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Some time back, we had a discussion on this blog and elsewhere over the fact that the artwork on Ernie Haase & Signature Sound’s Get Away Jordan CD/DVD was going to catch eyes. Well, it turns out that those who thought it would were right.

In its first week out, the Get Away Jordan CD and DVD had sales numbers unprecedented for any Southern Gospel project, ever since people have been keeping track of national sales figures.

Be watching for a press release that will officially announce that the Get Away Jordan DVD will debut at #1 on the Billboard Music Video chart for this week. Also, the Get Away Jordan CD is debuting at #1 on CCM Magazine’s chart of the most widely sold Christian CD this week.

Signature Sound founder Ernie Haase views the project as a “gospel tract,” to get your attention and then present the Gospel. And that, more than anything else, is why he is excited about the number of unchurched people who will hear and be touched by this project.

Much has been made of the fact that Singing News has eliminated many categories in the Fan Awards. I must admit, I don’t really like the fact that the favorite Male Quartet, Mixed Quartet, Trio, Bass, Baritone, Lead, and Tenor awards were dropped. But I haven’t quite been able to find a way to express my feelings…until now.

Now I am not a sports fan, but many of you are. Just suppose that the rankings for favorite football team were eliminated. Suppose the rankings for best baseball team were eliminated. Suppose the rankings for best basketball team were eliminated. Instead, all the rankings were combined into one overall ranking, “best team.”

Wouldn’t that be much better? That way, rather than spreading the awards around into so many different categories, thereby diluting their impact, we could just point to one team and say that it was the best sports team in the United States.

But wait a minute, you might say. The different teams all play sports, but they do it in very different ways.

And that thought, applied to Southern Gospel, is my point precisely.

Time precludes a longer post this morning, but permit me to point out these articles on Greater Vision and on Salem Communications.

If time permits, I’ll post something more in-depth this evening or tomorrow morning.

This article in the Tampa Bay Newspapers website provides interesting information on Bill Gaither and the Homecoming series.

Last night’s Mark Trammell Trio concert in Marion, Ohio had an audience of between 175 and 215–a decent turnout, though it came nowhere near filling the theater and thus looked smaller than it really was. The most remarkable thing about this audience, though, was the average age. Children under 10 came free, and adding that to the fact that the concert was supported by a church and Christian school made for an average age of roughly 35. At one point, in intermission with the auditorium half-empty, I counted 45 children, and I believe it is safe to say that of the roughly 200 in attendance, at least 75 were children.
The Mark Trammell Trio walked out on stage and began with three mid-tempo songs, “Thank God I am Free,” and “Walking with Jesus” (from Journey Thus Far), and “When Compared to God” (from This Time).

At this point, Trammell introduced the group. Steve Hurst, who travels with the group some weekends, was not with them this week, so the introductions did not take long. Trammell got off a subtle joke, the sort where everyone laughs about ten seconds after the punch line: He referred to a trip his family took over the holiday weekend. They went to California, because his son had never seen the land of the fruits and the nuts.

Trammell then took his time introducing the fourth song of the concert, “Just a Little Closer Home.” The song, which featured lead singer Dustin Sweatman, was written by Dustin’s father Gerald Sweatman and was recorded by the Kingsmen in the 1970s. This is one of those songs that you don’t fully appreciate until you hear it live. To see Dustin put everything he has into the song, to hear the phrases punctuated by amens from a Baptist audience, to be so moved by the end of the second verse that it is only with difficulty that you remain in your seat–that is the experience of the song live that a studio version cannot convey.

The group transitioned into an up-tempo song featuring Mark Trammell with the next selection, “When They Ring the Bells of Heaven.” Incidentally, a close observer (and I was fortunate enough to sit in the center on the front row) would have observed that Trammell took the lead and that Sweatman switched to the baritone part on all the choruses after the second verse.

After this song, Dustin went to the keyboard to play a piano solo, “Wait ‘Till You See Me in My New Home.” He stayed at the keyboard for a no-soundtrack medley of “Something About That Name” and “In the Garden.” Trammell also played his bass guitar for the medley.

The meditative pace of the medley changed when the trio launched into an energetic full-blown quartet song, “Hallelujah, I’m Going Home.” Granted, there wasn’t a bass part, but the three singers sang their parts so energetically that they more than made up for the deficiency.

Trammell introduced the next song by saying that he was going to feature Eric on the group’s most-requested song. Trammell said that he lived in Ohio for ten and a half years, and he knew that Ohioans were honest. If they liked a song, they would let the singer know, and if not, they’d sit and stare like a mule looking at a new gate. At that point, Eric Phillips made that face–oddly enough giving a visual demonstration of a reaction audience members would only have if they disliked his performance.

