Thoughts On The Tracy Stuffle Benefit

I watched the large majority of the benefit concert for Tracy and Libbi Stuffle online last night. What a tremendous outpouring of love and support by our fellow SG artists. I thought Jason Crabb and Joseph Habedank did marvelous jobs hosting the concert, and there were a lot of highlights. Former Palmetto State tenor Robert Fulton was singing with Gold City, and they sounded pretty solid.

There was quite a unique lineup of The Hoppers last night as well. Kim is very ill with sinus problems, and may even be facing surgery, sloshed and Dean were at home. Taranda Greene filled in for Kim, and Jason and Joseph alternated filling in Dean’s part. “I’ve Come Too Far” was fantastic, Connie and Taranda both nailed their parts of the song, and on the encore, Tim Riley supplied some incredible bass vocals.

The Booth Brothers did their two songs with only piano accompaniment from Nick Bruno, and it showcased their amazing blend and harmonies. The Collingsworth Family did an exquisite version of “Fear Not Tomorrow”, with Olivia joining what was a trio of her mom and sisters. I’ll disagree with my esteemed colleague Daniel Mount, as to my ears it sounded like Olivia was doubling Courtney, not Brooklyn. Mark Lowry was hilarious, and Paul Harkey was impressive with EHSS. The Oak Ridge Boys also sang with only piano accompaniment as well, and they were very genuine in their love and support for Tracy and Libbi.

More important and significant than all of this, though, came with The Perrys set, and the surprise appearance by Libbi, who sang a heart wrenching performance of “ThroughThe Night.”. After the set, Dr. Phil Hoskins took the stage and had a time of anointing and prayer for Libbi and Tracy. Seeing all of the artists in attendance gathered at the altar with their arms outstretched toward Libbi in prayer was the single most powerful moment I’ve witnessed at a concert. After several minutes of prayer, Libbi began singing “‘Tis So Sweet” from the midst of the group, and the rest of the artists and congregation joined in singing acappella. It was an incredibly sweet moment.

I have no idea how much money was raised last night, but judging from the crowd it had to have been a significant amount. Even,ore important though, 25 or so people rededicated their livestock Christ, and 8 or 9 were saved when Dr. Hoskins gave an altar call. This is what Southern Gospel is all about, and it made me proud to be even peripherally involved with this industry. All in all, a great night, and I was thankful to be able to watch the online stream.

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Dan Keeton Departs Gold City

It seems that today is a day for changes with the new year upon us.  Dan Keeton has announced his departure as Gold City’s tenor vocalist.  When Dan was announced as Brent Mitchell’s replacement with Gold City, there was some marked skepticism about how he would fit with Gold City.  Dan met the skeptics head on and greatly exceeded most everyone’s expectations.  Dan has been a fine tenor for Gold City, and turned in some really good performances on the group’s Somebody’s Coming CD.  He is leaving to pursue a dream of starting an organization that helps children who are victims of abuse.  Keeton has done well with Gold City, and will be missed.  Here is the open letter from Dan:

In march of 2011, I was afforded a dream come true, to sing tenor with Gold City. Most of you know my testimony of child abuse, the divorce of my parents and my daddy’s alcoholism. I have recently been given an opportunity to do something I have wanted to do for quite some time. I have wanted to start a non profit organization using music and the arts to inspire child victims of abuse. That opportunity has presented itself and I am so excited, but also heavy hearted. Opening this door means I will have to leave Gold City. I can honestly say, I love the Rileys so much. Tim and Danny are like family to me. Chuck, Bryan and Jerry are so easy going and fun to be around that I will dearly miss being on the bus with such fine Christian gentlemen. I will always be greatful for my time here.

As friends and fans of Gold City, please know, I love you all. I have never felt so much love as I have from you. Please pray that Gold City finds the best replacement and the transition is as smooth as possible.

Best wishes to you, Dan, on your new endeavor, and prayers for Gold City as they search for the right person to fill their tenor position.

NQC Awards Ballot: First Round

Since several others have posted their ballots in the first round of the NQC awards voting, I will do the same.

• Bass: Tim Riley
• Baritone: Mark Trammell
• Lead: Bill Shivers
• Tenor: Gus Gaches
• Soprano: Karen Peck Gooch
• Alto: Courtney Collingsworth Metz
• Soloist: Steve Ladd
• Male Group: Gold City
• Mixed Group: Collingsworth Family
• Musician: Jeff Stice
• Album: Let It Be Known – Booth Brothers
• Song: “On The Banks Of The Promised Land” – Karen Peck and New River

SG Quartets: Walking In Memphis

As was announced on Daniel Mount’s blog today, plans are moving along for an all male quartet event called the “J.D. Sumner Quartet Show” in Memphis, TN to be held June 19-22, 2013.  This is the brainchild of several quartet leaders and concert promoters, and is being held in conjunction with the 15 year anniversary of Sumner’s death, in the city where he and James Blackwood started the National Quartet Convention in 1957.  James’ son Jimmy is one of the organizers of this event, along with Stewart Varnado of the Dixie Echoes.

