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Triumphant Quartet announced that they will be leaving the Miracle Theater to travel full-time in 2008. Their announcement states:

Triumphant Quartet will be ministering on the road full-time starting in January 2008!!!! We are so excited about the new direction God is leading us.

Your love and support of Triumphant Quartet has been overwhelming in the past and your continued support is vital to the success of our future. You are more than fans, you are our friends. So in light of this, we need your prayers that God will continue to give us souls for our labor and that He will help us to be an encouragement to all we come in contact with.

Our schedule at The Miracle Theater will remain the same throughout 2007.

This could have both its advantages and its disadvantages for the group.  Full-time road travel will bring them before more audiences–honestly, a good percentage of loyal Southern Gospel fans (including me) have never been to Pigeon Forge, and being before more audiences will get them more exposure in the Southern Gospel world (even as they will have a bit less outside it).

On the other hand, a theater gig is more conducive to maintaining a consistent lineup. My take: If they can hold the same personnel together for the next five years or so, they will be the most popular group in Southern Gospel, at least outside of the Gaither universe.

There has been enough in the way of news over the past day or two that I decided to put it all in one post.

• There’s an increasing amount of NQC-album buzz. From monitoring various forums, it looks like the most-anticipated albums are Legacy Five’s Know So Salvation, the Perrys’ Look No Further, Greater Vision’s Everyday People, and the Mark Trammell Trio’s as-yet-untitled DVD. Palmetto State’s new CD is also raising some discussion, but that is partially because early reports state that they are moving toward a more country song than before.
• Speaking of Palmetto State, here’s hoping the rumor that Burman Porter is leaving Palmetto State is false, but he has had so many back problems that I could hardly blame him for coming off the road.
• It was a nice gesture for Signature Sound to send out an update to their email list about Roy Webb’s father passing away. Webb’s departure from such a high-profile group at the (or a) peak in their success inevitably aroused speculation, and hopefully this will quiet some of it.
• The Dixie Echoes’ bus was destroyed by fire yesterday. Their suits, sound equipment, and product were all damaged or destroyed. I don’t know whether or not their bus was covered by insurance, but either way they will need a lot of prayer as they attempt to rebuild from this loss. Of particular concern are burns that Stewart Varnado received on his right foot and arm. Burns on a pianist’s arm–which needs to remain nimble–are not a good thing. A singer can sing without their arm fully functioning, but a piano player cannot play (well) after significant burns.