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At this year’s National Quartet Convention, Mark Trammell was able to spare a half-hour for an interview. He is one of Southern Gospel’s all-time best-loved baritone singers, and with good reason: He was with the three most popular quartets and the most popular trio of his generation—the Kingsmen, the Cathedral Quartet, Gold City, and Greater Vision. Since 2002, he has led his own group, the Mark Trammell Trio. In this interview, he shares about his testimony, his call to the ministry, and how running his own group enables him to fulfill that call.

A formatted version of this interview is here. A plain text version is below.

DJM: I know many people have heard the story of how you became involved in Southern Gospel music, but for those who haven’t, could you start by saying what got you interested in Southern Gospel, as briefly or in depth as want?

Mark: I’m the youngest of four Baptist preacher’s kids. When I was a little boy, my dad would have regional groups from around the Little Rock, Arkansas area come in and sing for us during homecoming and things like that. And I just fell in love with this music.

By the time I was eight years old, I guess, I was going to the Robinson Auditorium in Little Rock, Arkansas, about once every six months, to hear groups like the Happy Goodman Family, the Florida Boys, and the Dixie Echoes.

When I got a little older, the Inspirations came to town. Mike Holcomb and I were just talking this week about the fact that the first time I met him was in 1972. He had just gone to the Inspirations. My dad was sponsoring a thirty minute radio program on Saturday mornings for nothing but Inspirations music at that time. So I got to meet Mike, and that was 1972. So this many years later, here we are. I don’t think neither he nor I realized that it had been thirty-seven years, but it has.

So I grew up in and around this industry. I sang in regional groups for a couple of years.

DJM: Which groups were they?

Mark: The New Horizons, the Masters Quartet (out of Little Rock), and the Arkansas Boys. The Arkansas Boys was comprised of myself, my brother Jerry (who sang with the Florida Boys just after that), and Vaughn Thacker. That was the original bunch.

Then I went from that to the Senators, when I was 15.

DJM: Now were you singing with these groups, playing bass guitar, or both?

Mark: Singing. Actually, with New Horizons, I played the bass. I sang with the Masters Quartet. I played the bass and sang in the Arkansas Boys. Those were the groups I was affiliated with around home, before going on the road.

‘Course, I took a Continental Trailways bus back and forth from Memphis to Little Rock every weekend, when I joined the Senators. We would be out every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The short version of the long story is that I literally continued going to school every Monday through Thursday. Thursday night or Friday morning, I’d catch a bus to Memphis. I’d get on the Senators’ group bus, and we’d get out of town.

DJM: Now were you singing or playing bass for the Senators?

Mark: I sang for the Senators.

DJM: Baritone?

Mark: I sang lead, actually, with the Senators.

DJM: Did you sing baritone with the other local groups, or did you sing lead as well?

Mark: I sang baritone with the Masters and with the Arkansas Boys.

DJM: The Senators—was this the same group Coy Cook started?

Mark: Actually, this was just after Coy sold the group to Ray Shelton. And Ray is who I worked for. Ray kept it—in fact, he still owns that name, I’m sure.

Tim Shelby was the tenor singer; Ray sang baritone, I sang lead, and Rick Fair sang bass.

DJM: Really? The same who was with Palmetto State some years later.

Mark: Yes.

And Vaughn Thacker played the piano for them.

DJM: Did you do any recordings for them?

Mark: I did one called Stand By Me. And by that time, Big Jim Hamill had come into the picture, and I went to play guitar and singing, both.

Big Jim had left the Kingsmen. Foxy and Jim are in Heaven now, so we can tell the real story, because it’s actually funny. Big Jim had got mad because they weren’t taking vacation one summer. So Foxy said, “Go take one!”

And he said, “I think I will.”

And he just stayed gone for about a year before he went to the Kingsmen.

DJM: When Squire was with them?

Mark: Squire was still there. I think they did one or two albums without Big Jim.

DJM: Just in Time, I think?

Mark: Yes. That’s got Parrack, Parsons, Ray Dean, Foxy, and Nick Bruno.

