Reflections

While laying here in a hospital bed, I've had lots of time to reflect on things. Going to the ER with chest pains, laying on those uncomfortable gurnies, and waiting for hours for someone to tell you something lets you think about a lot of things. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am saved and bought by the blood of Jesus, and yet I had the urge to make things right with God, just in case. In fact during the three hours laying on that gurnie, I made things right with God several more times. Funny how if you think that you could be in the next bus load going to heaven, you just want to be extra sure.

Well, after that ordeal, and I am in a little more (not much) comfortable bed in the hospital, my mind can roam to other areas of my life that might need attention. My life is pretty boring, so we won't go into any of those areas, but after those thoughts, and watching 4 hours of Ultimate Fight Championship programs, I couldn't help but notice how competitive these guys are. Improving their craft is a lifestyle to these guys. Each one is determined to be the #1 fighter in the sport. Now I've watched a few times when good fighters stepped into the octagon with lessor qualified fighters who were more competitive and dedicated to honing their craft and lost because they just weren't as committed to spending the time to learn all of the aspects of their craft.

With all this time to do nothing but think, I couldn't help but compare the two trades of Ultimate Fighting and Southern Gospel singing. These Ultimate Fighters train themselves, not as a group, daily with rigorous hours of physical preparation. It got my mind to wondering just what would happen if every Gospel singer gave just one hour a day to preparing themselves vocally for the task at hand. What if every singer, and musician for that matter, practiced the fundamentals of their trade for one hour everyday. What if every Gospel singer stretched him or her self in a way to better the way they perform. I remember the stories of how the Statesmen practiced hours a day, not a week with one night of practice, but hours a day. After all that practice they would go sing. No wonder they are the standard bearers of today. No wonder their recordings were of such quality. I hear of recording companies not even giving the artists the music to practice before they get to the studio. I wonder where out genre would be today if we still had the work ethic that our early groups had.

That's just something that I was thinking about while lying in the hospital bed, waiting to find out that I was OK, it wasn't a heart attack, and it was probably bad acid reflux.

Reckon We’re Not The Only Ones

While I was strolling the halls at GMA Week, I came upon a booth with lots of quartet CDs. While I couldn't persuade the man at the booth to give me any CDs to listen to, I did get a magazine called The Harmonier. It's the offical publication of the Barbershop Harmony Society. As I was scanning the magazine, I happened upon an article by the President of the Society, Draylon Justus. The title of his article is what caught my eye, because changing one word , the title and article could have been seen at anytime on SoGospelNews.com.
The title. "Working Toward Meaningful Change: If Barbershop It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It", brought back memories of many vigorous discussion on our message boards about this very subject, except about Southern Gospel Music. Though we are both very small genres, we seem to have several of the same problems.

Mr. Justus talks about two areas of Barbershop Quartets. The first area he calls "trappings and tactics", which he describes as how they organize, dress, and present themselves on stage. Their marketing studies have shown that in these areas there are somethings broken and need fixing. Does this sound familiar? The Barbershoppers call the people who want to hang on to all of the past with no changes, "traditionalists and preservationalists", so those terms should sound familiar to SGM. Some of the "traditionalists" want to keep he Barbershoppers in those loud tuxedos and funny hats, just because that's the way they have always done it. Sound familiar? Suits and ties, suits and ties, matching suits and ties. Yep, different words, but same principle, stick with what we were doing 50 years ago.

The other thing that Mr. Justus addressed is the music style and art form itself. This is where the rest of his title comes into play. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." His article addresses the issue that all music must change to stay alive, but that change should come slowly. That's what the Barbershoppers are doing, and low and behold that's what we are doing also. It appears to me that the Barbershop Quartet Society is facing the same nay sayers that we face, that some of the "traditionalists and presevationalists" want NO changing at all. Mr. Justus goes on to say that they are facing other musical forms "influencing" their music. Again, does this sound familiar? It should, after all that's been the argument for nearly 40 years in our genre. The Country sound started influencing Southern Gospel back in the late 60s, and it is still balked at, so I believe that we can say that change happens very slowly in SGM.

At any rate, I just found it very interesting that Southern Gospel Music is not alone in these very same battles. Maybe these battles are what is keeping us both very small genres. So, I reckon we're not the only ones.

Compassion

Well, it's that time of the year again. Every year we go through GMA Week, and every year I come home with a new appreciation for the people involved in CCM. Now I didn't say their music, I said the people involved in the music. We have sat through many Song Writer Showcases, which are always great, because this is where the song writers tell the story behind the ten Song of the Year nominations and then perform their songs without all the glitz and glitter of their bands. You see the hearts of the songwriters and those who are songwriters as well as singers. When you see their hearts, and hear the words of their songs, you appreciate their music a little more. I still don't listen to it, but I have an appreciation for it.

