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Sometimes I scratch my head at the songs that weren’t singled from a great project. Right now, the Perrys’ “We Will Be Changed” and “Walk Away Free” are the first two to come to mind, but there are dozens of others.

I think the Collingsworth Family hit the nail on the head by sending “Light from Heaven” to radio as their current single. It’s #40 on the May 2007 Singing News Chart, and I’m hoping it will at least make the top 20. It’s not a huge ballad or a Lazarus-style megahit; it’s just a simple, pretty tune with a nice arrangement and vocals. The first time I heard the Collingsworth’s God is Faithful CD, I thought they should send that song to radio, and over the past year, I’ve had the same thought again every time I heard that CD. They have a new project coming out soon, so this will have to be the last single from this project. I’m glad they got it out in time.

While my thoughts are rambling a little, I don’t think the Collingsworth Family has had a breakout hit song yet. For the Cathedrals, though “Last Sunday” and “Statue of Liberty” set their pace for the ’70s, I point to “Step Into the Water” as their breakout hit. For Greater Vision, of course, it was “My Name is Lazarus,” and for the Perrys it was “I rest My Case at the Cross.” The Collingsworth Family has a sound and a stage presence that could put them right up there with those groups; they just need that breakout song to help put them there.

To see a formatted pdf version, click here.

Last week, I had the honor of interviewing the legendary Ed Hill. He founded the Prophets Quartet in 1959 and stayed with them until disbanding the group in 1973. He then joined J.D. Sumner and the Stamps and stayed for five years. After a short stint with the Statesmen, he joined the Singing Americans in the 1980s. In 1987, he joined the Masters V shortly before they were re-named J.D. Sumner and the Stamps, and stayed with the Stamps until several years ago (including a few years after J.D. Sumner’s death when they were known as Golden Covenant). Last year, he announced that he was bringing the Prophets Quartet back. It was an honor to talk with him and learn more both about his background and about what he’s doing with the Prophets.

DJM: A few years ago, you had heart surgery and a stroke, and left the Stamps Quartet. Probably one of the first things Southern Gospel fans would want to know is a health update.

Hill: Well, I’m really doing well. I had triple bypass heart surgery, and then a mini-stroke. I go to my doctor every three months, he’s been my doctor for 15 years, and he told me that’s I was the best he’s seen me in that time. The Lord has blessed me!

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According to SouthernGospelReporter.com, Canaan Records is returning to Southern Gospel. It will again be a division of Word, as it was before.
Of course, in the old days, it was Southern Gospel’s premier label, featuring names like the Cathedrals, the Florida Boys, the Happy Goodmans, the Kingsmen, the Inspirations, and pretty nearly anybody who was anybody.

If they can manage to land a few artists who are even half as good as their previous roster, they’ll have a great label. The Florida Boys, the Hoppers, and the Blackwood Brothers (Jimmy’s group) are three artists presently without a label, and the Chuck Wagon Gang may be (depending on the status of Song Garden). I’m not going to name other names, but I can think of several other artists presently with other labels that would benefit from Word’s marketing connections.

Word probably dumped the Canaan album because it thought Southern Gospel was the past. So the best part of all this news is it shows that Southern Gospel isn’t dead yet. Maybe our best days are still ahead.

The tenor part is probably my favorite part in a quartet, when it’s done right. Perhaps in part because it’s my favorite part, I’m quite picky when it comes to tenors. But with the recent addition of Steve Feazel, the Colonial City Quartet (a regional Ohio quartet) has two good tenors. They produce a quartet sound by having the person not singing tenor carry the lead part.

Picture of Grace is a collection of eleven cover songs, mostly using familiar soundtracks and arrangements. There are three Gaither Vocal Band songs on the project, the title track and two from the most recent GVB project – “Journey to the Sky” and “I Will Go On.” Lead singer / tenor Steve Feazel is featured on “I Will Go On,” in an arrangement with particularly high harmonies due to the fact that tenor David Campbell is singing a part above him. (If you thought the Gaither Vocal Band had high harmonies, this arrangement of their song takes it to the next level.)

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In my post yesterday on SoGospelNews’s Ovation Awards, I mentioned that Gold City’s Revival album fell outside what I would consider the traditional Southern Gospel sub-genre.

Chris Unthank, who I respect for always being reasonable in his posts even when we disagree, posted some fascinating thoughts in the comments. Here’s the money quote (to borrow an Averyfineline phrase):

I know this is just a differing of opinions – but if you are limiting your view of traditional Southern Gospel to the artists that you have listed – the SGN Music Awards wouldn’t have enough nominees to fill out the category every year – because that old throw-back style is not the most produced product every year.

Just something to think about.

That got me thinking. In fact, I spent probably a half-hour typing a follow-up comment, only to do something wrong and lose it all. I was so frustrated that I gave up for the day and decided to re-write it as today’s column.

How viable is traditional Southern Gospel?

Let me revisit the definition I gave in my column yesterday:

In my book, a traditional album is an album that is stylistically similar enough to earlier classic Southern Gospel projects that either the songs themselves or their arrangements leave no question that Bill Lyles or Mom Speer would have recognized it as a Southern Gospel project.

Of course, I chose Bill Lyles and Mom Speer randomly. I could just as easily have mentioned any prominent SG musician who died before the ’70s or so.

How strong is this part of our genre? Could we come up with ten strong nominees?

