SouthernGospelBlog.com

Thanks to reader Meagan W., we have a new update to the SouthernGospelBlog.com photo gallery:

Crabb Family (Central City, KY, 8/27/08)

On Friday, I posted about how the Steeles’ hit song “Left Behind” did not appear at its place on the chart in the Singing News online radio charts for May-October 2001. In its place was a blank (raptured?) line.

A little bird notifies me that the song has been restored to its proper place on the charts, and a quick look confirms this.

So the mystery’s over, in a way. The song is back, we just don’t know if it was a technical glitch or a practical joke that left its line blank in the first place.

Scott Fowler shares a couple of Legacy Five pictures with us in this photo album from the SouthernGospelBlog.com photo gallery. Among the pictures is this one of Legacy Five at the Grand Ole Opry:

With apologies to contributor Diana B. for my tardiness mentioning this, I want to point you to photos she took last weekend at Scott & Kasey Inman’s wedding. They’ve been posted in the SouthernGospelBlog.com photo gallery here.

If you have Southern Gospel-related photos you’d like to contribute to the photo gallery, email editor@southerngospelblog.com for submission information.

Photos of the Mike LeFevre Quartet Homecoming (taken by contributor Diana B.) were posted over the weekend to the SouthernGospelBlog.com gallery. They can be viewed here.

She also took several videos at the event; these can be found on her Youtube page.

SouthernGospelBlog.com Gallery contributor Dinana has posted several photos from a recent Chuck Wagon Gang concert she attended. The photos can be viewed here. She has also posted four videos of sound clips on YouTube here.

We also have photos that reader Jamie took at a recent Tulsa, OK concert, featuring the Booth Brothers, Jason Crabb, Jeff Stice, the Talley Trio, the Browns, and Triumphant Quartet. That album is here.

Thank you to our contributors! If you would like to contribute concert photos, contact editor@southerngospelblog.com for directions.

Reader Matt Paasch went to a Gold City concert last weekend, and has posted an extensive photo gallery: http://www.southerngospelblog.com/gallery/?level=album&id=16.

He also picked up several interesting tidbits of news about Gold City’s upcoming projects. Their next project, Moment of Truth, is set to include remakes of the Imperials’ “Cast Your Bread Upon the Water” and a little-known Cathedrals track from the early 1980s, “Turn Your Back.”

They are also working on a Classics 2 project of songs that earlier lineups of the group have recorded. That album will include Just Like You, How Deep is the Water, and Holy Anointing. (Brandon Coomer added that the project will also include “Glory is Waiting” and “Love Went Deeper.”)

Last Saturday, I had the chance to see the Collingsworth Family in Bucyrus, Ohio. The attendance was remarkably strong for a Southern Gospel concert in this area. The host church included it as part of an annual celebration weekend; while that helped attendance, it was still heartening to see perhaps 600 or more turn out for a Southern Gospel concert. Shortly before the concert, ushers started putting out extra chairs in front of the first row, behind the back row, and (raising a retractable wall) even out into the lobby. Even so, people were standing behind the last rows throughout the concert.

Song list with comments:

• Not the Same. This song, from their most recent project (We Still Believe), was performed by the whole family. It features Brooklyn Collingsworth, the oldest daughter and the group’s soprano.
• When God Whispers. This song was performed by a ladies’ trio consisting of Kim Collingsworth (mother/alto), Courtney (second oldest/second soprano or mezzo), and Brooklyn.
• God Can Do Anything. The whole family came back for this song, featuring Kim (vocal solo).
• It is Well With My Soul. This was Kim’s first piano solo of the night, and got a standing ovation.
• The Blood of Jesus. This was performed by a mixed trio–Phil Collingsworth (father/baritone), Kim, and Brooklyn.
• I Can Trust Jesus. This was performed by a mixed trio with a different lineup, Courtney joining Phil and Brooklyn (while Kim played piano).
• Joshua Fit the Battle. This was Kim’s second piano solo (and second standing ovation) of the night. Interestingly enough, Phil Collingsworth introduced it by saying that it was their most requested song over the course of their ministry. I found this slightly surprising, since I would have expected “How Great Thou Art” to be her most-requested song.
• Lily of the Valley. This was a fiddle duet featuring Courtney and Brooklyn. More than any other song except Kim’s piano solos, this got the most enthusiastic response of the evening. It was encored once, and a second wouldn’t have hurt.
• No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus. Brooklyn and Courtney played this as a violin duet.
• We Still Believe. This Ronnie Hinson song, the title song from their most recent project, featured the whole family. It was well received enough to be encored twice.
• My Favorite Things. This song featured Olivia, the youngest Collingsworth, on a solo. The first verse stayed true to the original, from The Sound of Music; the second and third verses were parodies of the original, listing things old people enjoy. (Judging by the looks on the faces of various older audience members, the message of the song was hitting home.)
• And Can it Be / Majesty / In the Garden. In preparation for her upcoming live piano video taping, in which she will be taking requests, Kim took several requests. The first several audience requests were for “How Great Thou Art.” Phil noted the requests, and (as I guessed) saved that one to close the request time. Audience members also requested “And Can it Be,” “Majesty,” “Salute to the Troops,” and several others, and Kim worked several of the requests into an impromptu medley. She closed the medley with an audience sing-along on “In the Garden.”
• How Great Thou Art. Kim closed the concert with this number and received a (prolonged) standing ovation.

The Collingsworth Family appears on selected dates on the Gaither Homecoming tour. It seems most groups on the tour find ways to work in at least one Gaither joke during the course of their programs. Phil’s Gaither joke was one of the most original I’ve heard, tying it into the introduction of “My Favorite Things,” mentioning how the second and third verses listed some of Gaither’s favorite things.

With six family members, most of whom play instruments, the evening was full of variety. With one or two exceptions (in the instrumentals), there were no two consecutive songs done by the same lineup. This makes comparing a Collingsworth Family concert to a regular Southern Gospel concert something like comparing oranges to apples. To extend the metaphor (well, technically a simile, but who’s keeping score?), don’t go to one of their concerts expecting an apple–but you might just find the orange tastier than you expected.

See concert photos here.

The SouthernGospelBlog.com Photo Gallery, announced last week, is now well under way, with photos from several contributors. New additions include photos from concerts last weekend in Tyler, TX (Hoppers / Easters / Talley Trio) and the Atlanta, Georgia area (Aaron Wilburn and Triumphant Quartet). Thanks to our contributors!

If you’ve taken photos of a recent concert you’d like to submit for posting, contact editor@southerngospelblog.com.

For some time, I’ve wanted to introduce a way for Southern Gospel fans to share concert photos on a website specifically devoted to Southern Gospel music. Today, I’m launching the SouthernGospelBlog.com Gallery. It will feature concert photos, studio photos, and other Southern Gospel-related photos sent my way.

If you’d be interested in submitting concert or studio photos of nationally known Southern Gospel groups to this gallery, contact me at editor@southerngospelblog.com for submission information.