That brings me to the connection of Compassion International and GMA Week. We were fortunate to be invited to the Compassion Banquet that was put on at GMA Week. Since we are Compassion Artists I thought that it would be good to see a little more of what compassion is about. CCM Artist Bebo Norman was one of the speakers. He spoke his heart to us. He told us of what he saw as he visited one of these poverty stricken countries. It was clear that he was intimately touched by the visit. The one thing that really stuck with me about what he said was that as he was visiting and saw the poverty and dastardly conditions that these people live in, he found himself asking "God where are you, how do you let this happen to these people". Then he seems to get an answer back that said, "Where are God's people". Wow, what an awakening. Who are the arms and legs and hands of God? It's us, the Christians who have the obligation to reach out to these poor people.

Then the President of Compassion spoke a little bit and he brought about several things that struck one of my nerves. He asked if there was a Biblical precedent for doing what Compassion does as far as helping the children and impoverished in these foreign lands. He then related the story of the Samaritan. The Samaritan didn't take the man into his home and nurse him, but instead he took the man to people who were capable of tending tot the needs of the beaten and bruised man. Then what did he do? He gave money to the people who were qualified to tend to the fallen man. That is exactly what the Compassion artists share every time they present Compassion to the congregations where they minister. They offer to let other Christians pay for their care of poor children who are not only fed and clothed, but also presented the Gospel.

Just a few facts were shared about Compassion while we were there. They have seen over 102,000 children saved. A new church is being birthed every day in these poverty stricken lands. Since Compassion has been working in these countries 1,200 kids have gone through their school and went on to graduate from college. 500 of those have returned to their country as ministers to positively effect their nation. Compassion International is transforming children into adults who are changing the world for the cause of Christ. On the front page and on the message boards there is a link that will take you to the Compassion International website where you can see many of these children that you can sponsor and change their lives. I strongly encourage you to go look at these kids, it just may change your life.

New Face On The Scene

I think that for the last little while everyone has been waiting to see who was in the wings to replace the huge hole left in our genre by the tragic loss Anthony Burger.
Well last night at the SGN Awards Celebration, a new face appeared at the piano. Known for being a part her great singing family, Kim Collingsworth gave a show stopping performance with her rendition of "How Great Thou Art". I have not seen another pianist play with the energy, enthusiasm, and expression since I last saw Anthony play.
Kim has set a standard for all of the other piano players in our genre to strive for. She received several standing ovations during the single song performance and not a single seat had a person still sitting in it when she was finished. Then, to make her performance complete, she gave the Glory to God by leading those in attendance in a praise chorus. It was a highlight of the evening.

A few great piano players set themselves apart with a talent that allows them to compete with the finest artists in their genre. Kim Collingsworth proved last night that she has that level of talent, and I expect that she is going to be thrilling audiences with the same intensity and finesse as Anthony did for us in the past. Congratulations to Kim Collingsworth as she is following in some huge footsteps, but has all of the ability in the world to successfully follow them.

Wrong perception

I have heard several people lately say that the quality of the singers in Southern Gospel Music isn't on par with other genres. My first question is "what other singers from what other genres have you been listening to?", and my second question is "What Southern Gospel singers have you been listening to?". One of the things that Southern Gospel Music has always prided itself on is the quality of it's singers. Even in the second and third tiers of this genre, artists are attending music schools each year to try to perfect their craft.

Now I realize that we have our share of mom and pop groups that can't sing their way out of a paper bag,and that some of those groups are singing four part unison, all the while thinking they sound like Gold City or the Talleys. Fact is, it ain't so. they sound terrible. The truth is that these groups are a small minority of artists who sing SGM. We have had great voices in the past, such as Jake Hess, Jack Toney. JD Sumner, Rosie Rozell, Smitty Gatlin and the list could go on and on. The fact that we have singers today who have retired and come back on the road with strong quality voices such as Bill Baize, Ed Hill, Bobby Clark, Gary McSpadden, Larry Ford and that list could go on is a real tribute to the quality and education of our talent. Voices of today that are as high in quality as any genre could include, but not limited to Daniel Riley, Bill Shivers, Steve Ladd, Jeff Pearles, Guy Penrod, Brian Lester, Ivan Parker and that list could go on and on and on, well you know what I mean.

This vocal quality isn't just limited individuals. We have some of the best group harmony in the world. We always have had. Groups like Gold City, Brian Free and Assurance, the Crabb Family, the Talley Trio, Gaither Vocal Band, the Hoppers and that list could go on and on, will meet the same stand of excellence of any secular artists that I know, and in most cases will vocally exceed the secular talent.

