Mansion is headed by former Homeland Records executive Bill Traylor. The label also recently signed the Hoppers. With one of Southern Gospel’s most awarded family groups and the current Male Quartet of the year on their roster, it looks like Mansion could be well on its way to being a serious force in the genre.

The press release also mentions that Wayne Haun will remain producing the group, and that they will be working on a live CD and DVD that will be released in September.

Dan Keeton 2007

Dan Keeton 2010

Congratulations, Dan! This is an inspiration to all of us who should do the same.

First off, group manager Ron Blackwood is retiring at the recommendation of his doctor, turning the group over to his cousin Mark Blackwood. Mark Blackwood—who is interestingly identified as Cecil Mark Blackwood in the press release, hinting at a possible shift in how he is identified, using the first name he shares with his late father instead of just his own middle name.

Up to this point, Mark Blackwood had led the Blackwood Gospel Quartet, a group known for having the highest-caliber talent, but typically on a fill-in basis. As of March 1, the Blackwood Gospel Quartet will evidently disband as Mark takes leadership of the new group.

Meanwhile, Blackwood Quartet tenor John Rulapaugh issued a separate one-sentence press release: “Josh Garner and John Rulapaugh have announced their departure from The Blackwood Quartet effective March 1, 2010.” Their future plans are not known.

While Mark has yet to issue a press release—which is not necessarily a bad thing, since three press releases on the same day might be a little much!—the two press releases seem to suggest that Mark will be bringing his own baritone (David Mann) and tenor to the lineup. The Blackwood Gospel Quartet tenor is listed on the group’s website as Daniel Blackwood Childs; however, his departure was announced several months ago, so it’s not clear who their current tenor is. (Mark didn’t have a bass, since Brad Smith announced his resignation several weeks ago. So presumably he will be keeping the Blackwood Quartet’s existing bass, Chris West, Harold Gilley, or Aaron McCune.)

Kudos to Ron Blackwood for keeping the name and the group in the family. Hopefully this merger will cause things to be a little less confusing for the fans.

UPDATE (9:34 A.M.): Via Ron Blackwood, the other members of the reorganized group will be tenor Dale Evans, baritone David Mann, and bass Chris West.

Dave Kyllonen, Duane Nicholson, and Neil Enloe perform a limited concert schedule as Dave, Duane, and Neil (www.daveduaneandneil.com); this limited schedule included a showstopping mainstage set at the National Quartet Convention last year and includes an upcoming mainstage slot on NQC 2010’s schedule. It is unclear whether they will take on the Couriers name once again; if they are, they are probably holding off on an announcement as a courtesy to today’s lineup.

As with everything else the group does, this transition was handled with the epitome of class. In a statement issued by Duane Nicholson for Dave, Duane, and Neil and posted on SoGospelNews.com, they stated:

These fine Christian men, who were asked to take over The Couriers, have carried on the ministry with integrity and grace. We wish them nothing but the best as they pursue other ministries that will be ongoing. Dave Kyllonen, Duane Nicholson and Neil Enloe will continue to sing the gospel as long as the good Lord provides the health and strength and venues to use our talents for the Lord. Our relationship with the disbanding Couriers remains strong and we commend them for a job well done.

Some hold that the more distance you keep from your topic, the more accurately you can write about it. But I incline toward the opposite view: The more contacts and friends I make, the more accurate I am. Over the last few years, I’ve been making contacts and friends at every opportunity. Earlier this month, one of these friends offered me a job.

I have accepted a part-time position helping Crossroads develop artist community sites. This is the same label I helped two years ago at NQC 2008 with TalleyTree-o.com, and last year with five sites. (Side note to local friends: This is in addition to my day job, and I will be staying in Ohio for the time being.)

I have received the green light to continue this site. There should be so few changes that readers who missed this post probably won’t notice anything different.

I am looking forward to helping artists develop online communities. And I am equally looking forward to keeping this site going, hopefully even stronger and more insightful than before.

The other day, I heard an ad on the radio that referred to them as a “Mansion recording artist.” And sure enough, they are now listed on Mansion’s website, along with fellow artists Marty Haggard, Bonnie Dueschle & Celebration Choir, the Doerfels, and the Shireys.

The press release stated:

We believe that Trent is one of the best young bass singers and we are excited that he has accepted the offer to become part of the Dixie Echoes. Trent is an exceptional young bass singer, and we feel that our fans will love his smooth bass voice and friendly personality.

Since the announcement of the departure of Pat Barker, we have been overwhelmed with the response we have received. While we auditioned several fantastic bass singers for the position, we truly feel the addition of Trent to the Dixie Echoes is the right choice. We would like to thank everyone for their interest.

Joining the Dixie Echoes family along with Trent will be his wife, Jessica, and their daughter, Anzlee. Please join us in welcoming this young family. We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for the Dixie Echoes in our 50th year of ministry. Please remember to keep us in your prayers.

It’s quite a change for Davis. Not only is it a different genre (though their fairly high ratio of Southern Gospel cover songs helps ease the transition)—it will also be his first time, at least since hitting the Southern Gospel circuit, to be playing an instrument on stage. Despite knowing him for several years and even doing a feature interview with him a little over a year ago, I still had no idea that he played guitar (though, as that interview indicated, he does play trumpet.)

Even more so than for Davis, it will be quite the change for Dailey & Vincent in particular, and bluegrass music in general. From my limited exposure to the genre, it seems they are not accustomed to bass singing as low and as resonant as Davis’s. So his voice, while excellent in our genre, will really stand out in theirs.

They have since received the blessing of family members to use the name, and so, according to this press release, they are once again the LeFevre Quartet.

This is a good thing for them and for the family; a LeFevre has been on the Southern Gospel circuit pretty much ever since the genre started, and Mike’s group is certainly the best known and perhaps the only group carrying that legacy forward right now.