The Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting is being held this week in Indianapolis, Indiana. That last detail could shed some light on what would otherwise be a slightly surprising item in the schedule: In this morning’s opening session, from 9:05-9:15 AM, the Gaither Vocal Band will be doing a music feature.

What makes this slightly surprising is that at least the Gaither part of the Gaither Vocal Band isn’t Southern Baptist. (I believe his church affiliation is with the Church of God (Anderson). But perhaps it is due to the local connection, as Gaither is unquestionably one of the best-known artists in any genre of Christian music based in Central Indiana.

A link to watch live streaming video of conference proceedings is available on the conference’s main page. [EDIT, 11/8/10: The link appears to be down, and has been removed.] So if you want to catch their appearance, tune in at 9:05 AM EST this morning.

Update (6/11/08, 9:28 AM): Here is the video. [EDIT, 11/8/10: The link appears to be down, and has been removed.] Interestingly, in the onscreen identification, they’re listed as “Gaither Vocal Band – Contemporary Christian Artists.”

Years ago, on the Kingsmen’s 1973 landmark live album Big & Live, they introduced their trademark rendition of the hymn “Love Lifted Me.” In my opinion, the arrangement on their 1981 Live Naturally album was even better.

I had been of the opinion that no group since has had the right combination of voices to pull off that arrangement…until I saw this.

And from the video notes, this was just the encore.

Out of curiosity, I decided to check how many of the Singing News top 10 Song of the Year nominees were on YouTube.

Perrys – Holy Shore

Ivan Parker – I Choose

Legacy Five – I Have Been Changed

Greater Vision – It Means Just What it Says

Booth Brothers – Look for Me (I’m assuming. perhaps mistakenly, that this is the same song they’ve been singing for years)

Brian Free & Assurance – Prayin’ Man

Triumphant Quartet – The Great I Am Still Is

Kingdom Heirs – What We Needed

I couldn’t find two–the McKamey’s “You are With Me,” and the Inspirations “If You Only Knew” (though I could find a photo montage of the latter.)

YouTube has become one of the first places where people go to check out artists whose name they have only heard. This is the first year where Southern Gospel is represented to this degree.

This is an old clip, but no less powerful for its age:

If you’ve never seen a hippo imitating the Big Chief (Jim Wetherington of the Statesmen), this is a must-see:

For the most part, I’ve been successfully resisting the temptation to steer this blog clear of any political discussion. But…I just couldn’t resist this one. After all, when was the last time you saw a Presidential candidate performing a Southern Gospel song?

This was from last Sunday’s service at Thomas Road Baptist Church, host to the (former) Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet.

All I can say is…if this Presidential gig doesn’t pan out, I heard the Kingsmen are looking!

Like any genre, Southern Gospel has its myths and misconceptions. One of the most publicized of these is that, over the years, Ernie Haase keeps lowering the key in which he performs “Oh, What a Savior.”

I’ve heard this multiple times on enough different message boards that I finally decided it was worth a blog post. Here is a video of Haase singing the song within a few weeks of joining the Cathedrals.

This was in 1990; he was doing it in the key of G. Within about a year’s time, he moved it down to F-sharp. This is a half-step lower. (For those not particularly musically inclined, that’s the smallest distance you can change a key.) With a few exceptions, that’s the key he’s used ever since. Here’s a video of Haase doing the song in F-sharp in 1996.

Oddly enough, he performed the song with the Old Friends Quartet in F in 2001 (see here).

Perhaps that may have been due to other factors, such as Jake Hess’s or Wesley Pritchard’s range. But within a few years, he was again doing the song in F-sharp. Here’s a video of him doing the song with Signature Sound in F-sharp, ca. 2003.

Of course, that was on a professional video. Here’s a version of the song, captured at a regular concert, probably on a video-equipped digital camera.

Here’s a video of him doing the song in F-sharp in 2005.

In summary, after twenty-two years in professional Southern Gospel, with about eighteen of those in the national spotlight, he’s doing the song today only a half-step lower than when he started–a key he’s been using over the past sixteen or so years.

EDIT: I had a complaint from a good friend that the embedded videos took too long to download on dial-up.

Last year, several Southern Gospel artists and promoters heard about Jim Hamill’s health problems and decided to put together a concert to help raise funds for his medical costs. He passed away late last year, so the concert was renamed the “Jim Hamill Memorial Concert.”

This concert took place last Friday. Several artists, including Calvary’s Way, the Old Paths Quartet, the Diplomats, the Original Liberty, Randy Miller, and the Mark Trammell Trio donated performances. Several members of these groups–Mark Trammell, Jeremy Peace, and Randy Miller come to mind–were former Kingsmen, while Eric Phillips is the son of former Kingsmen tenor Ernie Phillips.

The Hamill family has ongoing expenses from his illness; donations can still be mailed to Hamill’s widow, Jan Hamill, 126 South Joyce Street, East Flat Rock NC 28726.

Here are two videos of clips from the concert:

This video clip was taken of Greater Vision in concert over the past weekend. Watching Gerald Wolfe sing “Till the Storm Passes By” is watching a master in action.

The Cathedrals Remembered concert series features Danny Funderburk, Greater Vision, the Mark Trammell Trio, and Legacy Five. In the second half, the former Cathedrals (Mark Trammell, Gerald Wolfe, Danny Funderburk, and Scott Fowler) get together to sing some old Cathedrals songs. In this video clip, captured several days ago, they are singing Moving Up to Gloryland, with Danny Funderburk singing tenor, Scott Fowler singing baritone, Mark Trammell singing lead, and Gerald Wolfe singing bass. Legacy Five pianist Tim Parton was playing the piano.