Singing News Fan Award Winners

I am watching the Fan Awards online right now here. And I am going to be posting the winners, it has already started and several awards have already been handed out. I will list the artists that have already won and will continue with live updates.

• Favorite Musician- Jeff Stice- Triumphant Quartet
• Horizon Individual- Morgan Easter- Jeff and Sheri Easter
• Tenor- Michael Booth- The Booth Brothers
• Soprano- Kim Hopper- The Hoppers- Kim’s daughter Karlye accepted the award for her mom, she dedicated the moment to her uncle Tony Greene.
• Young Artist- Brooklyn Collingsworth
• Baritone- Jim Brady- Booth Brothers
• Horizon Group- Soul’d Out Quartet
• Favorite Male Artist- Ivan Parker
• Favorite Bass Singer- Eric Bennett- Triumphant Quartet
• Favorite Lead Singer- Ronnie Booth
• Favorite Alto- Libbi Stuffle
• Favorite Mixed Group- The Hoppers
• Favorite Female Singer- Kim Hopper
• Favorite Male Quartet- Triumphant Quartet
• Marvin Norcross/Templeton Award- Primitive Quartet
• Favorite Soloist-Ivan Parker
• Favorite Trio- The Booth Brothers- Michael dedicated their award to the Greenes.
• Songwriter Of The Year- Rodney Griffin
• Favorite Album- Jubilee- Legacy Five, Greater Vision,The Booth Brothers
• Favorite Song- If You Knew Him- The Perrys
• Favorite Artist- The Booth Brothers

Well that is a wrap for the Fan Awards.

Tony Green Passes Away

This is from the press release regarding Tony’s death.

Anthony Elden Greene, known to most Southern Gospel music fans as “Tony,” passed away today, September 28th just before 4:30pm Eastern Time at the age of 41. Tony had been in Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., since September 21 due to several health complications.

I am saddened to hear of this news for Tony was truly a “Hero Of The Faith” and though he is now in the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it still leaves a huge hole in the Southern Gospel family. I will be and I hope you join me in praying for Taranda and those precious kids of theirs.

Tony Greene In ICU- Needs Prayer

According to reports from around the web, Tony Greene of the Greenes is in Intensive Care. He had gone to the hospital earlier this week facing a possible kidney rejection, but after thousands of prayers, was able to keep the kidney. Now his lung has collapsed, and he is in critical condition. Taranda had to cancel group dates to attend to her husband. Please keep them in your prayers over the next few hours and days!

Bryan Elliot To Become Gold City’s New Pianist

Per Daniel Mount , Gold City has decided to hire Bryan Elliot as their new pianist… I had been hearing the rumblings of this last week at NQC… I believe this is a great fit in more ways than one for Gold City; Bryan is a great player who is only getting better! I am not sure what the Perry’s will do now though I did hear they wanted to make some cutbacks anyway due to Tracy’s hospital bills, keep them in your prayers.

Video Of The Day: Legacy Five- We Shall See Jesus

Last night I attended a Legacy Five concert in Burlington Kentucky. I won’t be doing full a full review, (read one here by Jeff who was there as well) but I will post this video of them singing “We Shall See Jesus” for only the second time live… It is even better live than it is on the CD (Give The World A Smile). You will notice on Gus’s solo line that he takes it up a notch, and blows it out of the water, he goes up to a High C instead of staying on the note he stayed on in the studio version. I have to say it was nice added touch to a great performance of this powerful song… Glenn and Scott on the verses are solid as well. As I said in my review of the CD, Scott is no Glen Payne (and he knows that) but he doesn’t claim to be or try to be in my opinion.

Now that I have seen both new versions of this song live (the other by Signature Sound) it is harder to decide which I like better. I do think having Glenn Dustin featured on L5’s version was a great move by Scott, but I like EHSS’s orchestration of the song more… Based on these two factors it is a tie for which one I feel is best… Both versions stand on their own without the need for comparison of the two…

NQC 2010: Saturday Night

Saturday night at NQC featured some pretty solid sets… I am pretty worn out from this past week, so the highlights will be short.

