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We have some friends who were going through a difficult trial last year. They were suspecting the mom in the family had cancer, and her husband and children didn’t feel ready to part with her. She’s still relatively young, and we weren’t sure what God was going to do but, around that time, I pulled out a CD by the Roy Knight Singers and was listening to a song called “Taking Isaac Up the Mountain.” I would like to quote the chorus in the hopes that it will encourage you regardless of what you are going through.

Taking Isaac up the Mountain
by Sandy Knight

Taking Isaac up the mountain is such a lonely trip
Knowing everything you love you’re on your way to give
Then suddenly you see a sign that God has made a way
Taking Isaac up the mountain is just a test of faith
To see how far that I would go with God
(end of chorus)

We often don’t know God’s plan in things. All we see is a mountain that we don’t feel strong enough to climb. However, we do know that “all things work together for good to them who love God.” That’s not just a cliche. It’s a fact! No matter what we’re facing, let’s determine to go on with God together. There is no mountain too high that He cannot cross it, and we can cross it too with His help!

As it turned out, the mom I mentioned at the beginning of this post found that she does not have cancer and, once again, we are rejoicing in the goodness of God!

“Taking Isaac Up the Mountain” written by Sandy Knight, published by Asheville Music Publishing/BMI, taken from the Greener Pastures CD by the Roy Knight Singers. Lyrics used by permission.

~ Sony Elise

There have been enough stories that I can’t go without mentioning that I may as well put them all into one post.

• Every Day Driven disbanded late last week. Members Channing Eleton, Paul Lancaster, and Buddy & Keri Mullins are going their own separate ways. At least it appears to be on good terms. Kyle Boering’s analysis, here, is probably the most detailed out there.
• Monument Quartet seems to have a steadily changing lineup; Wes Burke notices a new, unknown face at the bass position and a new, quite known face at lead–Daryl Williams. Baritone/owner Marshall Pugh and tenor Matt Felts seem to be the only two constants in the group. EDIT (3:10 PM): Readers AS and CD notice that Monument’s new bass singer is former Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet bass Jerry Pilgrim.
• Greater Vision has posted sound clips from their latest project, Go and Tell by the Greater Vision Kids.
• Liberty Quartet’s Keith Waggoner has the post of the day here. Perhaps I should say post of the week, since I’m a little late mentioning it, but it is probably the most insightful and introspective post I’ve seen on what allergies and other vocal irritations can mean to a professional singer.

SouthernGospelBlog.com Gallery contributor Dinana has posted several photos from a recent Chuck Wagon Gang concert she attended. The photos can be viewed here. She has also posted four videos of sound clips on YouTube here.

We also have photos that reader Jamie took at a recent Tulsa, OK concert, featuring the Booth Brothers, Jason Crabb, Jeff Stice, the Talley Trio, the Browns, and Triumphant Quartet. That album is here.

Thank you to our contributors! If you would like to contribute concert photos, contact editor@southerngospelblog.com for directions.

“So that I may snatch from the jaws of hell someone not so unlike myself.” I first heard these words about 15 years ago in a song the Bishops sang called “More Than My Voice.” Yet that phrase still catches my ears each time I hear it.

I don’t know why but at times I tend to look at the world around me and feel like most people are hopeless. “They’re never going to come to God,” I think. However, God has time and time again reminded me of the fact that I was not born saved. In fact, I’m sure a lot of folks who knew me years ago would be surprised at the fact that I am still alive, let alone serving God. At one time, I think our family would have been voted least likely to succeed basket cases. Thanks to God my past is past! With that reality, how can I not have compassion for those who are where I was all those years ago? God still saves and He can use us to be the Light this world needs to give them a desire to change.

This May will mark 19 years that I’ve been striving to serve God, and I thank Him every day for saving me when He did. Thanks to Him I have a new life and a song to sing. “And my song shall ever be, ‘How marveous! How wonderful is my Savior’s love for me!’”

A listen through Spoken 4’s most recent studio project (That’s My Boy, reviewed here) does not really prepare the listener for the group’s live sound. While their studio project used fully orchestrated soundtracks, the only accompaniment the group used in this live project is live piano. Their pianist, Tommy Fairchild, was a member of the Blackwood Brothers and the Oak Ridge Boys during the years when live piano was the only accompaniment most groups used, and has not lost his touch.

The project starts with a slow song, “Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome in This Place,” before picking up the tempo with “Jesus Walked All the Way.” A slow version of the hymn “At the Cross” is followed by “There’s a King on the Way,” featuring baritone Jeremy Wilkerson.

