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The Perrys have been based in Morristown, Tennessee for some time. In their most recent e-newsletter, they announced that they will be moving across the state to Gallatin, Tennessee.

Tracy, JK and I have been busy as bees this week. We have been packing our house up, getting ready to move to Gallatin, Tennessee. We will be moving on Dec. 4. We have been battling moving for a couple of months. 85% of our time away from home while not singing is spent in Gallatin or Hendersonville. Our record company, booking agency and bus shop is there. Plus, we just joined a really great church in Gallatin that is on fire, College Heights Baptist Church. The church was really our nudge to move. We are all excited about the move. Joseph will be moving to Goodlettsville also. Matthew is thrilled because this will cut his driving time from 6 hours one way to 2 hours. Please pray for us during this move.

I don’t expect any earth-shaking consequences from the move, but nonetheless thought that this little bit of news would be of interest to Southern Gospel fans.

The Dixie Echoes recently released Sounds of Sunday. This independent release features 10 classic songs and introduces their new tenor, Dallas Rogers.

Most groups use studio musicians on their recordings instead of group members, because the cost of paying for studio time makes paying someone whose skill is a technically perfect first or second take a financial necessity. However, the Dixie Echoes own their own recording studio, Echo Sound, and this frees them to use group musicians and take as long as it takes to get it right.

Only one musician on this project is not a Dixie Echoes member; that musician, David Johnson, played several assorted instruments on the project. Group pianist Stewart Varnado played the piano and organ. Baritone singer Randy “Scoot” Shelnut, Jr., played bass guitar and drums. Lead singer Randy Shelnut, Sr. played guitars.

The project starts with a classic four-part harmony song, “If Jesus is There.” This song can be played on the Dixie Echoes website and captures the style of the project quite well.

The second song, “Up to the House of Prayer,” was written by Buford Abner, who was one of the original members of the Suwannee River Boys in 1938 and remained a main player in the group for years. The song was also done by the LeFevres / Rex Nelon Singers, but has not to my knowledge been staged by a quartet in decades. They had to go far back into the archives to find this one! (Continue Reading >>>)

Blogger averyfineline is hot on the trail of this story. I’d hate to see it if it happens–the comment that he’s the last superstar in the group is pushing it but has some truth to it. When I saw PSQ a few months ago, their new tenor (Wesley Smith) was in his second day on the job, and while the group was trying to get back on their feet, Ishee’s charisma carried the show.

As Southern Gospel fans, we have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Two of my favorite groups, the Perrys and the Mark Trammell Trio, went through some tough times earlier this year, when each group lost its lead singer. Yet they were both able to rebuild to the point of being better than they were before.

We can all give thanks that Roger Bennett’s cell transplant is going well so far.

And though we mourn that they are no longer with us, we can rejoice with Anthony Burger and Doug Riley as they celebrate their first Thanksgiving in Heaven.

In closing, let me quote the Happy Thanksgiving email that the Mark Trammell Trio sent out to their email list:

As we gather with our families to give thanks this week, one of the things to be most thankful for is you.  This has been our best year, so far.  We know it is first because of the blessings of God, but you being there has been a great part of that blessing.  Thank you for your love and support for this ministry.

We Love YOU!

In Jesus,
Mark, Eric, Dustin, Steve, our families and support team

I like the way they put that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Am I the only person who has heard Legacy Five sing “The Vegetables Song”?

The message of the song–that God provides for everything–is especially timely this Thanksgiving season. (”Don’t listen to me, listen closely to the words.”)

As the song affirms, God provides for our every need–a message especially timely this Thanksgiving season.

Oftentimes, some Southern Gospel singer’s actions make him controversial. But it seems that there are a few whose voices alone are controversial.

If you read Southern Gospel message boards, it is quite possible that the most-discussed controversial voice is that of Brian Free. Does he sing in falsetto, as some claim, full chest voice, as others claim, or head voice, what many music professionals say is that voice lying between falsetto and chest voice in sound quality?
Another controversial voice is Michael Combs. He has a certain voice quality that someone on the Singing News message boards is imitated only by Kermit the Frog. Even though I have never heard Kermit the frog, that observation was decidedly memorable.

Yet another would be Jay Parrack. Jay, tenor for Gold City for ten years, sang one of the most consistently high tenor parts ever sung in Southern Gospel, generally singing well into the high soprano range. Some people liked it, some did not.

It seems that most controversial voices tend to be tenor voices, but at least one bass singer has often been discussed in recent months. Paul David Kenamer, of the trio Valor, uses a vocal technique known as vocal fry to produce extraordinarily low notes. On songs such as Valor’s rendition of “How Great Thou Art,” Kenamer hits a low C. While many think this is the same low C as J.D. Sumner would hit on “Lonesome Road,” some, including (if I recall correctly) no less an august personality than David Bruce Murray, speculated that it could be the C below the lowest note on the piano.

