SouthernGospelBlog.com

Averyfineline was right; Robbie Hiner and Nick Bruno have left the label they co-founded, Song Garden. Song Garden has sold its recording studio and has moved its non-creative departments to Chesapeake, Virginia.

Dale, Lynn and Marilyn Keefer, Mennonite siblings who were formerly limited-executive partners, will step into active management of the label. David Staton, lead singer for the Mike LeFevre Quartet, will continue to handle radio promotions and will also assume other responsibilities. Nick Bruno and Robbie Hiner have left the label, Nick to his own company (”Nick Bruno Productions”) and Robbie Hiner “to pursue other interests.”

I have enjoyed the projects Song Garden released while Nick and Robbie were with them. I’m sorry to see them go, but wish the new management the best.

Reading the Singing News concert calendar reveals that Mennonites occasionally host Southern Gospel concerts, especially in Pennsylvania and occasionally in other states.

One group that has had a particularly noticeable number of dates at Mennonite-sponsored events is the Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet. This isn’t the only connection that the Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet had in Mennonite circles. The group’s founding member, tenor Robbie Hiner, partnered with Nick Bruno, Mennonite pastor and evangelist Dale Keffer, and Dale’s brother Lynn and sister Marilyn to found Song Garden Music Group. (Incidentally, this information is on Song Garden’s home page, which Doug Harrison at Averyfineline must have forgotten to check before posting his recent comment about Amish involvement with the label.)

But I’m wondering if the original Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet had yet another Mennonite connection. The cut of his suit on the OTGHQ debut album cover makes me wonder if Christian Davis is or was a Mennonite.

I noticed this 78 rpm record for sale on ebay. While George Younce and Glen Payne were recording with other groups in the days of 78s, I was unaware of the Payne/Younce Cathedral Quartet recording any 78s. Does anyone know if this was recorded by a different Cathedral Quartet?