SouthernGospelBlog.com

{Edit. All right, I give in. The first paragraph is gone.}

Shane Duncan will be filling in for Mercy’s Mark while they look for a permanent replacement. An email blast from the group early this morning says:

So the big question we are getting is “who is going to sing lead for Mercy’s Mark right now?”

We are thrilled to let everyone know that Shane Dunlap has agreed to step into the position while we are in the audition process. You may recognize Shane’s name from his many years in Southern Gospel. He became a favorite while traveling with his group N’Harmony. He later joined me in the original line-up of Signature Sound. He is a dynamic lead singer and a wonderful Christian man. It has been several years since Shane and I have traveled together and we are all excited that he will be joining us. Shane’s first date with Mercy’s Mark will be this Thursday, July 26th at SoGospelNews Fan Festival in Smyrna, Tennessee. If you live around Nashville we would love to see you. If not, check out the website, we will be posting pictures of the concert.

Wow…the Prophets making their debut concert and Mercy’s Mark debuting either a new or fill-in lead vocalist. If Nashville wasn’t a 7+-hour drive, I’d give that some serious thought. That is a concert worth seeing.

As to the move itself, I don’t really have any thoughts other than that I think Dunlap’s voice would be a better fit than Josh Garner’s. Garner has a powerful voice, and was great with the Florida Boys, and would be a great addition to many groups. But–though I could be wrong, and I have been proven wrong before–I think his voice would clash with Mercy’s Mark tenor Brent Mitchell’s power-tenor voice. So I’m happy to see Shane Dunlap stepping into the slot for now, and here’s hoping that Garner will find another high-profile opening at the level he deserves.

Some bloggers criticize singers who express conservative positions on controversial issues, so with that in mind, I thought I’d point out Jason Skipper’s post that provides a nice counterbalance.

Liberal singers in secular music talk about their causes–Darfur, AIDS, hunger, or whatever–all the time. Some of their causes are good or harmless, but some are rather less harmless.

This is a consumer-driven marketplace; if the fans don’t like it, they’ll stop coming. So clearly the fans don’t mind. At any rate, since the liberals are doing it already, I see no need to muzzle the conservatives who also want to express their views.