SouthernGospelBlog.com

Crossroads has posted the track list to NQC Vol. 9 (the highlights CD/DVD from this year’s NQC) on their website:

• O It Thrills Me     (Hoppers)
• I Want To Know That You Know    (Greater Vision)
• Cast Your Bread Upon The Water    (Gold City)
• Mountain Mover    (Talley Trio)
• God Saw A Cross     (Kingsmen)
• Favorite Song Of All    (Ivan Parker)
• Hold On        (Dove Brothers)
• Ephesians 1        (Karen Peck & New River)
• Trading This Old Cross For A Crown    (Booth Brothers)
• Jesus Made A Believer Out of Me    (Kingdom Heirs)
• God Will Make A Way    (Janet Paschal)
• Jesus Will Pick You Up    (Brian Free and Assurance)
• Bonus: Hold On (Greenes) from Phil Cross’ Song of a Lifetime
• Bonus: Champion of Love by former Cathedrals members

While previous years’ releases included fifteen or more songs (plus bonus tracks), that list is now down to twelve songs. The most surprising omission was the Perrys’ “If You Knew Him.” Not as surprising (but just as disappointing) is the absence of the Gaither Vocal Band and Signature Sound. Their appearance would particularly help bookstore sales. Legacy Five also isn’t on the list, but that’s a little easier to explain, since Frank Seamans’ departure had been announced, and Gus Gaches will have started by the time the project comes out. Finally, the new Inspirations lineup doesn’t appear. It would have been nice to have the new lineup captured on film. (EDIT: I knew I was forgetting at least one I meant to list. A reader reminds me that the Male Quartet of the Year, Triumphant, isn’t featured, either.)

There seems to be an emphasis on including current radio singles in the song list. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but neither is it the best. It would almost certainly help sales if the most moving and memorable moments were selected—even if they were only selected from the same groups that would otherwise appear on that year’s project. A few examples: Heading that list would be “Save Me a Seat” from Brian Free & Assurance’s final set of the week; BFA bass Jeremy Lyle turned in an unforgettable performance as a tribute to his father, who had just been buried that morning. Also high on that list would be the original Couriers’ rendition of “Statue of Liberty” from Song of a Lifetime; when they were introduced, there seemed to be some audience apprehension as to whether they still had “it,” but that question was answered by the first chorus, when the audience was on its feet. One other worth mentioning would be the Kingdom Heirs’ performance of “He Locked the Gates” at their final set of the week; though it got a surprisingly lackadaisical response earlier in the week, it got the strong response it deserved later in the week.

Make no mistake, the right choices were certainly made on several songs, “God Saw a Cross” (Kingsmen) and “Cast Your Bread Upon the Water” (Gold City) being two of the best picks. But less focus on current radio singles and more focus on the most memorable moments would better capture the essence of the event.

A full film crew is only on hand for the second half of the week, so Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are the days from which the highlights are selected. Suppose NQC gave each person who purchased a ticket for those days a ballot for their favorite moment on mainstage, which could be turned in at the end of the week. These ballots could then be used to select the highlights.

One final idea, that may be a few years ahead of its time. Footage from at least the last decade is presently collecting dust in someone’s archive. Since there is already a live edit available for the video and audio footage, it should be a fairly simple cut-and-paste job to split each song into separate tracks.

Suppose the power to decide which highlights are worth purchasing was given to the fans. Suppose Crossroads and NQC made individual videos of each song available for $1/song, $5/set, and $25-$35/night. Most of the contractual framework with the different labels is already in place. (It might just not be possible for the Gaither footage to appear, but even having everything else available would be incredible.) Bandwidth may be an issue if the idea takes off, but should be in place within the next few years.

What would make this even more incredible is if footage from past years is also released. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to purchase the complete final mainstage appearances of individuals like Vestal Goodman, George Younce, or Jake Hess, or of groups like the Cathedrals, Florida Boys, Happy Goodmans, or Poet Voices? Or to revisit the Kingsmen in their Jerry Martin days, Gold City in its Trammell days, or the Kingdom Heirs in their Sutton/Bennett days?

In the words of Bill Gaither . . . why not?

In his post introducing Gus Gaches as Legacy Five’s new tenor singer, Tim Parton promised an interview with him. That interview has now been posted, and it has some fascinating insights into Gaches’ background.

http://legacyfive.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/discussing-gus/

…hear Gus say it himself.

This video is from the archives, from NQC 2008 (the first year I did these video greetings).

This post is dedicated to AmyR.

There’s word the National Quartet Convention is considering a move to Indianapolis, Indiana, effective next year. Apparently a move to October next year (and November the following year) is also under consideration.

Would such a move affect your plans to attend?

While I started this blog off as a words-only site, in the last year or two I’ve come to realize that if picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a thousand pictures. So while I could give a song list—and may as well—I think the concert would be far better captured by a video clip of the biggest highlight, of a song that got a bigger response than any other song, despite the numerous career highlights featured.

