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In this genre, with how common encores are, we often take them for granted. “Encore,” as used in the patois of Southern Gospel music, refers to a turnaround, a repeat of a final verse and chorus. Typically, since most groups use soundtracks, encores are arranged and recorded in advance; sometimes but not always (depending on the group), they are performed by default.

Though most Southern Gospel groups will encore songs that get a good response, there are a few exceptions, most memorably Jake Hess. After years of doing encores with the Statesmen, when he started his own group, the Imperials, in 1964, one of the rules he made for the group was that they would never do an encore. He thought that if a song didn’t get all the response it deserved the first time through, a second time wouldn’t help things.

What place do (or should) encores have in our genre?

I’m personally in favor of (at least some) encores, though I think they may be over-used.  They are best when there is some spontaneity involved—i.e., the Perrys encoring “Who am I,” “God Walks the Dark Hills,” or “Did I Mention” acapella, or Arthur Rice holding a note nearly forever, before the band kicks in for an encore of “What We Needed.”

What do you think?

A number of fans and industry types have observed that the term “Southern Gospel” isn’t a particularly accurate brand. It’s a geographical distinctive, but it’s far from accurate. After all, the greatest group of the last quarter-century hailed from Stow, Ohio, and the most popular group today hails from Alexandria, Indiana.

A few years ago, there was an attempt to brand the genre as American Gospel Music, but that didn’t catch on, because it didn’t really say anything about the music that wasn’t true of certain other Christian genres.

How about Conservative Christian Music?

“Conservative” is more descriptive of the nature of the music and the nature of the genre than either “American Gospel” or “Southern Gospel.” Of course, conservative is often understood in the political sense, and a number of individuals in the industry are not politically conservative (though most are). And groups that pursue progressive arrangements probably wouldn’t care to be labeled “progressive conservative Gospel Music.”

If “Conservative Christian Music” is adopted, the genre’s acronym would be CCM, which is the current acronym for a neighboring genre, Contemporary Christian Music. That’s a minus in my opinion, but an industry friend pointed out that that’s a plus for some, since many feel that the contemporary world “kind of hijacked” Christian music and watered it down.

So I proposed another alternative, Conservative Gospel Music. My friend observed that Southern has been associated with Gospel for so long that “Conservative Gospel Music sort of says ’southern’ parenthetically.” He thought this might be a minus, but I could see where having some connection to the current name might be a plus.

Of course, if neither of those quite works, we could always reclaim a brand Bill Gaither is credited with starting, a brand CCM largely abandoned about ten years ago. Plus, it brings to mind a certain style, which Southern Gospel artists like the Collingsworth Family, Greater Vision, and the Perrys are far closer to than anything else in Christian music. Inspirational.

I had intended yesterday’s post as a standalone post. But something came up in the comments which comes up frequently enough that it deserves its own discussion.

Nobody really disputes that a singer/songwriter can bring a passion to their song that’s hard to match, since they’ve lived the lyrics.

But can it be done? Can an artist who has been down a similar path, with similar life experiences, bring the same pathos and enthusiasm as the original songwriter?

My personal opinion: It’s rare but possible. I think of someone like George Younce singing “Thanks to Calvary” (which, admittedly, the Gaithers wrote from his life experiences) or “Sinner Saved by Grace,” or Libbi Perry Stuffle singing “I Will Find You Again,” or Bryan Hutson singing “When God Ran.” So I think it can be done.

Songwriter Daryl Williams posted an insightful column over at SoGospelNews about singer/songwriters in Southern Gospel Music. One thing he said, in particular, caught my eye:

There are still a few artists out there today that deliver their own great material, but not near as many as we had in the past. There is something special about hearing the songwriter sing their own song.

Is this quantifiably true?

Are there fewer good singer/songwriters then there used to be? Of course, we have prolific songwriters like Bill Gaither, Rodney Griffin, Joseph Habedank, Jim Brady, Mark Bishop, and Scotty Inman at the forefront, who frequently are supplying groups other than their own with material regularly, and we also have less prolific writers like Ernie Haase, Misty Freeman, Dustin Sweatman, Sheryl Farris, McCray Dove, Ernie Haase, Gary Casto, and Kim Collingsworth.

Fortunately, singer/songwriters are still a major part of the genre. But are they less so now then they used to be?

I’m slow to adopt new technologies. I didn’t even get a CD player until the late 90s, and I wasn’t online until 2003 or so.

Honestly, I’ve yet to really warm to the idea behind Twitter: Expressing what’s on your mind in 140 characters or less. (That won’t surprise this site’s regular readers. A 140-word-post is a short post for me.)

