Some Odds And Ends And Upcoming Album Review News

• Gaither Vocal Band new DVD’s have a release date!- The Gaither Vocal Band is set to release Better Day, on January 26 2009. (H/T, Kyle) I originally posted that Better Day was their new studio album! It is now corrected.
• Go read this concert review from Phil. It is a great review from the overseas tour of the Gaither Homecoming crew.
• Check out this post from Averyfineline… The video he has posted is quite the sight to see! The harmony of this brother and two sisters. Is shall we say, breathtaking!
• I have not done an album review for quite some time… I apologize for this! I have been taking classes and working and now my laptop (which had all of my music) has crashed. I know that I should have backed up all of my files! But time kept getting away from me! I have to go buy a hard drive caddy asap! Once I do I will start album reviews again…

Youtube Video Of The Day Brian Free And Assurance “Save Me A Seat At The Table” (NQC 2009 Jeremy Lyle Tribute)

This video is from this past years NQC. Jeremy Lyle lost his dad early that week. And he had just came in from the funeral that night. It was a very moving performance and I will say I was in tears… I don’t know how Jeremy made it as long as he did throughout the song. I commend him for being able to pull this off! Him breaking down at the end, was what caused me to lose it… The video does not show it but he recieved one of the longest standing ovations of the week!

Legacy Five Names New Tenor

Legacy Five has annoucned that Gus Gaches will be replacing Frank Seamans as their tenor singer. I for one am very excited about this. I think Legacy Five made the right choice. I know they had alot of tenors audition for the job, but Gus to me, stood out above all of the names I heard mentioned. What he brings to the table as a singer, writer and engineer is invaluble. I am a little suprised that they went ahead and pulled the trigger (so to speak). The way they were talking, they were going to wait until January to unveil their new tenor. I am going to guess that they will send him straight to the studio to record his vocals on the Just Stand project. Now the question is what is Mike Lefevre going to do, he will now have to replace a tenor singer, after just hiring a new bass singer… I think there are several good choices out there to replace him with. I wish both groups the best in this transition. I am looking forward to hearing Legacy Five with Gus. I am going to catch a concert in December and I will give a full report. Meanwhile here is a video of Gus singing with Priority. This video shows what Gus is capable of. He sings very effortlessly, and is one of the smoothest tenor singers I think I may have ever heard!  Enjoy

Legacy Five Updates

• Legacy Five is still searching for a tenor. Frank Seamans will be with them till December 8th, after which they have their Christmas break. On December 31st they will unveil their new tenor. Whomever that might be. I know they are auditioning quite a few tenor singers. Even having them audition on stage with them. That to me is a great way to find the right singer. It really helps you find what you are looking for in a given singer.
• Legacy Five launches a blog. I am excited about this, I love it when groups or members of groups start blogs. It really gives you a different perspective on them.
• Legacy Five is cutting their dates back from around 150 a year to 125 a year. I love this idea it is a great move for Legacy Five. It gives their members more time to rest, and to be with their families. It also to me, shows they are making enough revenue that will allow them to do this. I respect them for making this decision with economy the way it is those 25 dates would generate more income possibly. Legacy Five is all class through and through.
• Legacy releases sing-a-like Christmas music bundle. This excerpt from their website.  This is a special offer for the holiday season only… with this bundle, you can “sing just like” Legacy Five! You get the Accompaniment Tracks CD for our “A Little Christmas” project including all twelve soundtracks… also included in the package is a downloadable file with the sheet music for five of those great songs! You can simply print the music on your own printer from your computer.

Monday Southern Gospel Notes and News and Speculation, Youtube Video Kingdom Heirs

This is my first post in a while. I have been so busy lately, that I just have not had time to post anything the last week and a half. I will try to get something up everyday this week…

• Keith Inman joins the Priority Quartet. I saw this last week and thought about posting it then but ran out of time. I think this is a good move for Priority, I really liked Stacy Bragg and will miss him but I don’t think Priority will miss a beat at the bass spot…

• There are however ” rumors” flying that Priority may be looking for a tenor singer before long. It is being mentioned over at Southergospelforums.com that Gus Gaches of Priority may be auditioning for the open Legacy Five tenor spot. I will not speculate any further since these are unconfirmed rumors (I am working on that) I will mention however for whatever it is worth that Gus would be a great replacement for Frank Seamans. Not sure why I did not mention him before.

