Canaan signs LeFevre Quartet
Yesterday, Canaan Records and the LeFevre Quartet distributed a press release announcing that Canaan has signed the group to an exclusive recording contract. The group is currently working on its first Canaan release, set to come out this summer.
It might surprise some Canaan’s second signing was of a group that was not more established. Part of the explanation is that Canaan is billing the quartet as a new artist. The group has actually been recording for several years, on the Song Garden label; in fact, if I’m not mistaken, their lead singer worked with the label, handling its radio promotions. But Canaan’s publicity department describes the group in these words: “Mike continues to make his mark by forming the first group in several years to bear the legendary LeFevre name. Mike has prayerfully and carefully picked the members that make up the new quartet.”
Of course, it is far from the first time that Canaan has taken a chance on a new or lesser-known artist. While everyone talks about groups like the Inspirations, Kingsmen, and Happy Goodmans, Canaan’s roster also included Windy Johnson and the Messengers, The Four Galileans, Coy Cook and the Senators, and Rev. Cleavant Derricks and Family. And, of course, back in 1970, the Canaan label took a chance on a group that was struggling to make ends meet, just barely staying on the road–one “Cathedral Quartet.”
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[...] Harrison and others react with questions and surprise at the Canaan Records/LeFevre Quartet deal. I had decided not to [...]