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The Perrys aren’t a regular Gaither Homecoming Tour act, but Gaither has been inviting them to selected concerts and to a recent Homecoming video taping.

Why?

Does he like their Happy Goodmans-style sound?

Nope. To all who like bashing Joe Habedank, check out this post, and especially this quote:

A lot of folks thought the Goodman sound was the reason Bill Gaither wanted the Perrys on his stage but ‘I Wish I Coulda Been There’ was the song he had them open with and encore. It turns out that after being recommended to Bill by Mark Lowry and the Easters to tape the last video, Bill fell in love with that song and has become a Joseph fan. That was the song he wanted done.

Well, to all who think that adding Joseph was a step down for the Perrys, give that some serious thought.

In my Internet wanderings, I came across this article on the Collingsworth Family from a year or two ago. It has quite a few interesting nuggets, such as this one:

Right now, all of the children hope to continue with their singing careers into adulthood with the family, rather than leaving to pursue solo careers. The family’s plan for the future includes adding in-laws and grandchildren until they have a full family choir.

And this one, with Phil Collingsworth explaining how they make time for family:

Collingsworth said they’re trying to spend every minute they can having fun with their children.

“We only get one shot at raising the children and making them first priority is very important to us, so making fond memories and talking a lot is where we place our emphasis,” he says. “Fortunately, we have a booking agency that understands this and they work very well with us in only booking the number of dates we want to sing.”

The Collingsworths don’t perform as many concerts as many of their peers in the gospel music industry do. Sometimes this creates a backlog of concert requests, but their agent has been able to work through these problems, allowing the Collingsworths appropriate time for family.

Check it out; it’s fascinating reading.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette has an interview with Bill Gaither on the Homecoming phenemenon. It seems that in every Gaither Vocal Band member interview in a local paper, there is always a fascinating tidbit, and this is no exception:

Last year the Gaither Vocal Band released “Give It Away,” and Gaither said his summer break, which begins right after the concert in Worcester, will likely include a little work in the studio for another project. And Gaither assured that his recording projects are much more than toss-offs to the faithful.

“I find it a challenge to be able to put something down on record that 40 or 50 years from now when a young person comes along and says, ‘Tell me something about this music,’ someone will pull out this record and say, ‘These guys were good,’” Gaither said.

Another article worth checking out is a Beckley, West Virginia story on Dennis Murphy’s impersonation attempts of Kenny Chesney.