What’s Normal

I was reading a book by actor Stephen Baldwin and in one of the last chapters he asks the question, "What is normal?". His idea was something like what is normal to the Andes Indians, like eating roaches, is not normal to us in America. Then again, eating hamburgers from Burger King is normal to us in America, but is not normal to the Mexicans in Monterey.

Then he was saying that God did an extraordinary turn around in his life and his "over the edge" ways of witnessing is probably not normal for what most church members do. That got me to thinking. Why do we think that Southern Gospel is the "normal" music that everything should be compared to. Now, I LOVE Southern Gospel Music, and it is normal for me, however, I have a friend in Memphis that listens only to Praise and Worship, so to her, that is normal. I know some teenagerws that listen to Christian Rock and they think that is normal. So, who's to say what normal is. I know what's normal for me and you know what's normal for you, but that doesn't make what we like normal for our neighbor. They may think that Country Music is normal. I guess I'm trying to say that we all need to be a little more tolerant of what other people think about their music. CCM and P&W arern't of the devil, and their not trying to please the world with their music. For those who like it, it's just "normal".

So, let's try to be a little more considerate of what we say about other genres of music. Remember, it's normal for somebody.

A Borrowed Idea

I'm in the process of reading a series of books by Joe Taylor, Jr., who has been a radio DJ. Artist Consultant, and Talent Buyer in the secular music field. I highly recommend this book to anyone in any genre of music. It's aimed at small bands who play bars and felstivals, but the working principles apply to booking churches and Gospel concerts too.
The name of the book is "Grow Your Band's Audience". You can find more information about this book at http://www.spinme.com . OK, enough for the commercial that I didn't get any money for. LOL

There are a ton of ideas in these books, but one that really struck me was one about trading bookings. The idea is that you get several established groups, about on your level to work woth you in trading bookings in each of your local areas. The reason I say "about your level" is that you don't want to have a concert where you get 200 people there and you reciprical concert only has fifty, because the artist you traded with has only been singing for a few months. A little common sense goes a long way. Now, the idea is that when you trade concerts, you agree to pay, oh say, $100.00 towards the guest groups expenses, and then they are working for CD sales. You are then responsible for getting the crowd there, advertising the concert, and all the other things that go along with making a concert successful. I would probably sell a booklet to help pay for the concert. At the end of all this, you make any profit that was made from the concert. The responsibility of this concert is all yours, but you want to make sure that you have a good crowd for your trading partner to sing to. Conversely, the group or artist that you have traded with will have you in for a concert, pay you $100.00, do all the work for promoting the concert for the concert in his area.

OK, so you're wondering what benefit is trading two concerts between several concerts with artists at your level, right? Nothing overnight, but what you are doing is building a fan base. The concert goers attending these concerts are not starry eyes fans looking at the "big guys" in the industry. They are loyal Southern Gospel fans who love the music, and are very open to liking your music. Make sure you have your mailing list pad on the table and don't be afraid to ask people to sign it. You will also have opened up your possibilities of getting booking in a new area. Many concerts are scheduled because church members go to their Pastors telling them about a great group they heard last night at a singing. It's your chance to "sell" your talent to another area. Building a fan base is the MOST important thing you can do to increase your ministry. By trading a concert with another group you are getting into a new area and know that you are not going to lose your shirt, remember you have agreed with the other group on a minimal price to meet your nneds of getting there and back, which you will recipricate that same amount when they come to your city.

I really like this idea, so I am looking for a few groups to trade with. Let me know what you think.

The Sunday Edition 1 - Deer - 0

After a great weekend in Farmington, MO at the MAGMA Convention of singing and fellowshipping with other artists, we headed down the road to spend the night in Cape Girardeau, MO, because we had a date with the "Throwed Roll" Restaurant - Lamberts, in Sikeston, MO. Chugging on down the road about 2 AM, doing about 70 miles an hour, all of a sudden, to my left, in my periperhal vision I saw this very large deer running directly for the side of my van. He came right out of the shadows and all I could do was brace for the crash. This big buck lowered his head and I guess he thought that he could bull us right over. Unfortunately, for him, the van I was driving was much larger and tougher than he was. As I gripped the steering wheel, knowing that a crash was about to happen, there was a huge thud sound all the way down the side of my van. God was with us, because had he been one foot further in front of us, we would have hit him broadside and the damage and possible injuries would have been much greater. After a little shouting from the collision, we did a little shouting thanking God for keeping us safe. Sadly for the deer, he did not come out as good as my van. The State Trooper who came out to make a report for my insurance company said that he saw the deer on the side of the road and it looked like it was dead, but he was going to go back to make sure, and if not, put him out of his misery. Lest you think that the deer wasn't one tough animal, the side of my van is completely dented with 3 to 6 inch dents all the way from front to back. I could barely get my drivers side door open enough to get out and the side sliding door won't even open at all.