Of course, I went from the Senators back to finish my senior year in high school. During my senior year, I would travel frequently with the Florida Boys. I wound up playing bass with the Florida Boys when I was on trips with them, when Les found out that I could, and it gave him a break. Many years later, I’m really grateful that he let me do that.

In fact, the first time I was on the Gospel Singing Jubilee, I was playing bass for the Florida Boys. During Thanksgiving break, I had a week off, and I went up there to be with my brother, who was still singing tenor for them at the time. I wound up having the opportunity to be on the Gospel Singing Jubilee. So that was a big thing for me, back in those days.

DJM: So did you just fill in here and there, or were you regularly with them for a while?

Mark: No, I just hung out with them, and I’d ride the bus periodically. But that was a lot of fun.

DJM: So you had already gotten to know Big Jim Hamill during your Senators days. Was that the connection that brought you on board the Kingsmen bus? (Continue Reading >>>)

I had the opportunity to talk with one of Southern Gospel’s best-loved pianists and altos, Kim Collingsworth, before a recent Collingsworth family concert. Since I interviewed her husband Phil earlier this year (read that interview here), I tried to avoid covering the same ground in this conversation.

A formatted version is here.

DJM: Even though I know you tell your story in more detail on your Personal DVD, could you briefly tell us how you first became interested in playing the piano?

Kim: Actually, I didn’t start out with any ambitions to play the piano or take piano lessons. On a Sunday night, when I was three years old, I was in church, sitting in the front row, and my daddy preached a message on the gift of wisdom that God gave Solomon.

People say you can’t remember that far back, and I don’t remember a lot of the details—but I do remember what the message was about. He said that God gave Solomon a gift of wisdom because he asked for it.

Somehow, that made an impression on my little mind. I went home and put my PJ’s on—I can take you to the spot—in fact, we showed the spot on the DVD—where I got down and begged the Lord for a gift. The only thing I remember after that is getting in bed and thinking, “I can’t wait to see what I’m gonna be when I wake up in the morning!”

I never dreamed that it would be music. I didn’t have any interest in music that I remember, up to that point. (Of course, I was really too little to remember much of anything.) My mother can probably tell my story better, with the age and time of when I began to play, but it was very shortly after that that I began to play the piano. And that was apparently the gift that I was given!

DJM: And you started playing for church a couple of years after that?

Kim: Actually, I was about seven when I started playing for church. My mother was the pianist, and the church organist resigned his position, so my mother moved to the organ and put me on piano. And that was my beginning in church music!

DJM: Off the wall: Do you know how to play organ as well? (Continue Reading >>>)

I had the opportunity to sit down with David Ragan, The Inspirations’ new lead singer, before a recent Inspirations concert. A formatted version of the interview can be found here.

DJM: Could you start with explaining a little bit about your background—both your upbringing and how you became exposed to Southern Gospel music?
David: I was exposed to southern gospel in Michigan. There’s not a lot of  southern gospel up there! But in northern Michigan—Roscommon, Michigan, is my home town—the style of music that was preached, that was more acceptable in our circles, was more of a sacred music type style. It was really rooted in three different colleges that a lot of the people in our churches were from: Bob Jones University, Maranatha (up in Wisconsin), and Northland Baptist College (up in Wisconsin).

I was raised Independent Fundamental Baptist, very conservative. Southern Gospel, even conservative Inspirations-style, was not really accepted. Entertainment and ministry were not thought to be able to coexist.

I was exposed to it with my best friend’s cassette tape of the Inspirations, a 1993 recording Cry for The Children. The fifth song—the last song on the first side—was “Hide Me Rock of Ages.” I’d never heard bass singing like that in my life. To hear Mike Holcomb was just unbelievable.

I didn’t even care so much for the twang. It was like Christian country to me. I heard the steel guitars, I heard Archie—the high tenor—and said, “I don’t know if I’ll like that, but boy, that bass singer…he can do it!” So I made a copy. (I know that’s terrible!)

