Positive Daily Commentary on Southern Gospel
A. B. Kendall posted a Florida Boys concert review in which he mentioned Gene McDonald’s future plans:
Yes, Gene McDonald was there. A few more weeks and then Gene moves to Gallatin, TN to work for a bus company, in addition to doing studio work. This will allow him and his wife to be closer to their families.
The other day, I was listening to Jerry Martin’s rendition of “Look for Me at Jesus’ Feet” from the Dove Brothers’ Shout it Out CD. The musical high point of the song is in the second verse, when Martin sings the lines “Perhaps you’d like to greet me / When my race down here is run.” In the time it takes to sing four words, “down here is run,” he goes up an octave and a half, spanning two octaves within the course of the line.
The song has been building to this point, and Martin lets everything loose to hit that big note.
But then comes the part that puzzles me. Martin doesn’t jump octaves, transpose, or do anything else to carry the heightened musical tension of the moment through the chorus. Instead, he sings the rest of the verse and into the chorus in the same octave, key, and (at least approximately) tempo in which he sang the first verse and chorus.
Although Martin does go high at the end of the chorus, it is several notes lower than the note he hits in the verse, and it is not as dramatic a moment. Specifically, he hits a D above high C in the chorus, as compared to the G above high C he hit in the verse.
Typically, when a song is produced, the climax is either put at the end of the song or at the end of the final verse or bridge. Here, it is put halfway through the second verse. But then the song loses the momentum it had built up to that point.
I wonder just what the producer and arranger for this album were thinking, and I wonder what they could have done differently to keep the momentum generated by that vocal high point in the song.
It looks like Robbie Hiner–founder of the Old Time Gospel Quartet–has come back on the road, as the tenor for the Classic Imperials, of all groups. Of course, Hiner was never a member of the Imperials, but evidently Jim Murray came off the road and the group was in need of a tenor.
Hiner has also signed on as Vice-President of Alliant Music Group, which appears to be a Black Gospel label.
The Southern Gospel Music Association announced their 2007 Inductees:
This is a good mixture of retired and current performers. Of current performers, probably the most overdue is Archie Watkins. Sure, his voice may not be everything it was thirty years ago, but he’s set a record for tenor longevity with a full-time pro group, and there’s no question he’s a fan favorite.
A sharp reader over at the Singing News Forums notices that Roger Bennett appears to be the youngest living person to be inducted to the Hall of Fame. Several people who may have died younger have been inducted, but he appears to be the youngest living.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the decision to vote both Roger Bennett and Anthony Burger in (in the same year) was prompted by Anthony’s sudden death. Of the two–the top two fan favorite artists over the past quarter-century–Burger appeared to be in far better health, with Roger Bennett struggling with a serious case of cancer. But Burger died suddenly, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the push to put them both in the Hall of Fame, with Bennett’s induction while he is still here to accept it.
The 2007 Diamond Awards are now open for nominations and voting. The rules can be found at this link. (Just in case the javascript popup isn’t working for everyone else, I gave the direct link so you don’t have to analyze the html to find it for yourself.)
This award program is sponsored by the SGN Scoops magazine / e-newsletter. I recognize that it is hardly the most prestigious award program out there, but I filled it out and posted my guesses partially just for the fun of it and partially because they have a few categories which will no longer be in the Singing News Fan Awards.
1. J.D. Sumner Living Legend Award: I went with Mark Trammell. The requirements of a 25+ year career and of significant contributions fit him perfectly. Nobody else can match his resume, either–25 years with stints in Southern Gospel’s four biggest groups (three quartets and a trio), before starting his own ministry and trio.
2. Group of the Year: Ernie Haase & Signature Sound barely edged out the Perrys. I wanted to vote for each, but ended up deciding for Signature Sound because they’ve pretty much had a banner year, while the Perrys had to spend some time rebuilding after Loren Harris left and Nick Trammell joined.
3. Trio of the Year: The Mark Trammell Trio, easily. Be watching for more great things with their upcoming radio single, the anthem “Once Upon a Cross.”
4. Duet of the Year: Left blank.
5. Soloist of the Year: Christian Davis. The award “recognizes male or female performers who record as a solo artist.” Even though he tours with a group, Davis indisputably recorded a solo project this year. Since this was the first Southern Gospel solo project I enjoy as much as I enjoy group projects, it was an easy choice.