I go Tuesday, at 10:30 Am for an adjuster to give me an estimate for repairing it, so I'll give you an update after that. I'm just praying for God's favor in this whole ordeal.

Has the rivalry begun?

I wasn't even aware that anything was going on until I got to NQC and heard the buzz. I didn't think much of it, the fact that Ernie Haase had decided to record "Get Away Jordan".
Then I talked with McCray Dove and he informed me that he had asked permission from Hovie Lister, as a courtesy of course, to record the Statesmen signature song "Get Away Jordan". "Now", McCray says, "the gauntlet has been thrown down." With a smile on his face he says, "And Ernie didn't even ask.", indicating that Ernie Haase and Signature Sound had recorded "Get Away Jordan", which McCary considers to have become the Dove Brothers signature song. McCray adds, "We've tried to drop the song, but the fans just won't let us." So, Saturday night, just a little after 10PM, after singing one song off their new CD, McCray throws down his own gauntlet. McCray tells the 15,000 in attendance that the hottest quartet in Southern Gospel Music could not be at the NQC this week because they were in Africa singing, and he asks them if they know who it is. Of course the crowd yells back "Signature Sound". Then McCray tells them that Signature Sound is singing "Get Away Jordan" over in Africa, and asks them how they would like to hear the Dove Brothers sing a Signature Sound song at NQC. Of course, the crowd, raved. However, McCray, not satisfied with just a little raving, said "Well if you don't want us to sing it, we won't do it", and of course the crowd cheered him on. At this point Tim Lovelace prances on stage and announces that the Dove Brothers could not just "sing" a Signature Sound song, but they had to "look" the part. So, Tim proceeded to around to each singer and mess up their hair trying to make them have the Signature Sound hair style. The Tim pulled out a pair of scissors from his coat and proceeded to cut each singers tie very short. Now, the Dove Brothers were ready to sing a Signature Sound song.

Then the introduction to the Signature Sound hit "Stand By Me" started and the crowd went wild. The whole place was on their feet. One thing that the Dove Brothers do NOT have is dance moves, but that didn't stop them from trying. David Hester did a pretty good straight up job of singing the Bass feature, but the rest of the guys were pretty much struggling to find some sort of dance move even close to Signature Sounds moves. I was frankly afraid that McCray might hurt himself with some of those moves. I hope he knows a good chiropractor. I can only assume that the rest of the crowd was enjoying the song, because I was laughing so hard that my eyes were watering.

The Dove Brothers went straight into their version of "Get Away Jordan" and the crowd cheered even louder. Going from that right into "Didn't It Rain", the crowd never let up cheering and clapping the whole time. I was sitting in front of the timer and noticed that for fifteen consecutive minutes the crowd was on it's feet clapping and cheering for the Dove Brothers, and you could see in McCray's eyes that he was saying to Ernie Haase........ "Take that!!!!".

I can remember many years back when there was a rivalry between the Blackwoods and the Statesmen and between the Oak Ridge Boys and the Kingsmen. It was lots of good old fashioned rivalry that brought some real competition that made each group better. There was not mean spiritedness, but there was some pranks that got carried out. That rivalry brought out the best of all the groups and in the long run brought out the best of Southern Gospel Music.

So, I'm waiting to see if this was just a fluke, or has the rivalry between the Dove Brothers and Signature Sound begun?

Blackwood Gospel Quartet and the Kingsmen

This week was great for some quartet singing. Thursday I got to hear the Blackwood Gospel Quartet. Since a good friend of mine has just joined the group as their Bass singer, I was really anxious to hear them. The Blackwood name has been around almost since the beginning of Southern Gospel Music, but for the last couple of decades, the name Blackwood has not had much draw. This could very well be changing. Mark Blackwood has put together a group that takes a back seat to no one. The harmonies are super tight, and individually they are four very strong voices. This Blackwood Quartet is ready to leave the old standard cover songs and make themselves known in the world of SGM again. They give you a program that is entertaining, full of great music (even though it's older material), and still make sure that you are spiritually blessed before you leave. If they are in your area, make sure that you check them out.
The very next night, I was priviledged to hear and sing with the mighty Kingsmen. That's right I said the MIGHTY Kingsmen. I can remember when that was their nickname, and it's time for them to reclaim it. After a few years of struggling to get back on their feet, these guys have found the right combination to put them getting those #1 hits again. They are now in a placed to leave that older material behind and use this new stuff from their new CD. It is fantastic. Their harmony has never been closer and their stage presence has finally reached the dynamics of when Hamill was with them. Tony Peace is as good a MC as you will find. I count it an honor that my group, The Sunday Edition, was able to share the stage with them. With this group too, if they come to your area, don't miss the chance to check them out, you will not be disappointed.