To that point I had heard quartets but not Southern Gospel and I loved the harmony, and so I began to learn the baritone part. My brothers and I started listening to that and we began imitating it. My youngest brother was nine at the time and he started hearing the tenor. So we were kind of the hit in our church. We did it a capella; we didn’t have all the instruments and stuff, and we didn’t twang as much. And it kind of rolled from there.

DJM: Did I read something at one point that you did some touring in your area? Did you do full concerts or just like a special music here and there in different churches.
David: It was a little of both, actually. Our first concert had about a hundred people. My best friend’s dad was involved in politics, and he was running for state senate.     This would have been in 2002.

We called ourselves the Messengers. Actually we took that name because on the 2000 Inspirations video Matt Dibler says something right before he does another verse of “Resurrection Ground.” He says, “I love singing with the Inspirations because we have a message and not just music.”

Well that stuck with me, and I said, “Well, that’s a good philosophy to have.” So who carries the message? A messenger does, so we just called ourselves that.

We never gave any thought of touring, and we didn’t really tour.

DJM: Did you do any recordings?
David: We did three on our church’s sound system. It was terrible, but enough just to kinda preserve it enough. We gave them to people. We never sold anything—we really couldn’t, technically, because we didn’t pay the royalties on all that. So that might even be illegal, I don’t know!

But we went as far south as Detroit, and as far north as just south of the Mackinaw bridge. We went on the west side of the state and not so much the east side, but we got calls from lots of different pastors. Mom and Dad were sort-of…they were always involved. I was 15, 16, and 17 during the years we did that. They didn’t “promote” us—they said, “Well, we’re glad our kids are able to do this, but we don’t want them to turn into Christian celebrities. It was still kind of a touchy thing, you know. But I was the spark plug. I was the one that really kept us interested in it. The other guys would follow me—they were like, “Yeah, we’ll do this.” And I really began to fall in love with it.  And I said “Man, I could do this all the time!” I just love making harmony. I love being a blessing to people, and to be a good example to people is a unique opportunity, I guess.

DJM: So was singing with your brothers the only touring/singing experience you had before singing with the Inspirations?
David: That’s 100% accurate. I went to college after I graduated high school. I went down to Pensacola.

(Continue Reading >>>)

Randy Byrd, bass singer for the Blackwood Brothers Quartet, was one of my first artist friends in Southern Gospel, perhaps the first. Ever since I started this website approximately three years ago, I’ve wanted to do a feature story interviewing him. The opportunity came recently to sit down and chat, and here is what we discussed.

A formatted version of the story is here.

DJM: I understand you were raised as a preacher’s kid in Oklahoma. Could you tell me a little bit about your upbringing?
Randy: Sure, I’d be happy to, Daniel. I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you!

My dad was a truck driver and a union worker, and when I was about three years old, he became a Christian. About a year after that, he surrendered to preach. We actually moved from Oklahoma to Louisiana so he could go to Bible College full-time. He attended Baptist Christian College, which is now Louisiana Baptist University, in Shreveport, for about three years.

DJM: How old were you when he was going to college?
Randy: I actually moved the summer of ‘69, so it was in between kindergarten and first grade. So I would’ve been approximately 6 years old.

Then he took his first church in Oklahoma while he was a senior in college. He commuted back and forth—he just had a class or two left—he commuted back and forth during the week. He finished up, and then we were in Oklahoma for ten months.

Then in the middle of my fourth-grade year, we moved to Arkansas. He took a church there and was there for fourteen years.

DJM: What was the name of the church, and where was it?
Randy: The name of the church was originally “West Side Baptist Church” (obviously, it was on the west side of town). Later, they bought five acres of land on the outskirts of town, and changed the name to Victory Baptist, which is what it still is today.

The city was Benton, Arkansas, about fifteen miles southwest of Little Rock.

DJM: So was that basically for the rest of the years you were still at home?
Randy: That is correct. He was actually there after I was grown. I finished there—we started a Christian school in my eighth grade year. I graduated from the high school, and met my wife, Lisa, a little while later. We married and moved to Missouri.

You’d asked me the other day a little bit about my testimony, and I don’t know if you want to go into that now.