I was just in the auditorium of the Cook Convention Center, known as the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, for a business meeting a couple of weeks ago and it’s a beautiful facility that seats about 2,100 people, give or take.  There is also an exhibit hall attached to the facility that should rival Freedom Hall’s in Louisville.  The facility sits on the north side of Downtown Memphis with entrances on both Main St., and Front St. overlooking the Mississippi River.

The event has a website here, and a Facebook page here.  The initial lineup of groups already committed is extremely strong, with names like Brian Free and Assurance, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, Gold City, The Kingsmen, The Dixie Echoes, and Triumphant Quartet, among others.  Also, there are plans underway to add more “up and coming” type quartets to the lineup as well.

If you can’t tell, I’m very excited about the possibilities of this event coming to my hometown, and I’ll see you all there!

2012: A Look Ahead To The Year In SG

First let me say that I hope you all had a very happy New Year’s celebration.  As we begin 2012, let’s take a look ahead at what is awaiting us in the SG world in this new year.

Several groups are making a fresh start in 2012.  The Kingsmen, The Lefevre Quartet, and Soul’d Out Quartet all experience personnel changes over the past couple weeks.  The Kingsmen have a new lead singer in Bob Sellers, and are currently without a tenor, so their sound will undoubtedly change a great deal this year.  The Lefevre Quartet added Harold Reed to the tenor slot, after just recently adding Jordan Lefevre to the lead slot of their group, so it will be interesting to watch and see how this affects the group this year.  It could become quite a catalyst for them.  Soul’d Out is also poised to make waves with the addition of Bryan Hutson as baritone vocalist.  Hutson brings a top notch voice to a quartet that had been quietly making strides, and as recently as yesterday made news as a new Crossroads artist.

Ernie Haase and Signature Sound are due to release a new CD next month called Here We Are Again.  There have been discussions surrounding the group over the past few months regarding their regression of sorts to a retro-music themed group, so this new studio album is garnering anticipation to see if the group becomes trendsetters again as they were with projects like Dream On.

Gold City finally released Somebody’s Coming late last year.  While reviews have been glowing thus far, a lot of eyes will be on the group to see if they finally can achieve some stability and build on what is most assuredly a good foundation with the latest recording.  I’m anxious to see what they come up with next, and am very anxious for a stable lineup and a studio album with songs selected for said lineup.  There is a world of potential still remaining for the group.

Last but not least, will this be the year that someone FINALLY covers the song “Lucas McGraw”??? 

Christmas Classics Corner: Gold City – Voices Of Christmas

Since I haven’t done of of these in a couple of years, and since I’ve inexplicably never done a classics corner on this album, let’s get into the Christmas season by highlighting an absolutely stunning Christmas album from Gold City.  Released in 1988, this CD features the super-group lineup of Brian Free, Ivan Parker, Mike LeFevre, Tim Riley, with Garry Jones and Jeff Hullander comprising the Band of Gold at the time.  Jones, as always, produced and arranged this project.

Tracks:

1. Awake My Soul – The quartet gets things going with an incredible, though short acappella song right out of the gate.  There’s two verses with a key change between them with a nice power tag, and Tim Riley dropping an octave on the last note.
2. Angels We Have Heard On High – I featured this as a Christmas Hidden Gem several years ago.  It’s a tremendous arrangement that features a stinging hot keyboard intro and fuses the traditional with the contemporary better than any arrangement of this song I’ve ever heard.  It is absolutely my favorite arrangement of one of my favorite carols.  It’s energetic, driving, and sung expertly by the group.  The tag is exceptionally powerful as well.
3. Merry Christmas With Love – The only “newer” song on the album, this is essentially a Brian Free cover of Sandi Patty’s popular Christmas song.  Brian even sings this in the same key as the original.  It’s a touching song that speaks of one who has suffered the loss of a loved one since the last Christmas and the comforting tendencies of the message of the Christmas story found in the visit of carolers.  Beautiful and touching.
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem – Returning to an acappella arrangement, this carol starts with a solo by Tim Riley.  The group then uses some two part harmony that then diverges into 4 part harmony.  The trademark blend of this lineup is in full display here, and the group weaves its way through the complex chord changes and progressions found in this carol.
5. Silent Night – Ivan Parker steps up to take the lead on this ballad interpretation of many people’s favorite Christmas carol.  The first verse is totally solo, with a few surprising changes to the chording behind the familiar melody.  The key changes for the second verse and the rest of the quartet joins in for the remainder of the song.  It’s a very pretty arrangement that really accentuates the timeless lyric.  A particular is the mini-cascading harmony toward the tag and the sustained chord before Ivan repeats the last line to finish the song.  Simply gorgeous.
6. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear – The group performs this carol acappella as well, which tends to highlight all the moving parts in the harmonies.  There’s a really neat key change at the end of the first verse with the tempo slowing down for the second verse.  There’s a great use of unison that gradually splits back into 4 part harmony.  They change keys one more time before the tag.  It’s a sparkling arrangement that the group pulls off deftly.
7. Away In A Manger – This carol features Tim Riley singing the first verse solo.  The group enters on the second verse in full 4 part harmonies, which creates a nice contrast from Tim’s solo verse.  There’s some nice chords and suspensions in the harmony.  They change keys a half step up halfway through the second verse.  Tim then sings the first half of the third verse solo, then they go up another half step and the quartet enters again for the final lines of the verse, with Tim repeating the last line solo to close the song.  Another very pretty arrangement.
8. Christmas Medley – I’ve done a hidden gem post on this track as well.  This may very well be my favorite track on any Christmas CD.  They start with Good Christian Men Rejoice, first in unison then splitting into parts.  They move on to “Joy To The World” in full harmony that ends up on a unison note.  It gives the medley to that point a feeling of swelling then coming back together.  Mike LeFevre then turns in what I still consider one of his strongest Gold City features with the first verse to “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  The group hits power harmony on the chorus, then after a piano interlude they close the medley with the most powerful version of “O Come Let Us Adore Him” you will EVER hear.  The power tag to the medley is one of my favorite musical moments ever.  Wow.  It’s almost enough to make a Baptist shout.
9. Merry Christmas All Year Long – The disc concludes with a brief acappella benediction with layers of lush harmonies.  It’s a perfect ending to the album.