• Greater Vision had a good set that was highlighted by Chris Allman singing “Blessed Assurance” he was accompanied on the piano by Stan Whitmire, the two of them make quite a team. I was very happy to see them have Chris sing that one; I had requested it earlier in the week. Chris really made it look effortless…
• Triumphant Quartet had maybe their strongest set of the week. Their set was highlighted by the ever powerful song “He Is” the buildup of that song is just incredible. By the time it ends it has taken you on a journey through the entire bible, a breathtaking journey at that!
• The Hoppers had a set that was highlighted at least for me by their version of “I’ve Come To Far To Look Back” Kim sounded better than ever on that one… I also enjoyed hearing Mike Hopper sing some bass lines on that particular song… On their latest CD Something’s Happening Mike gets a nice solo.
• Legacy Five had a more reserved set, they opened with Glenn Dustin singing his signature song “I’ve Been Changed” and I will say that it seems he is getting better and better each time he sings… They only sang three songs, closing with “God’s Been Good” There were several artists sitting around the artist circle and you could tell they really enjoyed that song particularly Daniel Riley and Brian Free… After what Daniel has been through and what Brian is going through that is understandable. L5 did come out later however and did “I Never Shall Forget The Day” it went over pretty well to a tired crowd…
• Karen Peck and New River- Had a really good set without any problems this time!  “Four Days Late” and “We Shall Wear A Robe and Crown” Highlighted their set… The new guy (Jeff Hawes I believe) that sings with them really has a nice blending voice that fits the ladies voices perfectly…
• Gold City once again sang “It Won’t Be Long” which will be on their upcoming CD… They closed their set with “When He Blessed My Soul” Tim Riley has never sounded better than what he sounded on that particular song… Josh Cobb also stood out on that song… He has really meshed with the guys and has even more confidence now that he has sung with them for over nine months… I am looking for big things out of Gold City with Josh…
• The Booth Brothers started slowly with an A Capella take on “His Grace Is Sufficient” the vocals while not perfect were very good… They sang a few upbeat numbers and could have ended their set effectively with a home run in “Trading The Cross For a Crown” instead Michael went for the grand slam and got it with “God Did It All” while it is not always the smartest idea to follow a barn burner with a slow ballad it really worked for the Booth Brothers… It went over as well or better than it did on Wednesday with the choir…
• The final four groups joined each other on stage for the finale which was  a reprise of “We Shall Wear A Robe And Crown” Michael Booth was on the drums with everyone else singing… It was a nice way to end the year this year at NQC…

Overall it was a great night. Other groups that I thought had good sets were Brian Free and Assurance, The Kingsmen, The Mark Trammel Quartet and The Talley Trio…

I will try and post some final points about NQC 10 on Monday, including a list of upcoming CD reviews… I am already looking forward to seeing what next year will bring!

NQC 2010: Friday Night

For weeks I had been looking forward to Friday night at the 2010 NQC, based mostly on the strength of the night’s lineup… When 6:00 finally arrived, I made my way down to my seat (which was basically on the floor about 40 feet from the stage) and watched as things started unfolding on what would turn out to be quite the magnificent night of Southern Gospel music.