DJM: Yeah. I can just make up a question to lead into it if I need to.
Randy: Actually, when I was about fourteen or fifteen years old, as a lot of boys do, I started testing the waters a little bit, becoming rebellious. By the time I was sixteen, I figured out that I knew a lot more than my dad, because every sixteen-year-old boy does, you know!

So rather than run away from home and go that route, I figured I would just outsmart him. I went to the local authorities and had them place me in a foster home. I moved into a foster home for about a year.

All I really wanted—I didn’t rebel against my dad because I thought he didn’t love me, and I didn’t rebel against him because I felt I was abused or mistreated—I just wanted a “normal” family life, what I considered normal. I wanted Dad to come home and play sports with me, and go camping and fishing. I got sick of being the preacher’s kid. And that’s what I rebelled against.

But it’s amazing how God works through all of that, though. When they placed me in custody of the state of Arkansas, and took me to my foster parents, my foster mother met me at the door and said, “Son, you can live here as long as you want. There’s just two rules you have to live by. The first rule is that I make all the rules, and I can make new ones any time I want. The second is that every time I go to church, you’ll go with me. And just for the record, I’m the Sunday School superintendent, the church secretary, and I sing in the choir, so I’m there a lot.”

I literally stood on the porch and dropped my head. I’d just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. But God really used that family to mend the relationship between me and my parents.

One of the things I’m really thankful for is that my parents did not compromise their beliefs during that. When they sent my belongings, when I opened the suitcase, my Bible was on top of it. My mother had written a note in there: “Son, we love you very much. But as long as you live in our house, you have to live by our rules. And until you’re willing to do that, we’ll just pray for you and love you.”

So when it would have been easy for them to cave in and give me whatever I wanted, they stood strong on Biblical principles, and I’m very thankful for that.

DJM: So about a year after that, you decided to come home?
Randy: I did, actually. Through court meetings and through my foster parents’ guide, I had started rekindling the relationship with my parents, and had become on pretty good terms with them. The timing just worked out right, so I moved home, and was there for a few months. By then I had become independent enough that I moved out on my own, and was on my own for another year. Then I met my wife, and a few months after that, we got married, and moved to Missouri.

DJM: So at what point in all that process did you first discover Southern Gospel music? (Continue Reading >>>)

I recently had the opportunity to interview Libbi Perry Stuffle, alto singer and a founding member of the Perrys.

Since I try hard to come up with insightful questions that I haven’t seen asked elsewhere, I typically prepare questions in advance, print them out, and bring them to the interview. For the first time, I completely forgot. So I had to wing it, making up questions as I went. And I think the interview might have been better for it. Perhaps I should make a point of forgetting more often.

You can read the formatted interview (with pictures) here; for a plain text version, click “Continue Reading.” (Continue Reading >>>)

I recently had the opportunity to interview Scotty Inman, baritone for Triumphant Quartet, www.triumphantquartet.com.

A formatted version of the interview is here; a plain text version is below.

(Continue Reading >>>)

Phil Collingsworth is the father, group manager, and baritone singer for the Collingsworth Family. Most of the interviews I’ve done for this site have been via email or phone, but for this one I had the opportunity to talk in person before a recent concert.

For a formatted version of the interview, click here. A text version is below. (Continue Reading >>>)

I recently had the opportunity to interview Wes Hampton, the tenor for the Gaither Vocal Band. The group’s website is www.gaither.com; his personal site is www.weshampton.com.

For a formatted version (including photos, courtesy of Hannah Lefchik), click here: southerngospelblog.com/features/200901.pdf. A plain text version is below.

I’d like to offer a special word of thanks to fellow blogger Wes Burke. When he posted a brief interview with Wes Hampton a couple months back, it planted a seed in my mind—”Hey, it just might be possible to interview a member of the Gaither Vocal Band!” So thanks to both Wes’s, here you go…

DJM: How did you get interested in Christian music, and what led to a desire to perform it?
Wes: When I grew up, my parents always had it in our car, and at home—the 8-tracks with the Imperials and Steve Green. Those two were the main ones that really influenced me from an early age. I also heard secular singers like Billy Joel, Ronnie Milsap, and Whitney Houston. They were amazing vocalists, but I always gravitated more toward the Gospel stuff. I really loved The Best of the Imperials—I fell in love with their music.