Southern Gospel is a genre driven by vocals. In fact, in the old days of Southern Gospel music, all that was had for any given concert was four voices and a piano or guitar. So performers had to keep the audience entertained for an hour and a half on the basis of their voices alone. This is why Southern Gospel, perhaps more than any other genre, seeks and attracts singers who are (vocally) freaks of nature. And freaks of nature are bound to be controversial.

Greater Vision has released a Hymns project entitled Hymns of the Ages. This project will be available from Charles Stanley’s In Touch Ministries. They described the project in their email announcement:

Several months ago, we started working on a project with Producer Lari Goss, that we planned to release as a print project for Church Choirs. When we started working on it, we had no idea what it would become. During our pre- production meeting, we talked about working on some classic Hymns, and then the idea of putting them in a chronological order was mentioned. That meant we’d have to find songs that covered everything from the Creation to the Second Coming, and everything in between. What we came up with has become known as “Hymns Of The Ages”.

After we finished working on the soundtracks with the renowned Prague Symphony Orchestra, we put the print project on “hold” so we could record our vocals and produce a CD that we could make available to our friends. Shortly after the project began, our friends at In Touch Ministries contacted us about doing a special project for them, and when we mentioned what we were already working on, all of us realized that it was not a coincidence. “Hymns Of The Ages” would be the perfect recording to make available to the supporters and friends of In Touch. That recording is now available!

Well, this blog has lost a reader. So I find in this thread on Averyfineline.com. Doug Harrison, the author of the blog, had written a post on the Steeles’ song “We Want America Back.” Harrison was criticizing the simple-minded evangelicals who “wanted America back” because society is moving away from God and from Christian standards. Essentially, his argument was that gay marriage, abortion, no prayer in schools, and other liberal panaceas should not bother Christians because these things do not affect us personally. He stated: “There just aren’t that many instances in ordinary American life when evangelicals are going to be penalized or forced to suffer severely for their beliefs.”

When I read this, I decided to post the following comment:

Doug,
You said: “There just aren’t that many instances in ordinary American life when evangelicals are going to be penalized or forced to suffer severely for their beliefs.”

This is true to an extent. So why are Christians getting worked up, if you will?

A good part of the reason we care is that, in several arenas, we are only one step away from where we could be forced to suffer severely for our beliefs. Let me give just one example: Gay rights.

In Canada and several European nations, it is a criminal action to read certain sections of the Bible aloud, because those sections state quite clearly that homosexuality is a sin. The gay lobby in this country is pushing for similar legislation, making speaking against homosexuality a hate crime. Such legislation has been considered by the U.S. Congress, but since we had a Republican majority to date, it has been voted down.

If Christians could be imprisoned for reading certain sections of their Bibles in public, would you not agree that we would then be “forced to suffer severely for our beliefs”?

I was amazed to see another poster reply thusly:

Well, Avery, so much for the intelligent, civil conversation. Daniel Mount’s post really blew my mind. Absolutely ridiculous. Guess there goes another blog off of my list. …

Well, guess what? I’m a conservative Christian, and I’m not ashamed of it. If you don’t want to read a blog written by a conservative Christian, then don’t read my blog. If you don’t want to listen to music made by conservative Christians, than quit listening to most Southern Gospel groups. Whatever their political affiliation, I think that most Southern Gospel performers would agree that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that it should be a basic element of religious liberty to read the Bible out loud. I believe that my views on this topic are fully within the mainstream of thought in America’s evangelical subculture.

That said, let me assure you of this: This is a Southern Gospel blog, not a politics blog. I will not discuss politics here, except as it directly affects Southern Gospel (such as the song under discussion). If you object to reading a non-political blog written by a conservative, so be it. See you at the next Legacy Five concert!

Florida’s Ledger Online has published an article on Wally Varner that is well worth reading. Varner played piano for the Blackwood Brothers during their glory days, when Bill Shaw, James and Cecil Blackwood, and J.D. Sumner took the Blackwood Brothers to the top of Southern Gospel music. Varner wrote several classic Southern Gospel songs, including “Crown Him King” and “Bells of Joy Keep Ringing.”

At one time, decades ago, the Prophets Quartet was one of the most popular quartets in Southern Gospel. Word has it that Ed Hill, who managed the quartet, might be bringing it back with an all-star cast which includes former Stamps Quartet tenor Bill Baize and former Singing Americans bass Hovie Walker.

Only time will tell if the Prophets will again be headed for the top, but it looks as though Ed Hill is assembling a cast that could put them there. One thing, though, is for sure: The Prophets retired in 1973, and that is one name that I (as well as many others) never expected to see again gracing the Gospel Music stage.

P.S. to my readers: I apologize for not posting a review yesterday. I didn’t have anything to review. But then, I suppose that I would probably have to cover quite a few groups on a regular basis to have 52 albums worth reviewing every year.