A Few Personnel Changes

Over the past few days or weeks there have been a few personnel changes that I haven’t commented on yet.

• Keith Waggoner departed Liberty Quartet’s tenor position to become the Senior Pastor at his home church.  He will be replaced by Phillip Batton, who has filled in for Keith occasionally in the past.  Keith is probably the best tenor singer the average SG fan has never heard of, due to their remote location in Idaho.  He will be missed, but Liberty should transition very smoothly with a somewhat familiar voice at tenor.
• Cody McVey has left the piano bench of The Kingsmen to attend college at Lee University.  The Kingsmen are currently accepting auditions by emailing kingsmenpianist@kingsmenquartet.com.
• Shaye Smith has taken maternity leave from the Chuck Wagon Gang, and Penny Greene is filling in during the interim.  Greene sang with the CWG for several years previously.

Best wishes to all the departures and arrivals.  I’m sure there will be more in the coming days, as there always seems to be a marked increase in personnel changes as NQC approaches.

Gospel Singing Caravan Makes Its Return

One of the highlights of the 100 Years of SG Celebration at NQC was the appearance of the new Gospel Singing Caravan featuring the Lefevre Quartet, the Chuck Wagon Gang, and the Blackwood Brothers.  It seems the Caravan is destined to be more than just a one-time shot for the showcase.  The new Gospel Singing Caravan is going to be doing a limited tour starting in Spring 2011.  There is a website for the troupe here. (hat tip, Diana)  The site also mentions that the groups have begun working on a studio album to be released through Daywind Records.  Be on the lookout for this tour, it should be quite a concert experience!