• The Isaacs had a very nice set that was punctuated by Sonya Isaac’s breathtaking version of “It Is Well” though the crowd response wasn’t as big as it normally is; it still went over very well. Sonya Isaac’s has a singing voice that just captivates you, and leaves you in awe every-time she opens her mouth…
• Legacy Five had probably the most unexpected set of the night. They came out with an all A Capella rendition of the national anthem that was quite well done for something that L5 very rarely if ever does in their concerts…  They then sang their latest single “My Soul Is Firmly Anchored” and followed that with a superb rendition of “I’d Like To Say It Again”. Gus Gaches really stood out on that one, his ability to harmonize, stay on pitch and blend with the other guys is just magnificent. Then things got interesting… Scott started talking about how much he appreciates the hard work that the sound crew and video crew put in night after night. Well he pointed out one cameraman in particular who had been covering the NQC for like 16 years… He then proceeded to ask the man what was something that he could do for him. The man replied “I want to sing up on the stage with you guys” Glenn Dustin immediately went down and handed the man his mic and Glenn took over control of the camcorder… Scott looking bewildered said “You want to sing right now?” the man said “Yep I want to show Glenn what it is like to be a cameraman that has to put up with singers moving all over the stage and dancing etc…” So off they went into the funniest rendition of “Just A Little Talk With Jesus” I have ever heard, the cameraman was singing bass and well he just isn’t a singer but it wasn’t meant to be good just funny and it was very funny… It was probably the funniest moment of the week… Legacy Five closed with their biggest radio hit “I Found Grace” which as always received a nice response… I am curious as to what Scott and his guys have up their sleeves tomorrow night!
• The Talley Trio had a nice set that was once again like on Monday night punctuated by Lauren Talley’s breathtaking spellbinding rendition of “He’s Alive”. Debra and Roger both got solos tonight as well which was nice to see; sometimes it just seems like the Lauren Talley show with two backup singers…
• Ernie Haase And Signature Sound had a great set… One thing I did notice is that their new arrangement of “Boundless Love” did not go over nearly as good with the crowd as I have seen it before… It could be the setting I am not sure but anyway I digress… The big part of their set was their closer “We Shall See Jesus” it started out normally with just EHSS but it ended in scintillating fashion with all of the former Cathedrals that were there Scott Fowler, Gerald Wolfe, Danny Funderburke and Mark Trammel all joining EHSS on the chorus of “We Shall See Jesus”. I have to say that was a great move on Ernie’s part reaching out like that… Especially since he can’t be a part of today’s Cathedrals reunion… They closed with a reprise of “Boundless Love” and all of those great singers on stage with EHSS really made for quite the finish, kudos to Ernie for really putting together a great set.
• Janet Paschal followed EHSS, (poor Janet) she really handled it like a pro however… She put together a quartet of ladies (Her, Joy Gardner, Katy Peach and another lady) They only sang two songs and those two were highlighted by “I’m Not Ashamed Of The Gospel” Which is a great song for sure. Janet is a great lady with a big heart and I was glad to see her on main-stage last night.
• The Gaither Vocal Band came out with one of their standbys “Alpha And Omega” I was glad to see them open with this one instead of opening with “Better Day” as they did on Wednesday, they did sing “Better Day” though right after “Alpha & Omega” I believe that song fits better as a second or third song in a set instead of opener… They sang a highlight of mine from the new project “Greatly Blessed, Highly Favored” third, Wes Hampton really showed out on this one… Michael had two features “That Sounds Like Home To Me” and “Please Forgive Me” the former of which is a song that I really like the GVB’s version of… David Phelps takes over at the end and really does some fine singing, nothing that will blow the roof off, just fine singing… Michael then turned in an inspired performance on “Please Forgive Me” though there was some heavy stacking on that one, it was still a hit and the GVB are masters at songs like that one… Their closer “Let Freedom Ring” was quite well done as always by the Gaither Vocal Band. Wes Hampton once again showed considerable chops on this song, and of course David was well… David, that man isn’t human and I mean that in a good way. I have heard he has been battling allergies, but you would have never known it last night… The Gaither Vocal Band rarely disappoints and they certainly didn’t last night…

Unfortunately that was all I caught in person last night (besides blazing piano with Tim Parton which was of course most excellent) I once again had pressing matters to attend to at home and had to leave the Convention early… I did hear once again from second hand reports that several of the closing groups turned in nice sets… I will be at the NQC all day today and all night I promise that! I will be covering the highlights of the 100th anniversary celebration of Southern Gospel Music and of the night’s sets.

• I did catch the end of the Perry’s set at home on my live stream online… They sang “Calvary Answers For Me” which was quite breathtaking… Joseph Habedank turned in what I thought was a stellar performance… Several Groups joined the Perry’s at the end to sing “I Wish I Coulda Been There” it went over well with the limited number of fans that were left in the auditorium…

NQC 2010: Thursday Night

I arrived late to NQC last night, so I missed quite a few sets. Also I had an interview with Gus Gaches of Legacy Five which took about an hour. So I did not make it into Freedom Hall until the end of Jason Crabb’s set. I will post my thoughts below on some of the sets that I was able to catch.

• Jason Crabb did pretty well in his first main-stage appearance as a soloist. The crowd really seemed to love him and he knows how to really work a crowd that is for sure. He closed with “Through The Fire” which of course was good and of course got a big response. I could definitely see Jason making a return appearance to the main-stage again next year.
• The Booth Brothers who followed Jason started their set with “Absolute Peace” which was a perfect song to follow Jason Crabbs big hit. “All Over The World” was very well received by the crowd, that was one that could have received a not so great crowd response due to the unique style of the song, but my worries were gone when the crowd soaked it up and gave them a great ovation for it. They closed with “When I Met The Master” which I am loving more every time I hear it sung live… That is one the best songs ever written and while it has been performed by many groups I don’t think any groups version touches the Booth Brothers version… The crowd gave one of the biggest responses of the week to this particular song.
• Brian Free and Assurance turned in a very nice set, they once again featured the full band, it was Adam Borden on Bass, Matthew Holt on the piano and of course Ricky Free on drums, as I said about this on Monday I would love to see them continue this. BFA covered a couple of new tunes in their set that went over very well, one was called “The Part Where You Come In” that is a great song featuring Bill Shivers. The other song may be my new favorite BFA song, it is called “Never Walk Alone” featuring Brian Free, with just Bill Shivers backing him up towards the end, those two have some very nice harmony together. The song itself is a slow reflective song that just has some very beautiful lyrics that really touched me. I was glad to see BFA end their set with something other than “Long As I Got King Jesus” while I have nothing against that song, it was just a nice change of pace for BFA.
• Greater Vision had a strong set that featured quite the variety of songs. The highlight for me was their version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” they had Lari Goss do an orchestration on that song and it went over very well… It featured some nice high notes for Chris Allman, he sounded great tonight, he has tone all day I just can’t get over how good he is… Gus Gaches told me that they are just scratching the surface with what Chris is capable of!
• The Mark Trammel Quartet had a nice set for their first one at the National Quartet convention as a quartet… The highlight of their set was the song “It’s Almost Over”, Mark Trammel is probably the only singer in the business that could take a Glen Payne hit and make it his very own, and he does that here. The song went over very well and received one of the bigger responses of the week.
• The Perry’s had a very similar set to what they did on Monday night. Except for one song it was the same set… “If You Knew Him” once again evoked a huge crowd response… Joseph Habedank just seems to get better every time I hear him sing, he has great tone placement and he has gotten better at painting the picture of a song… The Perry’s are always consistent and you have to respect that about them.