• I should have the interview I did with Tim Parton and Glenn Dustin up in a week or two….

• My Youtube Channel- I have several videos up on my youtube channel from this past years NQC. Check them out. Here are two of my favorites that I decided to post here on the blog.

This video is of The Kingdom Heirs and Legacy Five singing one of my favorite old songs together “Wedding Music.” They do a splendid job I love Glenn’s bass solo lines and the duet of Jeff Chapman and Scott Fowler for a line. That was terrific enjoy the video.

Here is one more of The Kingdom Heirs singing their hit song “What We Needed.” They are joined by L5 at the end and what a great ending with Billy Hodges going into the stratosphere with his seemingly endless range. Sorry about the somewhat jumpy video, so if you get motion sickness there may be areas you should close your eyes.

Legacy Five Just Stand Album Review

When Legacy Five first formed about 10 years ago they released a very strong album called Strong In The Strength. Some say that Strength was their best album, some say their best was London others say it was Live In Music City. Well I am here to say that Just Stand tops all of the above in the category of best overall album that Legacy Five has put out. When I heard back about a year ago that Lari Goss was to be the producer for L5’s upcoming major release,  I will say I got excited thinking about the possibilities. The lineup on this album is the same as their last several albums. Scott Fowler- Lead , Frank Seamans- Tenor, Scott Howard- Baritone, Glenn Dustin-Bass and Tim Parton- Piano. Now I have confirmation that when they hire a new tenor to replace the departing Frank Seamans. They are sending him straight into the studio to record the tenor vocals over. So there will be a unique opportunity for people to own two copies of this album with two different tenors. There are precedents. One time with Legacy Five with their Heritage Vol. Three album they originally recorded it with Tony Jarman singing tenor. He left about the time the album was released so Frank came in and recorded his vocals over Tony’s. Also Gold City did the same thing with their First Class album, Jay Parrack recorded his vocals on that album originally then left the group soon after the release. Steve Ladd then came in and recorded his vocals. So be looking for a comparison review of this same album whenever Legacy Five hires a new tenor and puts that copy of this album out. So with no further ado lets get started on this review.

• New Born Feeling- Whenever I first heard the clip of this song on Legacy Fives website I thought “Is this Legacy Five?” Well it is very much Legacy Five ,and this is a new style for them and I really like it. This song has a jazzy swing feel to it that also involves some intricate harmonies that are very pleasing to listen to. 9.5/10

• Great Is Thy Faithfulness-  This song has always been one of my favorite hymns of the church. And when I first heard that Legacy Five was covering it on their newest album I will say I got excited. Well my excitement was increased when I actually got to hear them sing it. Lari Goss really did a number with this song. He put a arrangement on it that really makes it sound better than it ever has. If you was a person that knew nothing about this song you would think it was a newly written big ballad type song. Excellent vocals as well on this great old song, Frank sounds better than he ever has on this particular song. 10/10

• One Thing God Can’t Do- This is a very nice song, sung fairly well by Legacy Fives pianist Tim Parton. I love the harmony on the chorus between Parton, Fowler and Seamans. The song itself is strong lyrically, with a great message about God’s undying love for us as his children. Parton seemingly has worked on his singing. And while he will never sing as well he plays piano he does a very nice job here. 8.5/10

• Just Stand- This hard driving title track written by Doran Ritchey is maybe “The” highlight on a album that is full of highlights. When I say hard driving I mean that. It is probably the most hard driving tune that Legacy Five has ever recorded. Glenn Dustin really knocks this song out the ballpark. This song is not unlike something that Gold City would do with Tim Riley. It is an absolute winner. Glenn nails some very nice low G’s on this song he has steadily improved over the last ten years with Legacy Five. And has established himself as a premier bass singer in the genre.10/10