6. Male Vocalist of the Year: Eric Phillips.
7. Female Vocalist of the Year: Olivia Collingsworth.
Why on earth did I vote for Olivia? Simply because I can–and because I do like her solos with her family. In the Singing News Fan Awards, I’ll probably vote for Libbi Perry Stuffle as I always do. I originally planned to vote for Libbi here, but then the idea struck.
8. Song of the Year: “Walk Away Free” by the Perrys, far and away the best song the Perrys recorded in 2006. The only other song I seriously considered was “I Have Been Changed” (Legacy Five, Glenn Dustin solo). But in the end, the subtle work of genius (transposing from G to C then back again) in the second verse of “Walk Away Free” put it over the top.
9. Video of the Year: “Coral Ridge Live” – Blackwood Brothers. I had to choose between this video, with great visuals but somewhat less-than-top-notch audio, and Legacy Five’s “Live in Music City,” with great audio but less-than-top-notch visuals. Since it’s a video award, and the focus is on the visuals, I went with the Blackwood Brothers. (Plus, their email update referred me to these awards, and I wanted to find at least one category in which to vote for them.)
10. Album of the Year: Come Thirsty by the Perrys. Signature Sound didn’t release an album in 2006, and the Mark Trammell Trio didn’t release an album of new songs. So I went with this one by default.
11. Songwriter of the Year – Kyla Rowland. I could have gone with either Dianne Wilkinson or Kyla Rowland on this one.
12. Instrumentalist of the year: Stewart Varnado. If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know I think very highly of his abilities. It’s one thing to accompany a group with the help of a London Philharmonic soundtrack; it’s another thing to do what Stewart does every night, and carry the entire show himself with a bit of help from Scoot Shelnut on bass guitar.
13. Sunrise Award: Ball Brothers. If you visit their website and listen to “Mercy Said No” on their main page audio player, you will know why I picked them.
14. Best Artist Website: www.dixieechoes.com. I take this category seriously, and don’t just vote for the websites of my favorite groups. From a website design perspective, the two frontrunners were the Dixie Echoes and Triumphant Quartet websites. The added bonus of an exhaustive history section sealed my decision to go with the Dixie Echoes’ site. I might add that this website is designed and maintained by my favorite instrumentalist, Stewart Varnado.
15. Favorite Industry Website. This is a category in which my website is (I believe) eligible, so I won’t disclose my vote in this category.
16. Favorite Christian Comedian: Gerald Wolfe. His sense of timing is impeccable, and he can read an audience like few others.
17. Bluegrass Gospel Artist of the Year: Lewis Family. I don’t really have a favorite, so I just put the Lewises down. I like listening to them for a change of pace once in a while.
I guess my sources were right. What I heard this morning is now official: Jeremy Lile is Brian Free & Assurance’s new bass singer.
Could Jeremy Lile from Crystal River be headed to Brian Free & Assurance, as a commenter on this post seemed to imply?
A move like this, if it happened, would help BF&A cement their position in the progressive wing of the Southern Gospel quartet scene.
In view of the excellent reporting that Chuck Peters has been doing on the recent Gaither Homecoming taping, I think this goes too far. Frankly, when I saw Peters’ announcement of a report, my immediate reaction was to regret that I hadn’t had the idea first.
Great job, Chuck!
An official press release has gone out saying that former Kingsmen lead singer Bryan Hutson is returning as group baritone. Of course, this comes as no surprise, since Hutson confirmed in an email to a fan several days ago that he was returning, but the only matter of suspense was whether current lead singer Phillip Hughes or Hutson would be singing lead. Chances are Hutson will be more than happy to move to lead at such time as Hughes moves on to greener pastures, but that could be several years in the future.
It looks like Randy Travis won the Grammy Award for best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel album. I don’t think any of us really expected Kenny Bishop or the Gaither Vocal Band to win, though we might have hoped for it.
The award isn’t strictly a Southern Gospel award, since it covers Country and Bluegrass Gospel as well. I think Travis’s album could well be said to be legitimate Country Gospel, so we have no business complaining about the intelligence of the Grammy voters. However, of course, the fact does remain that winning a Grammy Award is relatively irrelevant in this genre, since most of the people who vote on these awards have no clue about the scope, breadth, or leading artists in our genre.
Blame it on whatever you like! Fact is, my reason is simple enough: I have no interest in any secular music. 
(jealous pout)All 411,019 words in all 1471 posts are © 2009 by Daniel J. Mount.
Theme designed by MainCore and modified by DJM.
