SouthernGospelBlog.com

If I had the power to give anyone any Christmas gift, my eighth gift would go to the Inspirations. I would give them Dallas Rogers as their tenor.

This would enable Southern Gospel legend Archie Watkins to step back to being a “featured soloist.” He could still sing the songs he wanted to, but would not have to tote the mail for the tenor harmony part. This could give him five or ten more productive years on the road.

To my friends in the Dixie Echoes: Sorry for giving your tenor away! I wish you would find the best undiscovered tenor out there…or that perhaps you could talk Anthony Facello into coming back out on the road.

If I had the power to give anyone any Christmas gift, my seventh gift would go to Ernie Haase & Signature Sound. Actually, I have two things in mind for them.

First, I would give them personnel stability. Right now, they have that perfect mix of voices that could make them a mega-group, and in the minds of some competent observers has already done so. If they can maintain these same singers for several more years, they will have had an amazing run.

Second, I would give them more top-notch original songs. If they can find songs that sound just as good as the quartet classics that put them on top, they will make their own long-term mark on Southern Gospel as groups for decades to come record “Signature Sound classics,” just as they record “Statesmen classics” and “Cathedrals classics” today.