Anyhow, I do have a Twitter account to follow a couple of artists’ tweets. I typically log in once every few weeks. Anyhow, one recent post from last night caught my eye. Michael English said:

I must say Wes Hampton is my fav. Singer now.

That’s interesting both as illustrative of what you might notice on Twitter that you wouldn’t see elsewhere, and (of course) it’s a fascinating and thought-provoking statement on its own.

(Wes Hampton’s reply: “I NEVER would have DREAMED M.E. would say that about me.We’ve talked whole way home about how much we love u & admire your vox!“)

Kyle Boreing makes an interesting observation—four of the five song clips he’s listened to on the Oak Ridge Boys’ latest CD are in the key of E. David Bruce Murray adds that on four consecutive songs on Brian Free and Assurance’s latest CD are in the key of D.

They pose the question of which other albums do this, but I think a far more interesting question is why. I think the answer is fairly simple. Some of this happens at random, but many song key decisions are based on the singer’s ranges. Chances are that Jeremy Lile of Brian Free and Assurance has a lot of confidence and a pleasing vocal tone at the low D, Bill Shivers is comfortable at the D above middle C, and Brian Free is comfortable at the F-sharp above that. Ditto with the Oak Ridge Boys a key higher, except that I think it may be that their bass is comfortable at low E and their tenor is often singing E above middle C.

Professional singers do pay attention to these sorts of things. One tenor singer, for example, has told me that he keys his signature song in the fairly obscure key of F-sharp because the third above F-sharp (A-sharp/B-flat) is the power note in the song, and B-flat is his personal strongest power note.

Now some groups may have a tenor who is confident at high A-flat and a bass who’s happiest at D. They would probably have more variety in their arrangements. But when groups are fortunate enough that their singers all click in the same key, don’t be surprised to see them using that key (and its fourth and fifth, e.g., A, D, and E) frequently.

I will admit, I have never been one to say that every worthwhile song can be found within one genre. A number of songs originally recorded by Contemporary Christian Music artists have done quite well in our genre.

These fall into two categories. The first category—perhaps the more common—is where a Southern Gospel artist delivers a rendition vocally and stylistically similar to the original. Examples would be Ivan Parker’s “I Can Only Imagine” (originally MercyMe), Gold City’s “Mercy Came Running” (originally Phillips, Craig, and Dean), and the Talley Trio’s “Orphans of God” (originally Avalon).

The second category, and the one that I find far more fascinating, is when an artist takes a CCM song and completely re-invents it for a Southern Gospel audience. Good examples of this are the Ball Brothers’ “Mercy Said No” (originally done by Greg Long) and the Dove Brothers’ “I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb” (Ray Boltz).

Any number of CCM songs could be done like the original in a (somewhat progressive) Southern Gospel arrangement. What songs might work well totally reinvented for a Southern Gospel audience?

Here’s a few that come to mind (with YouTube links in parentheses):

• “Broken and Spilled Out” (Steve Green). A male quartet like the Kingdom Heirs would absolutely knock this song out of the park.
• “Love Crucified Arose” (Michael Card). This could easily be a power ballad, perhaps tenor-led. I could see it fitting the style of a group like Legacy Five.
• “How Deep the Father’s Love” (Fernando Ortega). The McKameys have already done an Appalachian Gospel arrangement of the song. But the song would also be a great male trio song, perhaps in a fully orchestrated rendition with modulations between verses. Such a version would have sounded right at home on Greater Vision’s Hymns of the Ages project, and if they ever do another, it would be a good song to include. (I doubt I’m the only one hoping for a Hymns 2.)
• “The Great Divide” (Point of Grace). This song would probably best be done by a group that uses tight, complex harmonies like the Ball Brothers or the Crist Family.
• “For the Sake of the Call” (Steven Curtis Chapman). I could see this being a male quartet song. A group like Triumphant or the Kingdom Heirs, or a upcoming group like Cross 4 Crowns, could really go somewhere with this one.
• “How Beautiful” (Twila Paris). This one could be done several ways; I could see anyone from Karen Peck & New River to the McKameys turning in a solid performance of the song.
• “The Final Word” (Michael Card). A male quartet recording a Christmas album and seeking something other than the standards everyone else has already done could pick this one up.
• “Come to the Table” (Michael Card). I know, this list has a disproportionate number of Michael Card songs. His lyrics are scripturally based as opposed to situationally based, making them a natural lyrical fit for the SG genre where the melody permits a SG arrangement. On this song, a male trio arrangement is obvious—maybe even a little too obvious—here, since Card’s original recording had male trio background vocals.
• “Why” (Michael Card). One last Card song. I picture the Isaacs singing this one.

What do you think of these? And make your lists below.

