Concert Reminder: Crist Family – Feb. 11

Just a reminder for any of you that live in the Memphis area that the Crist Family will be in concert Thursday night at Faith Baptist Church in Atoka, TN.  The concert starts at 7:00 PM, there is no admission charge, and a love offering will be taken.  Come on out and enjoy what will surely be a great concert!

SG Hall Of Fame Dust-up

If you haven’t been following, there’s a minor skirmish concerning the SG Hall of Fame going on.  DBM has his take here on the issue that appeared on AVFL here.  I honestly can see both sides of the issue, that the HOF needs the donations to pay for the plaques, but I also see that receiving an “invoice”, whether it is intended as such or not, and the inclusion of the honoree’s name on a webpage “deadbeat” list can be a bit offensive to the family of the honoree.  As for the “deadbeat” list, my suggestion would be to remove the actual list from the website, but instead have the information that the HOF is in need of donations to cover the cost of plaques for a few inductees, and if you’d like to help, contact them for more information.  That way the information is out there, and interested parties can then inquire further and find out more specifics if they are interested in making a donation to cover an inductee’s plaque.

The base issue of funding for the HOF begs a few questions, however.  I understand that the SGMA is a non profit organization that is funded by its membership dues to an overwhelming proportion.  I also get that the HOF is included in admission to Dollywood, hence there are no “gate proceeds” for admission to the HOF.

• Does the SGMA/HOF receive any kind of kickback from Dollywood?  It’s been a long time since I was there, but would they get a certain percentage of park revenue based on the number of people coming through the turnstiles, or even a fixed percentage?
• How are plaques, etc. funded for other music HOFs? (Rock, Country, etc.)
• Can anything be done to make the SG HOF mirror the other HOFs more closely in terms of funding?

I do feel that the issue of funding the plaques for honorees should be addressed before the fact, and that changing over the plaque then coming back and saying “We did this, now we need $XXXX to pay for it” after the fact isn’t the best way to handle that situation.  I would have included a notification/survey to inductees and/or their families as part of the evaluation process of changing the plaques.  A simple letter on the front end that says something to the effect of “We’d like to upgrade the plaques that are displayed in the Hall of Fame to make them classier, and more representative of the contributions from so-and-so.  To do this, however, will cost a total of $XXXX per plaque.  Would you be willing to cover this cost?” would have probably gone a long way toward defraying this situation and wouldn’t have caused the hurt feelings that have resulted from the way this was done.

Regardless, hopefully this situation will result in some re-evaluation of how things are done, and both sides can come to an amiable resolution.

Hoppers Sign With Mansion Entertainment

According to this post at Daniel Mount’s blog, the Hoppers have signed a recording agreement with Mansion Entertainment.  This follows from the demise of Canaan Records a while back, which was most unfortunate.  Mansion operates two theaters in Branson, and have been making some noise in SG circles, as Bill Traylor is involved with the organization.  Still, I wouldn’t call Mansion a top notch SG label, at least not yet, and it seems interesting to me that two of SG’s big names, the Hoppers and Gold City, are on smaller labels, Mansion and New Haven respectively.  Hopefully this will provide Mansion with some growth, and the Hoppers with some stability in their record label.

Hidden Gems: Gold City – “Until He Comes”

This song was on Gold City’s 1996 table project Having Fun and is a ballad by Dottie Rambo (hat tip, DH).  Mark Trammell is featured on the first verse and keeps the melody through the first chorus.  The key changes and Jay Parrack takes the second verse and the melody on the second chorus until David Hill takes the lead on the last couple lines of the chorus and tag.  This is just a stunningly beautiful cut.  The verses are performed expertly, and the tag is simply perfection.  This song was good enough that it could easily have been sent to radio and been a chart hit, even if the project was “just” a table project.  This particular CD is a bit hard to find, but this song alone makes it worth seeking out.  If you’re lucky enough to have a copy, pull up track 2 and prepare to be amazed.  This is definitely a “hidden gem.”

Feeling Crabby At The Grammys

Congratulations to Jason Crabb for picking up the Grammy tonight for Best Southern/Country/Bluegrass Gospel album for his self-titled solo CD.  It’s nice to see one of the SG nominees pick up the award.