I was still pretty shy as far as singing. Other than children’s choir, I didn’t sing in front of people. I didn’t get courage to sing till I was in eighth grade, middle school, getting a little more courage to start singing in public.

Singing has been a part of my life from a really early age, but it’s just gotten more intense. I’d like to think that my voice has grown the longer I’ve done it.

DJM: What did you do musically before joining the Gaither Vocal Band?
Wes: I did do some stuff in college at Trevecca Nazarene—I traveled with the Trevedores for a couple of years. We did PR for the school; we would travel weekends, singing at churches, and in the summer we would do music for student youth camps. I really, really enjoyed that. My wife brought me down to Birmingham, where we still are. I got involved interning with the worship staff at our church down here. I started working with the praise team. I was eventually hired part time, then full time once I graduated in 2000. My primary job there was to lead praise band and vocal team. I would pick out some of the music, and lead worship when worship pastor wanted me to or was out. It was kind of like an associate worship minister there. I really loved it. I loved working with soloists as well, and some choir. It wasn’t a traditional choir, but all the praise teams come together, and an open choir, whoever wanted to be be a part of that. I really enjoyed that, they gave me a lot of hands on experience as far as working in the church setting, leading worship, being in front of congregation. I also worked part time in retail when I was working part time at church and trying to finish school. I learned a whole lot in those few years, like how to live on a budget!

I also sang in high school in a quartet and trio. Churches had us come and sing, and they took up a love offering. It was the coolest thing to do what we really enjoyed doing—to get paid for it was just a bonus! So music is something that has just grown and got more intense.

DJM: So did you do any recordings in high school or college?
Wes: Yes, but I don’t talk about them!

DJM: Oh, sorry, I can skip that question!
Wes: No, that’s okay, I can answer. Actually, we did record stuff at Trevecca. My wife was in a mixed ensemble with seven or eight people and I was with the Trevedores. We did a CD together—half a CD with her group, half with my group. It was really rough, but it’s still fun to go back and listen every now and then, to how bad I was!

But there’s some really good stuff in there too. We learned how to become better singers. We heard vocal inflections and placement that did not work, and that made us better singers as well.

Then I also did a couple CDs with Brook Hill. The church I was involved with in Birmingham did one in 98/99 called Whosoever, and then another one a couple of years later, called Rain Down. Rain Down was a lot of fun for me; I produced the solos. It was a big learning experience for me. Those were all that I know of besides the Vocal Band titles.

Oh, and my wife and I did a lot of studio singing, background vocals for local artists.

DJM: For the first few years, it seemed like a lot of people were discussing how your voice and range compared to David Phelps. Now that you’ve been there somewhere towards four years, are you seeing less of that?
Wes: Yeah, I am!

I remember I talked to David when I first got in the group. He said, “It took a couple years for people to start to accept me. That’s just part of it.”

It was true. I’ve been with the group three and a half years now, and it really took about two years to get established, where people were accepting me and starting to like me, and like the new sound.

It came to a point, too, where God really spoke to me and I realized He told me to be me and to not try to be or do what someone else does. I’m no David Phelps. I cannot hold on to those C-sharps like he can—he’s the only one I’ve heard who can do that!

I highly respect that, his talent, and what he brought to the vocal band in those years.

What he told me stuck with me. And I really feel like people now are giving me respect, if you want to call it that, accepting the fact that I am in this role and that I’m not geared to take David’s place. I cannot be that—I’m hear to bring what I can bring to the party, and hope people enjoy that, and what this Vocal Band brings.

Each Vocal Band brings something different—each is unique, not that one is better than the group before that, it’s always different and always interesting. But it’s hopefully always at a certain standard, and hopefully that bar is never lowered.

I think most important thing for me is to know that this is where God has placed me. I have peace and confidence in that, and I don’t try to be someone God has not called me to be.