Bass Cecil Stringer is featured on “Hold Me” and “A Beautiful Life.” He showcases his low range on “A Beautiful Life,” singing a double low C (the lowest C on the piano). The ending is quite impressive, as the tenor, Thomas Griffin, goes to the F above high C while Stringer slides down to the lowest F on the piano.

“I Believe” features lead singer Jon Charles Taggart. “Heaven” features pianist Tommy Fairchild; though he does not sing on the song, he does extended turnarounds between verses.

After two more hymns, “He Hideth My Soul” and “Burdens are Lifted at Calvary,” the group performed the title track from their most recent studio project, “That’s My Boy.” The studio version does not quite capture the pathos and energy of this live rendition. The concert closes with an uptempo rendition of “Jesus is Coming Soon.”

Their top 10 nomination for Horizon Group of the Year shows that Spoken 4 has been building a strong fan base. After hearing this live project, it is easy to see why.

Rating: Recommended.

Spoken 4 Quartet, a group based in Branson, Missouri, is one of the top 10 nominees for Horizon Group of the Year. Their vocal lineup is Thomas Griffin (tenor), Jon Charles Taggart (lead), Jeremy Wilkerson (baritone), and Cecil Stringer (bass). Former Blackwood Brothers and Oak Ridge Boys pianist Tommy Fairchild came out of retirement to join the group on piano; since this recording, the group has added a bassist, Darryl Miller.

This recording is an enjoyable collection of old and new songs. The liner notes are fairly good but get a mixed rating; there is a brief bio of each member and album credits, but there are no songwriter credits.

The project introduces several new songs, most notably the title track. “That’s My Boy” is a strong track on this studio version, but it is even better live. Another of the project’s strongest tracks, “Lil’ Bit,” an uptempo convention song, borrows imagery (and a line) from the hymn “Little is Much (When God is In It).”

The project includes covers of the classics “I Can’t Even Walk” and “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” as well as a cover of a more recent Southern Gospel song, Greater Vision’s “Just How Precious” (from GV’s 1997 project When I See the Cross). Spoken 4 apparently used the same soundtrack. Something about the feel of the track suggests that they may have used an analog (audio cassette) version of the track; it has a slightly muffled sound.

Other than that one odd moment, the rest of the project is a solid collection of songs that showcase one of Southern Gospel’s up-and-coming groups.

Rating: Enjoyable.

The winners of the 39th Annual Dove Awards were announced earlier this week. This list has most of the winners (though it omits the winner in the Southern Gospel Album of the Year category).

Gerald Wolfe did not win the overall Male Vocalist of the Year award, and Signature Sound did not win the overall Group of the Year Award. But they did pick up their first two Doves, in the Southern Gospel Album and Song categories.

In the Southern Gospel (and related) categories, winners include:

• Southern Gospel Album of the Year: Get Away Jordan, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (see here)
• Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year: “Get Away Jordan,” Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
• Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year: “He’s In Control,” Austin’s Bridge
• Inspirational Recorded Album of the Year: I Love to Tell the Story, Mark Lowry

On a recent trip to Boise, Idaho, I had the chance to interview Keith Waggoner. He sings tenor for Liberty Quartet, a full-time Southern Gospel Quartet based in Boise. What was scheduled to be a half-hour interview ended up being an hour-long conversation. Here’s the interview:

http://www.southerngospelblog.com/features/200804.pdf

Reader Matt Paasch went to a Gold City concert last weekend, and has posted an extensive photo gallery: http://www.southerngospelblog.com/gallery/?level=album&id=16.

He also picked up several interesting tidbits of news about Gold City’s upcoming projects. Their next project, Moment of Truth, is set to include remakes of the Imperials’ “Cast Your Bread Upon the Water” and a little-known Cathedrals track from the early 1980s, “Turn Your Back.”

They are also working on a Classics 2 project of songs that earlier lineups of the group have recorded. That album will include Just Like You, How Deep is the Water, and Holy Anointing. (Brandon Coomer added that the project will also include “Glory is Waiting” and “Love Went Deeper.”)

It seems my post “Could a traditional label make it?” sparked quite a discussion. My favorite comment so far: In answer to the viewpoint that people want to hear modern / progressive Southern Gospel, reader SV writes:

I wish that SG were bigger than it is, and I do my best to promote it, but in some fans eyes, if it isn’t modern or progressive they think it hurts the industry and people are tired of it… Well, tell that to the packed houses we had EVERY night this weekend.

His group isn’t the only group saying that, either.