I decided to answer this question by preparing two lists of albums released in 2006. The first is a sample / possible top 10 list of traditional albums, strictly defined:

1. Smooth and Easy, Dixie Melody Boys
2. Sounds of Sunday, Dixie Echoes
3. Gospel Quartet Favorites, Palmetto State Quartet
4. I Know, Inspirations
5. Rock of Ages, Blackwood Brothers Quartet
6. Shout it Out, Dove Brothers
7. Off the Record, Kingdom Heirs
8. 70th Anniversary, Chuck Wagon Gang
9. Keep on Singing, Florida Boys
10. Journey Thus Far, Mark Trammell Trio

The second is a list of traditional albums, a little less strictly defined:

1. Come Thirsty, Perrys
2. Sweet Land of Rest, Palmetto State Quartet
3. Journey Thus Far, Mark Trammell Trio
4. I Know, Inspirations
5. 70th Anniversary, Chuck Wagon Gang
6. Off the Record, Kingdom Heirs (a KH main release would also fit!)
7. Hymns of the Ages, Greater Vision
8. Keep on Singing, Florida Boys
9. Sounds of Sunday, Dixie Echoes

Is the traditional part of the Southern Gospel genre still viable? I think everyone knows what I think, but what do you think?

SoGospelNews announced their Ovation Awards yesterday. The Talley Trio and Gold City won the greatest number of awards.

The award results I find most surprising were in the Traditional Southern Gospel Album and Song of the Year categories. Gold City won both, with Revival and “Truth is Marching On,” respectively.

I find this surprising because I considered both the song and the album to be quite progressive. “Truth is Marching On” is a great song, and I particularly like Legacy Five’s rendition, but I simply cannot imagine one of the great groups of yesteryear fitting it into their style–Statesmen, Blackwood Brothers, Happy Goodmans, et cetera. To me, a traditional song in this genre is a song that is similar enough stylistically to earlier Southern Gospel songs that it could have been done thirty or forty years ago. That sort of song is good no matter when it’s done, no matter who does it. Don’t get me wrong, though; I have heard progressive songs I liked, “Truth is Marching On” being one of them.
After that, it shouldn’t surprise you to see how I define traditional albums: In my book, a traditional album is an album that is stylistically similar enough to earlier classic Southern Gospel projects that either the songs themselves or their arrangements leave no question that Bill Lyles or Mom Speer would have recognized it as a Southern Gospel project. Among projects released in the last year or so, I would consider Sounds of Sunday (Dixie Echoes), I Know (Inspirations), and Rock of Ages (Blackwood Brothers) to be good examples of traditional projects. Other good examples are Greater Vision’s Church Hymnal series and Signature Sound’s Great Gospel Songs of the Last Century series. The three albums and both series are instantly recognizable as classic Southern Gospel.

With one or two possible exceptions, Gold City’s album is more progressive than any of the several hundred projects in my collection. Now please understand that I am most certainly not equating “progressive” with “bad,” because it has some very nice ballads (”Preach the Word” and “Truth is Marching On”) come to mind, but I wonder what mistake led to its being listed in the traditional category (or, for that matter, what point of reference could make it seem traditional).

I note that Southern Gospel blogging newcomer Adam Edwards has conducted his first interview, and it’s a good one. Check out his interview with Rodney Baucom, of JoyFM and of the Southern Gospel top 20 countdown here.

Last Saturday, I saw Greater Vision and the Mark Trammell Trio in concert in Wooster, Ohio. It was my first time to see Greater Vision, who unfortunately does not come into my area of Ohio often, and my third time to see the Mark Trammell Trio.

The concert was held at Fisher Auditorium at Wooster, Ohio, where the Inspirations and McKameys came earlier this year. The roughly 1,000-seat theater was packed for that concert and had a few more empty seats Saturday, but at least 800 people had to be there–a strong turnout for northern Ohio, especially on an April day with the worst snow in a month.

At that the Inspirations/McKameys concert, someone had lost a hearing aid. At every break, the emcee asked whoever had lost it to go to the back and claim it. This became a running joke when the emcee would mention in passing that the owner should go back and claim it, but hadn’t because he or she probably would not be able to hear the announcer’s comments.

This concert began with an announcement that whoever had lost the hearing aid still had not claimed it and should if they were here this time. At this point, an apparently disoriented Mark Trammell wandered onto the stage. The announcer told him to look in the back, which he went back off stage to do. This was the first of several hilarious impromptu moments.

After a few more announcements, the announcer brought the Mark Trammell Trio on stage. They started their set with “Won’t it Be Wonderful There,” featuring Mark. This is the old “Won’t it Be Wonderful There”; Eric sang their new song by the same name later in the program.

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First, let me start off by saying that my prayers are with Bill Gaither for a quick recovery from whatever led to him missing last Thursday’s concert. I was delighted to hear that he was recovered enough to come back on stage on Friday.

But what caught my attention in this post was the comment that Gloria filled in for her husband. Now we all know that she has a pretty low voice for a woman, and that the Vocal Band bass part isn’t too tough. I wonder…

The Southern Gospel genre spans a wide variety of sounds: traditional quartets, bluegrass Gospel, country Gospel, and progressive SG are just a few of the sub-genres that come to mind.

There is, however, another sub-genre in Southern Gospel that is rarely discussed. I touched on it on the comments to this post about a week ago, but it’s worth promoting to the main page.

Other genres of Americana–say, Civil War studies–keep the past alive by means of historical re-enactment. They attempt to give viewers a firsthand feel of what it would have been like to experience a precise moment in history.

I think there is a historical re-enactment sub-genre in the Southern Gospel field. (Continue Reading >>>)