DJM: So what has it been like to sing with David these past three months?
Wes: It’s been a lot of fun singing with David filling in. The blend was so nice—he and I would switch tenor depending on what song it was. If it was one of his big staple songs, he’d sing it, and it would give me a vocal break and sing a little lower. He and I would each do some baritone, also, with Marsh singing lead. So we were singing any of three different parts. It was nice to have some rest there, with usually singing the tenor all night.

DJM: Speaking of David Phelps and his big songs, are there any Vocal Band songs from that era that the group doesn’t stage since they don’t fit your voice?
Wes: Yeah, one of the big ones that we haven’t done is “Let Freedom Ring.” That is really his song. And, Bill being fair to me and wanting me to blend, didn’t want to put me in a position that was difficult for me to succeed at. He knows what I can do vocally, and what I can’t, and what Guy, David, and Marsh can and can’t do vocally, and he works with that.

Actually, I think “Let Freedom Ring” is the only song we haven’t done that was a big one when he was in the group. I think that’s it; we’ve done about everything else—“Hide Thou Me,” “Love of God,” “O Love that Will Not Let Me Go,” “I Pledge My Allegiance.”

DJM: Are there any vocal exercises you’ve done to work on your voice and perhaps expand your range, both before and after joining the GVB?
Wes: Not necessarily. I don’t do a lot of vocal stuff on a concert date because my voice warms up naturally. There are some nice low notes when I wake up, and as the day goes on I start warming up and it gets higher. I do lip rolls, humming, and head voice to loosen up my voice.

Probably the biggest change since joining the Vocal Band is more stamina. When I was leading worship, it was in a lower register (range), and that register was a lot stronger with my upper range not as strong. I’ve had to build that back up since joining the Vocal Band. It was a struggle for the first year, but I’d like to think I’ve got more stamina, like to think that the sound has improved.

DJM: If you could pick one earlier GVB member to do a concert with, who—and why?
Wes: Steve Green!
DJM: I thought maybe!
Wes: He is just a big musical influence in my life. I listened to him at such an early age and his  music has such a tremendous impact on my life. I got to sing with him this past year—it was a huge highlight of my life. He was so gracious, so kind. I loved his spirit, his story, how open is in his concerts—how he used to perform for the wrong reasons and how God used people in his life to point that out to him and change his direction. I love his music, his heart, and I’d love to do a concert with him one day.

DJM: I still watch that video of It is Well with My Soul you two did together every now and then—great video! (Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Qub3wklEM)
Wes: In fact, I’ve gone back and watched it four or five times myself—I remind myself that it really happened!

DJM: There’s one point—I think it’s the second to last verse—where I can’t tell who’s singing the harmony. Is that you or him?
Wes: I basically did the higher harmony stuff, except where I have the lead. When we rehearsed it that afternoon, we were thinking I could take the high part to be a little break for him vocally. I actually messed up several things in that recording because my brain was so fried!

DJM: I think the Vocal Band reunion video is coming out later this month?
Wes: Yeah, it is.
DJM: Have you heard anything about whether there might be any reunion live concerts?
Wes: Wonderful question! I have heard mention of that [possibility], but I don’t know what the probability of that is. I would be the happiest boy on the planet if that happened! To get together with those guys in a Vocal Band reunion tour would really rock! But I’m not sure if it’s gonna happen.

DJM: At the 2007 Homecoming taping where there was a day of hymns and a day of new songs, there have been three videos released with footage from the hymns taping day. Do you have any idea if the videos from the day of new songs will be coming out this year?
Wes: Yeah, they’ve finished another couple of videos, and they’re waiting for the right time to release those. I think they might release a couple more hymns videos yet. The day before the hymns taping, we did a taping on the Opry stage with the number of singers and all that, but a different setting and a different set. A couple of videos from that day have not been released yet. I would say at least three more videos from those dates will be coming out this year.

They have so much video footage at the Gaither Studios—they have a lot of video footage and old videos that have never been released, and I don’t know if they ever will be. Who knows if they’ll ever make videos out of those. They even have a couple of finished videos that have never been released.

