Ricky Atkinson and Compassion

So the news has now hit that Loren Harris and Greg Cook have joined with Ricky Atkinson. While it is interesting and exciting to see these two talented singers back on the SG stage, something else struck me about the press release. According to the SN release,

They all have first obligation and priority in their home churches as ministers of music, administrators, etc… so scheduling will be limited and very carefully observed. Family and church first, then singing is the way we feel it should be and thats the way we want it.

This to me is an interesting, and in my opinion, very positive statement in a couple of ways.  First and foremost, it shows that these guys have their priorities in line.  They have made commitments to their home churches and familes, and are at least to this point keeping those commitments.  It will mean a reduced travel schedule, but they are willing to make that sacrifice.  For that they have garnered my utmost respect.

The reduced travel schedule leads me to a second positive, and that is to build up the excitement and anticipation of recordings, and the dates that they are able to travel.  I think by doing things this way, they are preventing over saturation of their music.  Since they will not be touring as extensively as other groups, it creates a much larger buzz when RAC does come to town.  It won’t be the old adage, “Well, they’ll be back in a couple of months, so we will just catch them then…”.  With the reduced schedule, who knows when they will be able to make it back to Anytown, TN.  This should drive up their concert attendance.  Granted, this is all predicated on the quality of their material/performance, but with three seasoned veterans like Atkinson, Harris, and Cook, the quality should be a non-issue.  On paper, this looks to be a formidable new trio.

Time will tell, but definitely keep watching out for these guys, they have some major potential.