First, the set list:

• He’s So Good to Me (featuring Debra Talley)
• The Promise (featuring Lauren Talley)
• He’s a Personal Savior (acapella)
• Intros
• Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners
• Amazing Grace (featuring Debra and Lauren)
• Life Goes On (Lauren)
• Broken Ones (Lauren)
• That’s Enough (Lauren, with pre-recorded vocal by Jake Hess)
• My Hope is In the Lord (Roger)
• Mountain Mover (Lauren)
• He’s Alive (Lauren)

During the intermission, Roger played an instrumental rendition of “He Keeps Me Singing” as the offertory. In the second half:

• Searchin’ (Lauren)
• The Healer (Debra, Lauren)
• Orphans of God (Lauren)
• If It Had Not Been (Debra)
• His Life For Mine (Lauren)
• Testify (Lauren)

Without doubt, the song that got the biggest response was “He’s Alive.” The camera doesn’t quite capture the spontaneous cheer when the chorus started, but it gives a little hint:

And a special bonus: Here’s a video I produced about the Talley’s sound man, Jim Whetsel, for their TalleyTree-o.com community site:

Legacy Five put the word out yesterday that they have hired Gus Gaches to be their new tenor singer. Gaches has sung with the Calvary Construction Company, the Moscheo/Andrus/Blackwood Imperials, and, most recently, put in several years with Mike LeFevre’s Priority Quartet. He is married to Tamra and has two children, son Gus and daughter Kylie.

Like his new boss, he hides his age well; despite his youthful appearance, he is actually 42 years old. But his voice doesn’t show the signs of aging; in fact, if you only heard his voice, he could pass for a tenor in his twenties.

He comes to Legacy Five with Frank Seamans’ blessing; in fact, he was Seamans’ own choice for a replacement. Their blog states:

He’s the man that Frank recommended fill in for him if he should have to be out during Frank, Jr.s illness. Fortunately, Frank never had to be absent; however, when Frank decided to go back home to be with his family, Frank reminded us to call Gus. We did and the rest is soon to be history.

The two personnel decisions Scott Fowler has had to make since Roger Bennett’s passing have both been concluded in favor of people who bring a strong background in producing and studio work. Tim Parton has produced a number of projects, and regularly works with Terry Franklin to produce Daywind’s songwriter demos. Gus Gaches owns the Vox Box recording studio and is involved in the production of numerous CDs, videos, and live events. In fact, he was even part of the NQC sound crew last year, but don’t hold that against him; as I understand, his responsibilities were more covering the mix that went out on the Internet feed, and there were far fewer complaints about that than about the house sound.

One interesting Legacy Five / Gus Gaches connection: On the LeFevre’s Live DVD, produced by Gaches (and reviewed here), Scott Fowler provided the group introduction.

And since a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a thousand pictures, here are some highlights from that project:

Also:

• I Bless Your Name
• Without Him
• First Day in Heaven
• Cloud He’s Coming Back On
• When I Get Carried Away

Legacy Five has named LeFevre Quartet / Priority’s tenor singer, Gus Gaches, as their new tenor. Great move – and more thoughts tomorrow!

“Lately I’ve been longing for Home and my heart is already there.” I can so relate to this lately. I don’t have a death wish but I find that, the older I get, the more I desire to really see Jesus. I don’t doubt that He’s here now – I can feel His presence – but I know that even my imagination cannot begin to describe what our meeting will truly be like.

So many songs I listen to are about Heaven yet “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) I can’t imagine that much splendor and glory but it’s there just the same.

I look around at this beautiful earth sometimes and remind myself that I have a Home far greater than this. However, no matter how beautiful – no matter how big or small my mansion is – Jesus will be what makes it Heaven for me. How I long to see His face and to rest in His embrace. To know I’ve entered by His grace, that’s what makes it Heaven.

When selecting material for a project, should a Southern Gospel group select the best new songs possible?

Well, of course, you might think. But it’s not that simple.

Thirty years ago, that literally happened. When the LeFevres, Happy Goodmans, or Florida Boys were about to head into the studio to cut a new recording, they selected the best possible new material to fit their group’s sound. Literally. Even if a few of those had been cut by other groups.

And if they were the best new songs for their sound, why not?

So let me repeat the opening question. Would Southern Gospel be better off today if groups selected the best song possible?

In the last two decades, Southern Gospel has borrowed secular rock and pop’s formula of treating a good song as belonging to a particular group. But why can’t some songs belong to the genre?

David Bruce Murray has a good post up currently about dominant radio singles being dead. That’s a flaw of the system, not of the songs. It’s only a few per year—just like in the good old days, incidentally—but there are songs out there that are good enough that a dozen groups could record them without the song losing any of its power. Take Legacy Five’s “Faithful to the Cross.” It’s that rare song that fits anything from a high school graduation to a wedding to a funeral.

Would Southern Gospel be better off if we forget the formulas that gave secular rock and pop their (lately-economically-crumbling) place in the sun, and go back to the formulas that got us to where we were in the 1960s and 1970s?

On pages 34 and 35 of the latest Singing News, the Booth Brothers ran an ad covering the full two-page spread, thanking fans for their support in the Fan Awards. That’s impressive and of itself, but what’s even more impressive is that while they spend half of page 35 thanking fans for their support, they spend the other half congratulating the other winners—even in the (few) categories (Songwriter, at least) where they had a member up who did not win.

That’s classy.