DJM: Speaking of unreleased footage, I think I read in the liner notes to Lovin’ God, Lovin’ Each Other that the Vocal Band recorded twenty-four songs, and released thirteen in the end. I imagine Gaither does this kind of thing with the other Vocal Band projects, too—do you know if there are any plans to release any of this?
Wes: Yes, for that one, I think they did 25 songs. I think some of those will never be released—they just did what they thought was best.

There are at least two songs that haven’t been released from Lovin’ Life—we have nineteen finished songs we recorded. We redid “These are They.” “Let the Celebration Begin” was a great one that Gerald Crabb wrote. “Fear Not” was offered as a bonus track with the Vocal Band Christmas pre-release, and then we did another one called “Praise You” that hasn’t been released.

DJM: Do you know if the Vocal Band will be releasing any CDs this year?
Wes: Yes, there are plans to release at least one CD this year, and maybe more.

DJM: I’ve seen on some of the more recent Vocal Band projects that each group member is listed as a co-producer. What did that look like? Did you all do everything, or did different ones handle different roles?
Wes: Well, Bill primarily decides which songs are gonna be on the CDs, but he’s very diplomatic. He’ll take good suggestions, he’ll take a good song no matter where it comes from.

On Lovin’ Life, we didn’t have another producer, just us. We were all there for everything, and we all kind of gave our input—like when it came to mixing it down, more kick right here or more whatever. We were all tweaking and listening all the time, when recording and mixing down. Bill just loves that, and that way everyone feels like we all have a vital part in that. He graciously listed us all in the album credits.

DJM: What about tracking? Who would write the tracks for the musicians in the studio?
Wes: It was interesting when we did that. Gordon Mote was kind of the session leader. He’ll just kind of play the song, and all the musicians find their parts as he plays the song, it just happens. Someone makes charts, and they’ll kind of just go from there.

DJM: But I would assume that before that point, you’ve already decided keys, what key works for what voice, and all that sort of thing?
Wes: Yes—say for “I Will Go On,” we all sat down with each other, to see what was good for each voice, and that was on the date that we tracked that song.

DJM: There have been a couple of times in the past where the Vocal Band members have collaborated together to co-write a song. Do you do any songwriting?
Wes: We have not done anything yet with the current group. The last collaborative effort by the group was “Picture of Grace,” at least as far as the whole group being involved. That’s something I’d love to do in the new year.

DJM: What do you think Southern Gospel will look like in the future, say 25 years down the road?
Wes: Oh, yeah, I think it has such a loyal following and has for years, and it’ll still be strong. It goes from the Vocal Band all the way to the other end of the spectrum. To me, the Vocal Band is not Southern Gospel, but it is Southern Gospel, if you know what I mean. It’s just different sounding from anything else. I think Southern Gospel will continue to grow, from the more traditional sounding groups to the Vocal Band. That’s what makes it so great!

DJM: Some groups have a fixed set list every night, but I think you indicated earlier that Bill Gaither can call any number of songs. Between Vocal Band songs and Homecoming choir songs, how many songs do you have to be able to sing on the spur of the moment?
Wes: Wow, that’s a good question! Basically if it’s recorded, it’s fair game for for the Vocal Band. On the video we taped in Canada, we did “I Bowed On My Knees” with Michael English. Bill had never once asked me if I knew it, and we’d never rehearsed it. Sometimes it flies, and sometimes it falls, but especially if we rehearsed it in the last year or two it’s fair game.

We usually have a general idea of what the set’s going to be, but sometimes he’ll have something we had no idea was coming!

DJM: So would he even call stuff from the ’80s? What’s the oldest song he might call?
Wes: I think the earliest stuff he has called would be from the Vocal Band Homecoming project, “Temporary Home.” I think anywhere from that group forward is fair game, but he’s not usually going to call a song that we haven’t rehearsed at some point.

