time in past decades.

That…anecdotally…says to me that the songs we remember from the past will continue to be remembered while most of the current stuff, though more popular now, won’t be as likely to endure.

This is the condensed version.

1. Fans stood and exited the arena when the CWG took the stage in 2006…not in protest, but just expressing their tastes. The NQC board is aware of crowd response, and I believe that in this case they simply voted accordingly.

2. There is no conspiracy to push old music out. NQC stages traditional groups every year. In 2006, they added a VERY traditional group that had never been on the main stage before. That group was back in 2007.

3. The CWG was offered a spot at NQC…just not on the main stage. This was in the initial “open letter” that was posted here and in other locations on the internet and discussion groups. A Saturday afternoon showcase is a very respectable spot. This isn’t the regional showcase and showcases aren’t limited to up-and-coming groups, as they implied with their comments. Some are, and some aren’t. Last year on Saturday afternoon, one showcase featured the Hoppers 50th anniversary and another Saturday showcase was Pianorama, for example. There are similar “top tier” showcases during the week.

4. The Chuck Wagon Gang that appeared at NQC in 2007 wasn’t the same group that appeared in other recent years. They’ve had significant turnovers, including the departure of the two individuals who had ties to the older group.

5. I completely understand if the CWG can’t afford to attend without the money they would have received for a main stage slot. What I don’t understand is some of the fans who have took the NQC to task for making it “all about money.” That works both ways, because A) other groups appearing are just as capable of singing the gospel and B) if NQC is “bad” for keeping a close eye on their bottom line, then so is the CWG. I don’t believe either entity is wrong for doing that. It’s just the way it is.

6. Finally, while I admire the group for putting out the word as to why they wouldn’t be at NQC, I was a bit unimpressed when I went to their website where an edited version of this “open letter” appears with no mention of the showcase slot that NQC had offered them. I suppose they decided after the fact that they could get more fans to write and complain if they left that part out.

Yes, Daniel, there were several times that the Melody Boys Quartet took a sabbatical, just as have many other groups including the Statesmen, Harvesters, Happy Goodmans, Chuck Wagon Gang, Prophets, Sons of Song, Stamps, etc.

That said, either way they have a long and distinguished heritage and should be there. If there simply aren’t mainstage slots available, maybe the Board of Directors could start at 4 PM on Saturday (instead of 6) and put all the classic groups up for sets. Especially if they threw in some reunion lineups (like classic Florida Boys), I think it would be one of the convention’s biggest draws.