Crossroads sent out a press release yesterday announcing their new release-as-needed digital singles policy. It contained a new angle I hadn’t considered when writing my post yesterday:

Although Crossroads has been servicing the radio markets for several months with their monthly digital releases, this is the first time they have released singles on a single song, as needed basis.  This gives the company the ability to release a single within hours of making the decision, instead of having to sometimes wait for days and weeks, as in years past.  It will also allow the company to have more opportunity to get additional singles off each record by eliminating time delays.

Unless Singing News moves to a digital-driven chart, not constrained by waiting for magazine deadlines, allowing for faster chart action—or, for that matter, moves to a bi-monthly or a weekly chart—there probably won’t be much opportunity to speed up single distribution. But being ready to release a single on the spur of a moment could conceivably allow Crossroads to get in one more single per project, even under existing conditions.

Too often, artists in this genre miss the obvious when putting together album liner notes. (This especially goes for table projects.) So I thought I would make a checklist:

• Copyright date. Yes, this is stating the obvious, but even some recent projects omit this information. For someone going back years later, it can be awfully hard to place the year a project was recorded. So what year was the Weatherfords’ Finest in Gospel Singing recorded? I’ve heard everything from 1956 to 1959. It was probably closer to 1959, but if I’m not mistaken, even the Weatherfords experts aren’t completely certain. Years later, that sort of question can become difficult to sort out.
• Song credits. I believe author and copyright information is required by law for songs under copyright. Bonus points to groups that include credits for public domain songs. Even though it isn’t required by law, it is nice to give credit where credit is due, even if the song has been around long enough to become a classic. It took me over a year to track down the names of the authors for “When They Ring Those Golden Bells” and “The Eastern Gate,” since both songs are public domain and often uncredited in Southern Gospel liner notes.
• Production / recording credits. All major projects today have these, but occasionally I’ll come across a table project that omits this information.
• Contact information for the group. Include more than just the website, since a significant part of our audience does not have computer / Internet access.
• List of group members. Many projects today do not have this information. It’s one thing if you’re Greater Vision or the Hoppers, and you have changes less than once a decade. But for groups that can even keep turnover down to one change every few years, fast forward five years and someone new to the group might not know who was on a particular project. Even someone like me, who has something like 1,200 Southern Gospel projects, has to ask for help for figuring out the lineup of a Dixie Melody Boys recording from just eight or ten years ago. Of course, no group owner in his right mind would plan on turnover, but he should at least plan for turnover.
• List of which group member had the solo on each song. This is something seen in CCM and only rarely here, in a genre where it’s probably even more important. Even a group of Greater Vision’s stature wouldn’t do badly to include this: Despite the fact that Gerald Wolfe and Rodney Griffin have sung together for thirteen or fourteen years, and I have most of those projects, I can still sometimes listen to a recording and not be quite sure which member has the solo on a certain song.
• A group photo. Southern Gospel groups are pretty good about this.
• Bonus points for including lyrics. Southern Gospel songs go by fast enough that the lyrics aren’t always clearly distinguishable. And many Southern Gospel fans don’t have access to the Internet to pull the lyrics up online.

Did I miss anything?

In the world of Southern Gospel, in the last six months or so, Facebook has replaced MySpace as the place for fans and artists alike to network and stay in touch.

Unlike MySpace, where the structure was artist and group profiles, Facebook is structured so that all profiles are supposed to be real people, and artists are represented by fan club pages. These have taken off within the last several months, with some now showing hundreds or thousands of members.

• Gaither Vocal Band Fans – 2,792 members
• Ernie Haase & Signature Sound – 2,658 members
• Ann Downing – 1,669 members
• Gaither Vocal Band Appreciation Group – 1,141 members
• Greater Vision Friends – 919 members
• Gold City Fans – 860 members
• The Quicks – 791 members
• Legacy Five: A Southern Gospel Group – 637 members
• Joseph Habedank Fan Club – 624 members
• The Perrys – 501 members
• Talley Trio Fans – 402 members
• Kenny Hinson – 375 members
• Sisters – 348 members
• Brothers Forever Fanatics – 333 members
• Chuck Wagon Gang – 324 members
• The Cathedral Quartet – 264 members
• Triumphant Quartet – 262 members
• Inspirations Fan Club – 253 members
• Roy Webb – 250 members
• David Hill Trio – 201 members
• The Speer Family – 169 members
• The Crist Family – 166 members
• Legacy Five Alive – 164 members
• Kingdom Heirs – 156 members
• Nick Trammell Fan Club – 141 members
• Tribute Quartet – 137 members

What’s interesting—and what illustrates the year or so these Facebook group pages have had to build a fan base—is how many of the groups’ fan bases are proportionate to their real-life fan bases.