I left after the Perry’s set so I could take care of some things at home before being gone all day tommorow and Saturday. I did have someone feeding me live updates on the home via text messages… They said that the Kings Heralds turned in a very nice performance and that the Greene’s were impressive as well…

Today I will be covering the Gaither Sing Along, and of course the evening sets.

NQC 2010: Wednesday

After a somewhat restless night on Tuesday, I got up around 9:00 Wednesday morning to get ready and head out for NQC. I took two of my brothers with me to enjoy the day. Here are some thoughts on the day and night events…

Highlights from the daytime events I attended:

• I attended the Freedom Singers morning chapel service, and I have to say that I came away humbled and also blessed… Their story is one of the most touching and heart wrenching that I have heard in quite a while; it is a true testament of God’s mercy and grace. Well done Freedom Singers.
• Ernie Haase and Signature Sound sang seven songs from their upcoming Cathedrals Tribute project. They went over pretty well at NQC. Not as well as they did at the taping mind you, but that is to be expected. The fans at the taping were hard core EHSS fans, while the NQC crowd is a little more diverse…
• The Gaither Vocal Band’s set was solid but not spectacular in my opinion. They sang mostly newer material, which had mixed results in the crowd response category… “Please Forgive Me” and “That Sounds Like Home To Me” were the biggest highlights of their set for me.
• The biggest and best one song performance of the week actually came in the “Statement Of Faith” showcase in the East Hall… It was a showcase featuring the Hoppers, Legacy Five, Booth Brothers and Greater Vision. With a choir from one of the largest area churches backing them up on songs that had been produced and arranged by the legend Lari Goss. The performance I was initially referring to was the Booth Brother’s performance of the Dianne Wilkinson/Rusty Golden penned “God It All”  It was the most moving and dynamic performance I have seen out of a group in long time. I was sitting in the very front and Dianne Wilkinson was right behind me; and when I glanced back at her there was no mistaking the look of pure exuberance on her face as she was listening to her powerful song being performed so incredibly well by a dynamic group. Ronnie Booth in particular turned in the strongest lead performance I have ever heard out of him… The groups all joined together to sing the song “Statement Of Faith” at the end that went over very well…

Highlights from the Evening:

• The Lefevre Quartet started things off; they are without a doubt one of the more solid quartets I have heard this week, their new tenor has quite a bit of potential and actually sounds like a young Gus Gaches (his predecessor) and Keith Inman is an improvement from their previous bass singer for sure…
• The Liberty Quartet quickly took the stage after the Lefevre Quartet and provided a nice set; they have a very well rounded sound. The big song from their set was “I’m His” featuring tenor Keith Waggoner; while not the highest tenor in the world, he knows his limits and stays within them and you have to respect him for that. Overall I came away impressed by the Liberty Quartet.
• Tribute once again turned in a solid set as they did on Monday; they once again covered “Calvary Wins Again” which once again went over very well and deservedly so for that is a very good song. The song that really stood out for them last night to me anyway was “I Am Healed” it is not the big power ballad but the lyrics of the song are every bit as powerful as “Calvary Wins Again” and Gary Casto’s performance of said song was spot on. Tribute is going to go places if they can keep a stable lineup at the tenor spot…
• Dailey and Vincent are the best Bluegrass group out there, and they were at NQC last night to show us why. Christian Davis joined them as a bass vocalist, and guitar player earlier this year he seems to have found his niche. I was blowed away by the sound that they put out. The highlights were Christian singing “Thanks To Calvary” and their impressive rendition of “When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder” these guys are very good and they know it… I immensely enjoyed their set last night…
• The final hour and twenty minutes of the night were the best of the entire week… Gold City, Legacy Five, The Dove Brothers and The Kingdom Heirs were the artists featured in that time frame. Those four quartets joined each other on stage to sing “Boundless Love” Josh Cobb really shot through the roof on the tenor spots, he really commanded that spot. At the end of the song he and Scott Fowler met in the middle of what stage there was, and shared a big hug. I wish I had gotten a picture of that moment.
• I missed most of the Dove Brothers set but what I did hear was strong.
• Gold City had a nice set highlighted by Josh Cobb singing the newly arranged “I Stand Redeemed”, Daniel Riley said that he had asked Scott Fowler earlier in the day if it was okay with him if they staged that song, and of course Scott gave his blessing. Josh of course performed the song very well, other than what seemed to be a timing issue towards the end. Josh has gotten better as a vocalist over the last ten years and it really showed last night!
• The Kingdom Heirs had what started out as a pretty low key set, but ended very strongly with a rousing rendition of their latest hit “He Locked The Gates” they encored it I believe about four times, it was fun watching Scott Fowler and Joseph Habedank who were sitting just below the stage getting into the song so much, they kept calling for more encores, I always love seeing artists supporting their colleagues…
• Legacy Five had the best set I have seen this week… The mix was just right, their song selection was stellar, and the vocals were spot on… After that big performance from the Kingdom Heirs they went low key with their opener and sang “Something About That Name” with just Tim backing them on the piano… They then threw a curve-ball at us by going straight into “Truth Is Marching On” I have to say I did not expect them to go into what is normally a closing song, but it worked… It also helped that they brought up Jim Brady (co-writer of the song) to sing the second verse and sing with them on chorus. The rest of their set worked well too…  They sang an old Henry Slaughter song called “Every Day” that I really enjoyed, that song features some beautiful group harmony, with Gus getting the lead throughout. Gus really did well in his first main-stage appearance as L5’s tenor… He was unbelievably good on “Life Will Be Sweeter”, that song got a great crowd response… L5 is one of the classiest sounding groups out there and they showed it last night. David Bruce Murray gave L5’s set the nod as that “Moment” he had been looking for this week, in his review of last night. I am looking forward to seeing what L5 will come up with for Friday night; they are on right before the Gaither hour…
• The closing song featured the final four groups singing “Champion Of Love” what made it a highlight was the fact it featured four different singers on the verses, Daniel Riley took part of the first verse and Scott Fowler took the rest of it, Mcray Dove took the lead on the first part of the second verse and Arthur Rice carried it home and he really nailed it! Towards the end Scott had Joseph Habedank and Jim Brady join them on stage making for quite the power ending for sure.

Overall Wednesday was a very good day and night!

NQC 2010: Tuesday Night Nuggets

I wasn’t planning on doing a review of last night, but since I did get the chance to catch a few sets, I decided to give some quick thoughts on what I did see… I was only at NQC for a few hours last night, and around an hour of that was spent interviewing a singer, and meeting up with some friends that I had not seen since last year at NQC.

• Southern Sound had a very nice set, they sang mostly old Statesmen songs, including a spot on version of “Up Above My Head” Rick Fair is a very solid bass singer. Lead singer Ben Harris made me do a double take when he started channeling Jake Hess, when the lead of the song was handed to him. They closed their set strongly with a medley of great old hymns including “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” “How Great Thou Art” and included was “How Big Is God” Rick Fair’s smooth bass voice really shined on that one. I have to say I really enjoyed Southern Sounds set immensely…
• The Crist Family had a nice set that was highlighted by Jackie Crist singing “My Heart Knows” That is a very good song and Jackie sings it very well, she has a very pretty voice. The Crist family has worked hard to get to where they are at today they have developed into a terrific family group with thick harmony and a great stage presence…
• The Booth Brothers have always been masters of the stage and last night was not exception, they started with their new song “Don’t Hang Your Head And Cry” which is found on their Jubilee II CD. It was a nice song to start their first main-stage appearance of NQC 10. The highlight of their set was “We Believe” and it went over very well as it did on Sunday night, I think the more the Booth Brothers sing this song the bigger the responses will get… This song has truths in it that people absolutely need to hear…

I left for the house after the Booth Brothers set, for I had a prior commitment that demanded my attention at home. However, David Bruce Murray has a good report up of what he saw last night check it out here.

Today I will be at NQC all day; I will be covering the Freedom Singers Chapel appearance, and the Gaither Vocal Band/Signature Sound showcase. I will then of course cover the highlights of the nighttime happenings… Scott Fowler and Legacy Five will be emceeing the night’s events. I believe this is Scott’s first time to be doing that job, so we will see how that goes…