The southern gospel world was first introduced to the Garms family through this video of their youngest child, Caleb, with Legacy Five. 7-year-old Caleb stole the show with his easy charm and stage presence, making a couple members of the group uneasy about being able to keep their jobs in the long run (particularly Glen Dustin, when it was revealed that Caleb aspires to be a bass!) Some time later, the entire Garms family became contributors to southerngospelblog.com, and their... Read more
Last night I was searching for an appropriate song to post today in light of the recent terrible news to come out of New York. And thanks to Miss Dianne Wilkinson and the Kingdom Heirs, I have the perfect one. May the words of this song stiffen your spine, lift your head, and remind you that there is still something to fight for… and a remnant to fight for it with you. [gigya src=”http://grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”250″ height=”40″ flashvars=”hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&songIDs=31140605&style=metal&p=0″ allowScriptAccess=”always” wmode=”window”... Read more
Hat tip to Daniel Mount (and David Bruce Murray in a subsequent comment), for inspiring this post. Daniel put up a post asking for reader feedback on whether differences among Christian denominations can influence the way a Christian song lyric is crafted. DBM commented that he’d love to see how the discussion would proceed along a slightly different line: Do denominational differences influence stylistic differences in music? So I’ve decided to take it up here on southerngospelyankee. My immediate reaction... Read more
On this, the one-month anniversary of “Camping’s flop,” I felt it would be appropriate to reflect on the Second Coming and have some gospel music fun at the same time. I first got hooked on the song “Coming of the King” when I listened to Beyond the Ashes’ cover of it on their latest project. Then I went and found the original Brian Free & Assurance version of it and got even more hooked, if it was possible at that... Read more
“The living God, who revealed himself both at Mount Sinai and on the Cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and, if you fail him, can truly forgive you.” — Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods This is a first for southerngospelyankee: a book review! I don’t intend to do very many of these, but since someone recommended this particular book to me recently, I thought I would check it out and share my thoughts. In... Read more
[Apologies to Wes Burke for blatantly ripping off his “hidden gems” series. Sorry Wes… but it’s just such a good idea I had to get a piece of the pie!] Somebody has posted Gold City’s entire Pillars of Faith concert video to Youtube in five parts. A thousand blessings on his head, because that most excellent video has sadly been long OOP. [Update: I’m wrong! Thanks to Steven and Brandon for informing me that this video has been made available... Read more
Major blast from the 80s past alert! This classic Imperials song first came out in 1982. I’m embedding a live performance of it from a couple years later. Future GVB tenor Jim Murray takes the lead. I grew up on this guy’s voice, so it’s always held a special place in my heart. It’s so smooth and clear that I never grew tired of listening to it. I still haven’t: Whoa, is that Dick Tunney with a mullet on keys?? ... Read more
Today we continue to look at some o f southern gospel’s best-known tenors and enjoy snapshots of them at their live best. I started the series with Brian Free, and today I’m featuring another tenor who is somewhat controversial but has garnered much critical acclaim (as well as a massive fan following!) Though his voice is something of an acquired taste, Danny Funderburk certainly left an indelible mark on the world of southern gospel during his time with the Cathedrals.... Read more
When I “reviewed” Doug Anderson’s solo album, I said that “Jesus is Holding My Hand” was easily the best song on the project. I said that even after hearing clips of all the other tracks, and I put in a later note saying that I still maintained that position after listening to the CD in its entirety. Fortunately, somebody out there agrees with me and decided to single the song. It’s enjoyed chart success and become a staple of Signature... Read more
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When the World Looks at Southern Gospel Music…
…what do they see? Once, out of curiosity, I decided to have a bit of fun with my classical pianist/composer/music snob and musician extraordinaire uncle. Because I know he can’t stand southern gospel, I tried to put myself in his shoes and come up with a way of describing the genre that he would consider accurate. So I said, “It seems like from your perspective, there are three basic categories in southern gospel: the trite, upbeat ditties, the schmaltzy treacle-fests,... Read more