Skyline Boys Prayer Request

From Chuck Peters:

Sheila Powers, wife of Dennis Powers, owner and bass singer of the Skyline Boys Quartet, will undergo surgery on Aug. 20 for a double mastectomy and reconstruction for Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Doctors have assured Sheila that she would not have to do chemotherapy or radiation at this time.

Dennis and Sheila would like to say thank you to all of their fans and friends for their your support and constant prayers during this situation.

Encouragement cards, letters, flowers or calls may be directed to:

Sheila Powers
37306 Longmoor Farm Lane
Purcellville, VA 20132
(540) 668-9826

You will recall that the Skyline Boys were recently in the news, and are awaiting release of their first album with Crossroads.  Please remember them in prayer during this trying time.

EH & SS Promotion: Free Downloads? Dream On!

Ernie Haase and Signature Sound have an interesting promotion going on right now.  Their new release, Dream On is now available at their website.  Here’s the money quote in the announcement:

Want to hear the new CD before it comes out?  If you “Pre Order” the new CD and DVD “Dream On” from the EHSS website you will be given a FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD of two “LIVE” tracks from the Live in Chicago taping. The digital download link will be presented to you right after your credit card is processed. As well you will also receive a follow up email with the same link. Please note that only web orders for the pre-sale will receive the free digital download.

These two songs are EHSS’s first single from the Dream On Project “Reason Enough” and the soon to be hit classic “The Old Landmark” that follows the same fun and excitement as their #1 song and Dove Award song of the year “Get Away Jordan!”

This is another good idea by Ernie and Gaither, and more of an indication that SG is being dragged, albeit kicking and screaming, into the digital age.

Oak Ridge Boys News

David Murray at Musicscribe has some interesting information about the latest Oak Ridge Boys CD, including the fact that they will still be recording for Spring Hill Records.

A Singing Americans Question

The album pictured to the right was the first Singing Americans album after Mike English and Rick Strickland left the group and were replaced by Clayton Inman and Phil Barker, respectively.  However, when listening to “God Is Greater” from this album, the tenor sounds very much like Strickland, with the exception of the solo tenor line “God is higher” which is obviously Barker.  I know Clayton Inman and Strickland were in the group together for a while, as they are the members in the concept video for “Welcome to Heaven” which is available on youtube.  (Volscot, a commenter here occasionally, has the video, maybe he can provide the link for us!)  Is this another case of a personnel change in the midst of recording an album and leaving some of the previous member’s vocals intact, or is it Barker all the way through the song, and he just happens to sound a lot like Strickland on this cut?

Hidden Gems: Cumberland Boys - “God Rides On Wings Of Love”

OK, so this song, like “Trouble In My Way”, has been hugely popular, but this version of the song is definitely long forgotten, if not obscure.  I’m not the biggest Cumberland Boys fan in the world, though I liked several of their songs, and really liked the Cumberland Quartet when they became a bit more of a traditional sounding quartet.  This song was recorded on the Alive and Now album that featured “Hallelujah Heavenly Horn”.  Personnel were Depp Britt, Jim Worthing, Bill Britt, and Steve Goforth.  This is a fairly unique arrangement of this song, as it has a very pop, almost soft rock sound to it.  I remarked to someone that it almost sounded like something you would have heard the Imperials of the time do, especially the instrumental track.  Some hot electric guitar licks, an absolutely kicking bass guitar line, and some nice rock organ work highlight the backing track.  The vocals are very good, especially after the key change and on the tag of the song, there is some really nice harmony and nice chord progressions.  This is a very enjoyable performance of the classic song, and it’s done a bit differently than the typical soul gospel feel.  Pull your cassette or LP out again and listen to it.

Crossway As A Duet?

Talk about cutting payroll in half…Brandon at Coomer Cove has a story about Crossway remaining a duet after the departure of Scott Rogers.  There is even “talk” of Matt McFarland and and Paul Smith doing a CD as a duet.  There’s really been a lot of changes with the group since they broke on the major SG scene with No Distractions.

EH&SS Receive Gold Certification

According to the SN Wire, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound just picked up a Gold certification from the RIAA for their Get Away Jordon DVD.  Like it or not, Gaither and EHSS seem to be miles ahead of anyone else in SG in terms of sales numbers, which does wonders for keeping SG relevant in the larger scope of the music industry.

New Brian Wilson Release

Those of you that have read my blog from the beginning know that I am a big time Beach Boys fan.  The founder and musical force behind the group, Brian Wilson, who now performs and records as a soloist (kinda), is releasing a new album of original material on September 2, titled That Lucky Old Sun.  Amazon is taking pre-orders, but the cool thing is the embedded video of one of the songs, “Forever My Surfer Girl”, that you can view.  I’m guessing this was recorded in one of the live shows of the work that Wilson did earlier.  Check it out, it’s amazing that after everything Brian has been through he can still create music like this at age 65.

Why Cassettes Gave Way To CDs, Or Why Vinyl Rocks!

Aside from the fact that I seem to be subconsciously channelling Rocky and Bullwinkle with this post title, I have a rant to share.  Why is it that a nearly 50 year old LP can still be played to make a serviceable CD copy, but a cassette that is half that age, and has apparently been stowed away in a case, won’t play anymore?  My dad was cleaning out his garage and found a big box of cassettes, including his copy of the Singing Americans Live and Alive, which I had been after him to find for a while.  I took it home, stuck it in my tape deck connected to the PC, and tried to rip it down.  Yeah, that didn’t work.  Half the tape was so garbled you couldn’t make out anything intelligible.  However, my copy of the Blackwood Brothers Give Us This Day LP, which is quickly approaching 50 years old, ripped near perfectly, and with a little love and some basic filters applied, comes out nearly CD quality?  This is why I much prefer vinyl to cassettes.

SG And Fuel Costs: Part 6,472

In what is seeming to be all too common, with gas still being $1 more expensive per gallon than this time last year, groups are cutting expenses the best they can.  Some have lost bands (Kingsmen, BFA), some are restricting their schedule (Beene Family), some have come off the road completely.  The Dixie Melody Boys are selling their bus and purchasing a Dodge Sprinter van.  They are also very honest that the decision is due to rising fuel costs.  I’m really surprised that we haven’t seen more groups take this approach, though when you spend 200 days or so a year on the road, the relative comfort factor a bus gives makes it a tough thing to do without.