Summary:  This is one of my absolute favorite Christmas albums.  I look forward every year to being able to pull this album out and listen to it.  “Angels We Have Heard On High” and the “Christmas Medley” are absolutely stunning.  This was in the middle of Gold City’s heyday of the mid 80s through early 90s, and this project is a great example of why.  Garry Jones’ stunning arrangements take these carols that everybody sings every year, and breathes fresh life into them.  “Angels” has a wonderful driving, almost contemporary feel to it.  The depth and feel of the “Medley” just consumes you and catches you up into the true spirit of Christmas.  The acappella pieces just wash over you in waves of tight harmonies.  This is one of those albums that is just what Christmas music should sound like.  It’s long out of print these days, but I have a copy of this on a double CD with the equally as good A Cathedral Christmas, A Cappella album from the Cathedrals.  You can still find copies of this floating around, and believe me it’s well worth the price.  Both albums are absolute gold (pun intended, of course).  The Gold City album alone was re-released a couple of years ago, so copies of it shouldn’t be too difficult to obtain.  If you don’t have a copy of this, you need to get one, today!

Gold City’s 80s Supergroup Reuniting Again

On the home page for Bill Bailey’s concerts, he is advertising his Winter Gospel Music Convention in Palmetto, FL for February 6-10, 2012.  Right under the headline for Ronnie Milsap is the intriguing bit of information that the classic 80s lineup of Gold City (Free, Parker, Lefevre, Riley) will be reuniting.  Closer inspection of the concert schedule reveals that the reunion will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 7:00 PM.

The reunion that some said would never happen, will now have taken place twice in an 18 month span.  As both an SG blogger and Gold City fan, may I just say WE WANT A FULL FLEDGED GOLD CITY REUNION VIDEO!!!!!  Oh, and preferably available on BluRay/DVD combo.

That is all.

It’s Finally Here!

After multiple delays and lineup changes, Brian Fuson had the scoop that Gold City’s new CD, Somebody’s Coming, was released today on iTunes. It’s good to finally have some new music from the group!

Thrift Store Finds

I had 45 minutes or so to kill Friday afternoon before I met my wife and kids for a birthday party for one of my son’s friends.  Down the street from where the party was being held, I came across a thrift store that had a name like “Hands of God Thrift Store” or something similar.  I figured I could look around for a while, and I’m glad I did!  I ended up walking out of the store with the following:

• Booth Brothers – Harmony still sealed CD ($1)
• Brian Free and Assurance – Requests cassette (the ultra rare original trio project, $0.50)
• Gold City – Requested Hymns vol 1-3 cassettes (Brian Free/Ivan Parker/Steve Lacey lineup, $0.50 each)
• Imperials – Now LP ($1)
• A various artists LP from the early – mid 60s ($1)

The various artists LP is a bit intriguing, it’s a HeartWarming album, but on an early budget label.  It includes songs from Ira Stanphill, Dottie Rambo, The Gospel Echoes (Rambos, I’m guessing), the Imperials, the Plainsmen, and several other well known names.  More on that album when I get a chance to rip it to mp3.  Thrift stores have always been good to me!

Jerry Pelfrey To Replace Craig West With Gold City

Brandon gets the news scoop this time.  Gold City has hired Jerry Pelfrey as their new lead singer.  Brandon also unearthed some clips of Jerry singing with his family group, and has been mentioned in several places, his voice is definitely reminiscent of Ivan Parker during Gold City’s heyday in the 80s.  Jerry will actually making his debut appearance with the group at NQC tonight!