DJM: Random question: The year is 1975, and you have your pick of singing tenor for any Southern Gospel group. Which group do you choose, and why?
Wes: I would say maybe the Cathedrals, but I guess my first choice would be the Imperials, because that music was so instrumental when I was so young. That was when I first started hearing and singing harmony, when I was 4 or 5 years old with Russ Taff on “Trumpet of Jesus,” “Eagle Song,” “Oh, Buddha.” I still love that music!

DJM: Are there any questions you wish an interviewer would ask you, but nobody has to date?
Wes: Honestly you’ve asked some great questions. I’m not sure I can think of any. I often get more run of the mill questions like, “What’s it like to sing with Bill Gaither, to be in the group?” But there were some great questions. Daniel Britt also asked some great questions when he interviewed me.

Questions I love answering are what’s life like at home, what’s your day like.

DJM: I just didn’t want to duplicate what you’ve already done fairly extensively in the FAQ page of your site!
Wes: Oh, that’s very out of date! I’ve been home for a few weeks. There are so many emails in my inbox that it’s been unbelievable. I haven’t checked it recently because I’ve enjoyed being home so much, enjoyed being with my kids. I’m kinda selfish with my time, and want to spend every moment with my family! But I’ll hopefully get some more FAQs on there. I’ve got a lot waiting!

DJM: Any other thoughts or comments?
Wes: No, but I appreciate you taking the time to do this!
DJM: I really appreciate you taking the time, too! Thank you!

I recently had the opportunity of interviewing Pat Barker, bass singer for the Dixie Echoes and recently a top 5 nominee in the Singing News Fan Awards for Horizon Individual of the Year. A formatted version of the interview is here: http://www.southerngospelblog.com/features/20081215.pdf.

DJM: How did you get interested in Southern Gospel, and what sparked a desire to sing it yourself?
Pat: My dad was the one who got me interested. He loves Southern Gospel, he loves quartet music. So I was raised on it as well.

DJM: Was he a bass singer, too?
Pat: Yes, he was.

DJM: Did his voice sound anything like yours?
Pat: You know what’s funny—for a Father’s day gift, I took every recording he’d made, some he didn’t even known about, and put them on CD. When I was listing to them, I thought, “Wow, that sounds just like me!”

Without knowing it, I just got his voice. He can sing the solos, and he got quite an incredible range. I wish I had a voice half as good as his.

DJM: What sparked a desire to sing it yourself? (Continue Reading >>>)

Recently, I had the chance to interview Christian Davis. After singing bass with the Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet, Christian Brothers Quartet, and Mercy’s Mark, he recently launched a solo ministry and has reorganized the Christian Brothers Quartet for select dates. His website is www.christiandavisministries.com.

For a formatted version of the interview, click here: http://www.southerngospelblog.com/features/20081201.pdf. A text version is below.

DJM: How did you get interested in Southern Gospel?
Christian: I started at an early age, growing up around it. My family were big Southern Gospel fans. Being involved in church, and listening to tapes and records, it just kinda sunk into my system and my blood.
My dad had a Sunday morning radio program and I always loved to pick out songs for him to play. One of my favorite things to do on Sunday morning was go to the radio station with my Dad.
As I got older, that’s when I really developed more of a love for it, because I understood it better. Not that I didn’t love it at an early age, but I was able to comprehend it a little more.

DJM: So your first experience traveling professionally was with the Sounds of Liberty?
Christian: Yeah, my first professional musical experience was with Sounds of Liberty, a recruiting group for Liberty University. That was only for the year of 1999.
At the time, the Sounds of Liberty weren’t singing Southern Gospel. One Sunday morning, I had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Jerry Falwell in his office and talked to him about starting a quartet. When I said that, it was like magic words to him. He had always wanted his own quartet, for his church, ministry and TV program (The Old Time Gospel Hour), as well as traveling with him when he goes around and speaks. He told me, “Christian, I want you to be the bass singer. Robbie Hiner doesn’t know it yet, but he’s gonna be my tenor singer!”
You can read a little about that on my website.

DJM: You were with them from ‘99 through ‘03?
Christian: Yeah, I was with them for four years.

DJM: And then you started your own group…
Christian: Yes, the Christian Brothers. (Continue Reading >>>)