[Editor’s Note: This concert review is a guest post by Lauren of Lauren’s Southern Gospel Views From the Pew. It’s shorter than she had planned it to be, but thereby hangs a tale…] Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. We serve a God of all possibilities, but sometimes He chooses not to allow things to go the way you want them to. This was the case Saturday night. Brian Free and Assurance was in Wynne, Ark. I knew there... Read more
[Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Brian Fuson of Fuson’s Findings.] Out of all the groups on the road today, it would be hard to find a group with a greater heritage than The Nelons. It all started when Rex Nelon took over the management of The Lefevres. After Eva Mae Lefevre’s retirement, the group was renamed as The Rex Nelon Singers in 1977. Towards the end of The Lefevres, Rex’s daughter Kelly joined the group. Together, this... Read more
In this rare clip from a 1952 episode of the Colgate Comedy Hour, Donald O’Connor and his underrated partner in comedy Sid Miller have the Tin Pan Alley blues. Try and try as they might, the next “White Christmas” is eluding the starving, freezing would-be hit-makers. They proceed to spoof the classic genre in side-splitting style. “Beethoven said in order to write great music you gotta suffer.” “So?” “We gotta suffer.” I have marked off the ending of the skit before they... Read more
A limited edition recording of the new Gaither Vocal Band has been leaked to Youtube. The report is that this table project will not be sold in any common retail outlets, so if you happen to grab a copy at a concert, congratulations! There’s no new material, just slightly different vocal arrangements over pre-existing tracks for songs like “My Lord and I,” “Why Me, Lord?” and “The Baptism of Jesse Taylor.” One of the songs being re-done is “Please Forgive... Read more
Driven Quartet is a young men’s group currently signed to Chapel Records. They’ve been around for a while, even if you may not recognize their name. Their roots run deep in southern gospel, and lead singer Jason Funderburk is the son of legendary Cathedrals tenor Danny Funderburk. In 2009, David Bruce Murray said their self-titled record was the best non-label release he had heard that year. Now they have returned with a new project. Click below the fold for my review.... Read more
Well, technically the 4th celebrates the Declaration, but it’s become a tradition for celebrating the legacy of America’s independence in general, so here’s Barney Fife’s classic stab at reciting the Constitution’s preamble by heart: Read more
Folks may not know that there is a thriving community of Indian Christians who sing many of the same old American praise choruses and gospel songs we do. I was first introduced to this phenomenon at the wedding of a friend who married a young Indian man after meeting him at Moody Bible College. His father serenaded the couple and chose a Maranatha praise chorus. At the reception, a family friend performed the Scott Wesley Brown wedding song “This is the Day” with... Read more
The Centricity record label (home to popular CCM artists like Aaron Shust, Andrew Peterson, and DownHere) has created some very cute promotional videos for its artists. I featured one before, but I thought I’d feature a couple more for Monday Morning Humor. Label owner John Mays (whose illustrious resumee you can look up for yourself online) runs his own Radio 101 course… in his basement. Here’s the episode featuring Jason Gray. “I’m the big bad wolf of radio success, and... Read more
From the looks of this video, the 1989 Dove Awards was a rather clumsily orchestrated affair, but it did honor some great musicians, and for one hour, it brought together a co-hosting team I never would have pictured in my head: George Younce, Cynthia Clawson and Rich Mullins. As Russ Taff says while introducing them over his scripted pages: “I think that the next hosts are very strange. That’s what it says in here.” It’s quite funny to watch. George is... Read more
The guys from EHSS are enjoying some summer time off right now, and Ernie has opened the floor for fans to send in questions for the group. Your question could even appear in a future newsletter! Here is how it will work: For all of you who have had a question for one of the guys that you’ve been wanting to ask, but haven’t had the chance, well here’s your chance to do just that! For the rest of the Summer we... Read more
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