• Faithful To The Cross- This big ballad is very quickly moving itself up my most played list on my computer. I cannot get enough of this song. It has such a wonderful message and  is very hard to get past this song when you are playing this CD. Scott Fowler’s voice fits this song very well. He himself also fits this song very well. Scott Fowler has put his life into this genre for over twenty years and from what I know he has always been in the last twenty years faithful to the cross. They also made a great move by handing the lead off to Frank Seamans towards the end. He has never sounded better as he does on this song. This song is  a absolute winner. If I could, I would give it a 12 out of 10 rating!10/10

• Above All Circumstances- This country flavored song featuring baritone Scott Howard fits his voice very well. I really like this song and the style that it is sung in. The song has a nice hook in the fact that above whatever circumstance God is able to save anyone. Scott Howard has really improved his tone quality over the last couple of years. He has always been a solid baritone but he is now becoming a more rounded singer.9/10

• When They Found Nothing- This big ballad like “Faithful To The Cross” features Lead singer Scott Fowler. I first heard this song at chapel on Wednesday morning. It brought down the house so to speak . It is a very powerful song about  the resurrection. I don’t think it is another “There Rose A Lamb” but it is still a very powerful Easter type ballad(it reminds me of “Carved In Stone”). Fowler shows here his incredible ability at singing a epic ballad. I am very impressed by his vocal on this song and on “Faithful To The Cross.” This song is also going to be their first radio release.10/10

• My Soul Is Firmly Anchored- This is a great upbeat relatively hard driving tune, that showcases some nice harmonies stacked on one another. Scott Fowler is featured on the first verse, in a style not unlike what he would have done with the Cathedrals. I love the  ending when they hand the lead up to Seamans, and everyone else sings a different line similar to the song “The Sweetest Song I Know.” Good song. 9.5/10

• Statement Of Faith- This is the song that features not only Legacy Five but The Hoppers, Greater Vision and The Booth Brothers. It is a very powerful song that has already shown at NQC that the people will love it. I love the addition of the reading at the end by Gerald Wolfe. The Legacy Five guys that were featured on this song, were Scott Howard and Scott Fowler. But the standout moment vocally comes from Jacob Kitson the tenor for Greater Vision. He really sings his line with power. I truly hope these groups will strive to live by the message in this song. And one that I hope people listening to will take on in their own lives.10/10

• Thankful For The Change- This is a nice upbeat number. That actually goes over better live, in my opinion. I saw them do this one at NQC. It has a nice message to the song. That lyrically in a way reminds me of the song “Amazed At The Change.” This song has definitely grown on me since I first heard it.8.5/10

• Till We Meet Again- The first time I heard this song, I thought wow what a great song to close out a concert with. Tim Parton told me that is one of the reasons they picked this song. It is also of course a fitting send off for Frank Seamans. He gets most of the solo work here and does a incredible job. They brought out a quality in Frank’s voice, on this album and this song in particular that I had not heard before. And I have always enjoyed his singing but on this song and this album he really sounds better than he ever has. This is a wonderful song that I think will be a staple for them for years to come.10/10

Overall- 10/10- This is my first review that I have given an album a 10/10 on. I honestly don’t think there is a weak point on this entire album. It is lyrically and musically strong, and the song order is as good as it has been since their London project. There is a healthy mix of styles and themes in this album. But the theme that seems to be the overarching theme is being faithful to God and we will see him someday. Legacy Five made a brilliant move by bringing in Lari Goss to produce this album, what he adds to an album is priceless. There are several songs that I could see getting sent to radio and doing very well. They really need to put pressure on their label to single “Faithful To The Cross” I could most definitely see this song going top five or even number one on the charts. It just has that once in a lifetime quality about it.  “Just Stand” would also be a great radio release along with a few others. This group has put out some great music these past ten years, and this album is the best yet in my honest opinion.