Trammell finished the introduction, and Phillips launched into “Glory Road.” Before the end of the first line, the audience burst into a round of applause, and only got more enthusiastic from there. Every time Phillips repeated the part where he slipped into a falsetto on the phrase “I can see Him on His throne,” audience reaction grew until, at the end of the song, when he hit the G above high C, he received probably the most enthusiastic round of applause all night.

The trio closed out the first half of the concert with Dustin leaving the piano and returning to focus on singing the lead part as they sang the title song off their upcoming project, “Once Upon a Cross.” To those who have complained that the group has to date recorded material unworthy of their capabilities, let me reply that with this song, they have finally found the right sort of song.

After intermission, the group did four classic songs, “What a Lovely Name,” “Jesus Hold My Hand,” “Had it Not Been,” and “I’ve Got It,” before closing with three songs that had been requested.

The first of these was the group’s radio single “I Needed to Hear That Today.” It went over well, but the reaction to the second requested song, “Stand and Praise the Lord,” was even more enthusiastic.

The concert closed with the song “I Believe in a Hill Called Mount Calvary.” The song, featuring Trammell, received more “amens” from more audience members than I have ever before heard at a Southern Gospel concert. Every line was answered by a chorus of “amens,” and the response at the end was, as expected, quite enthusiastic.
Trammell then delivered an altar call and sang the song “Does Jesus Care” solo, asking the audience to keep their head bowed and eyes closed throughout the song. The concert concluded after an altar call.

It had been months since I’d seen a Southern Gospel concert. In a winter filled with many sentences about recorded Southern Gospel, it was nice to punctuate the season with this exclamation point of a live concert.

Last Friday, I reviewed Signature Sound’s Get Away Jordan CD. Today, let’s look at the accompanying DVD.

For some reason, whenever I view a DVD, I have a habit of starting with the extras. The DVD lists six extras. The first is a comedic skit introducing the video. The second is an introduction of new Homecoming / Gaither Vocal Band pianist Gordon Mote, capped by an exchange between Bill Gaither and Gordon Mote. The third is an introduction of the musicians on the record. Since it evidently got cut from the DVD, it was a nice touch to include it in the extras. The fourth extra, a photo shoot in the midst of the concert, was also evidently cut from the DVD. During the taping of this DVD, Signature Sound recorded “Stand By Me.” Though the song did not make the cut into the main part of the DVD, it is included here as the fifth extra. The complete audio track is included, while the video track is interspersed with little children doing Signature Sound moves on the song. The highlight is when Bill Gaither joins Signature Sound for some choreography at the end of the song. The sixth extra is of outtakes, most memorably a botched intro to their song “Someday.” There is also a seventh (hidden) bonus track, reached by advancing forward during the sixth track. Without providing any spoilers, I’ll just say that it has to do with Signature Sound, Bill Gaither, and a bear.

The DVD intro and extras are in widescreen, but the concert itself is not. On some computer DVD players, the transition creates a distorted image for the concert that can only be avoided if the viewer takes the slightly irritating steps of switching between full-screen and a smaller window every time the concert starts.

Like the CD, the DVD starts with “Someday.” The song has a few choreography moves, which are not particularly distracting and, in fact, enhance the song.

The second song, “He’s My Guide,” starts off with an introduction that (for some reason) reminds me of their introduction to “Glory to God in the Highest.” The song features lead singer Ryan Seaton and bass Tim Duncan. Again, the song has a few choreographed moves, especially at the end, but the focus is on the singing.

Tim Duncan and Ryan Seaton are featured on the third song, the Statesmen classic “Our Debts Will Be Paid.” Ryan is finally coming into his own as a lead singer; on previous recordings, Doug Anderson had carried many solos a lead singer would often handle in addition to his baritone solos, but on this recording, Ryan’s share of solos is more in line with the amount typically expected out of a lead singer.

The classic Bill Gaither song “Lovest Thou Me” is recorded without choreography. Signature Sound just stands flatfooted and sings as well as any other group out there.

When Signature Sound was new, one of their first songs with some choreography was “Dry Bones.” Now nicknamed “Dem Bones,” this DVD marks its reintroduction to their concerts, this time as a comedy. Roy Webb sings several words at various parts of the song, mainly for comedic effect. The lighting on this song is also worthy of comment; during Ernie Haase and Roy Webb’s exchanges, the lighting seems to be carefully planned, instead of the typical treatment of lighting during conversations as an afterthought.

Signature Sound brings back a popular Cathedrals song, “He Made a Change,” featuring Tim Duncan, before doing their song “Happy Birthday, Anniversary Too.”