Kermit Jamerson Passes Away

According to this story on the Singing News site, former Kingsmen tenor Kermit Jamerson has passed away at the age of 85. Jamerson was with the Kingsmen before Johnny Parrack joined the group, and made some very solid recordings with the group during his tenure in the ’60s. Condolences to the Jamerson family, and Heaven’s choir just added a fine tenor.

Upcoming Concert: Crist Family – Feb. 11

For those readers in the Memphis area, The Crist Family will be in concert at my church, Faith Baptist in Atoka, TN on Thursday night, Feb. 11. The concert will start at 7:00 PM. There is no admission charge as always, and a love offering will be taken. Come on out and hear the 2009 Horizon Group of the year, it’s sure to be a great night!

Gold City Recording Live Video?

My astute crackpot reporter Nate noticed an interesting entry in Gold City’s personal appearances listing on the BSA website:

02/11/10 Thr 07:00PM SC FORT MILL  TGB COMPLEX

1400 CONVENTION DRIVE   VIDEO TAPING

I’d say be watching for some news about this video in the coming days, and it would be great to see one with Josh, Roy, and Tim.

Why Quality In Our Music Matters

A common thread in many of our blog posts is the desire for quality music, regardless of style.  This normally turns miraculously into the whole ministry vs. entertainment debate, and excuses like “their hearts are for ministry” are used to excuse just plain bad music.  A few months ago, I was brought on staff officially at my church as Associate Minister of Music.  Around the holidays, our pastor gave my dad and I his copy of the Southwestern Baptist Seminary’s fall alumni magazine, that had some articles that he felt we would be interested in reading.  Though its focus is more on church music, one of the articles I think is very applicable to the state of SG music, and had some of the best reasons for demanding musical excellence I’ve ever read.  These come from David Thye, professor of church music at Southwestern Seminary, and Allen Lott, chairman of the music history department at Southwestern.

Thye states “The secular world will not respect or respond to a musician without excellence or scholarship.  In order to be sought after regularly [as a musician], a high level of artistry, knowledge, and performance standard is essential.  Once these things have been established, one can share a personal faith in Christ Jesus that is genuinely accepted.”  If you would ask Bill Gaither, Ernie Haase, or could ask the past greats like James Blackwood, Hovie Lister, or Dad Speer, I would be willing to wager they would agree with this statement wholeheartedly.  Musical excellence and the desire to minister are not mutually exclusive, in fact they really go hand in hand.  Presenting a high quality music will initially draw the listener’s ear, and once you have them hooked, you can hit them with the timeless message of the Gospel.

Lott states “Pursuing excellence in church music, in particular, demonstrates that we love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind – all of which are required to be a great musician – and want to offer Him in our worship the very best that we have.  We should not be content with mediocrity.”  All I can say is I wholeheartedly agree.  Christ’s sacrifice was not done half-heartedly, so why should our worship (through  music), which is our acceptable sacrifice, be anything less than the very best we have to give?

Let’s not accept mediocrity in our music any longer.  Take the time, no matter what particular musical style of SG you sing, to get it right.  Anything less will remove your credibility with your audience, and once that credibility is gone, so is your opportunity to share the greatest message ever.  God gave us His best in His Son, why are we willing to give him less than our absolute best in return?

*Quotations from Carter, Rebecca.  “The Importance Of Musical Scholarship”  SouthwesternNews, Fall 2009, p 27.  www.swbts.edu

Lefevre Quartet Returns, Signs With Beckie Simmons Agency

The Priority experiment has ended.  According to this press release, Mike Lefevre has reclaimed the name Lefevre Quartet for his group, and additionally, the group has signed on with Beckie Simmons, which is not a surprising move, with Mike’s long tenure with Gold City, and the group’s history with Beckie Simmons.  The name change comes with the blessing of the Lefevre family, with this from Meurice Lefevre:

Mylon and I are absolutely and completely supportive of Mike and his group and the work they are doing for our Lord and Saviour.

Glad to see the name get changed back to the Lefevre Quartet, I never could get used to calling them Priority.