The Ball Brothers perform one song, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God.” Their brief performance does exactly what it was intended to do–leave the watcher wishing for something more extensive. The Ball Brothers intend to release a DVD this year, so fans should be able to see a more extended concert soon.

Signature Sound returns for a set of three songs – “It is Done,” “Pray for Me,” and “Get Away Jordan.” Of the three, I consider “It is Done” the highlight, though obviously the black-gospel-influenced rendition of “Get Away Jordan” is also well received.

The Gaither Vocal Band appears for three songs, “Search Me Lord,” “Home,” and “He Touched Me.” Signature Sound joins the Vocal Band for the final song, and the groups announce an upcoming video taping with the two groups performing songs together.

The video then cuts away from the concert for the song “John in the Jordan.” The taping is in front of a river. The sound is so similar to the CD track that I can’t help but wonder if Signature Sound sang along with the track from the CD, and a sound engineer dubbed river sounds in.

The video cuts back to the concert for three patriotic songs, “I Pledge My Allegiance” and “Star Spangled Banner,” and “God Bless America.” “I Pledge My Allegiance” brings the audience to its feet before the final chorus comes around, and is perhaps the highlight of the evening.

Tim Duncan is featured on “What God Says.” His vocals on this song are more full and richer than on the original studio version.

“Until We Fly Away” features Signature Sound singing the verses with their backs to the audience, preparing the listener for special video effects accenting the words “fly away” in the chorus.

The concert closes, as most Signature Sound concerts do, with Haase performing “Oh What a Savior,” and the group leaving the stage before returning for a brief encore (this time of “Get Away Jordan.”)

The DVD contains several classic Southern Gospel songs. Many watchers have described it as pushing the edges of being Southern Gospel. I think these comments mainly derive from the “Happy Birthday Anniversary Too” song, which is clearly a novelty song that can be skipped if one desires. With the exception of that song, this project is clearly Southern Gospel quartet music, and, may I add, Southern Gospel quartet music like few others can sing it.

The Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet is set to release a new recording, The Word is Out, in March 2007. This is being billed as their “first independent project,” an interesting billing since their Hymns and Classics recordings originally only available directly from the quartet. When I called Song Garden asking about them, the secretary told me that I could only purchase the projects straight from the quartet. Even though I believe the label picked them up later, it seems as though the two were originally independent table projects.
Tenor Tony Jarman said of the new album: “It will be totally different than any of our prior projects. We are thrilled at the list of songwriters and musical styles that this new project has.” An announcement like that typically signifies that a group is going to try a more progressive tack, because an old-fashioned quartet album is usually clearly labeled and promoted as such.

If I was a consultant for the Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet, I’d tell them that introducing three new vocalists is enough of a challenge for one recording, and they they would be best off recording one or two albums in the group’s familiar style before trying something “totally different.”

Introducing three new vocalists and a totally different style is so risky that some would call it a gamble. Who knows, gambles occasionally pay off, and let’s hope it does here.

Former Anchormen member Tony Rush started a thought-provoking discussion on ASCAP/BMI/SESAC fees for venues that host Southern Gospel concerts. It’s worth checking out and giving some thought to.

It has been some time in the making, but Christian Davis has finally officially released Make it Real, a CD I reviewed here.

Here is the press release:

Fayetteville, NC (Press Release) – Christian Davis, bass vocalist of Mercy’s Mark Quartet, and one of the smoothest bass singers in Southern Gospel today, is proud to announce the release of his first solo recording – “Make It Real”.

“Make It Real,” which was co-produced by Wesley Pritchard and Davis’ wife, Sophia Davis, is his first solo debut. The project was engineered and mixed by Rick Salyer at Millwest Studios.

The new album features classics such as, Thanks to Calvary, Beulah Land, He Touched Me, Beyond the Sunset, and many more. Plus an Acapella rendition of The Lord’s Prayer with Davis singing all four parts. For a more in depth review of this project by Daniel Mount, author of Southern Gospel Blog, visit www.southerngospelblog.com/archives/94.

Davis states, “For several years, people have been requesting that I record a CD of my own, so I dug into my musical roots and put together a project that not only pays tribute to many influences, but opens a door to who God is to me and show’s people my heart.”

For more information you can visit www.christiandavis.org or call 910-484-6996.

John Myers, a brother of Todd Myers (group member), is reporting on the Cathedrals Tribute message board that the George Amon Webster Trio has disbanded. Although I never actually heard their music (beyond, perhaps, clips on their website), I’m sorry to see them go. Webster stayed longer with the Cathedrals (1969-79) than just about anyone else (Payne, Younce, and Bennett being the only exceptions, with Trammell tied), and had a very pleasant voice. However, he has had health problems including a stroke in recent years.