This past weekend, Tim Riley did not travel with Gold City.  Chris West, original bass for Mercy’s Mark, was filling in for Tim.  My friend Thomas Wilson sent me some samples and gave me permission to share one on the blog.

“Turn Your Back”

David Stuart posted a heads up on the Singing News forum that back issues of the magazine are available in the Singing News Online Store.  As David pointed out though, the store is missing any info on issues before 2006.  The listings of each issue do not even provide a cover image.  For the prices they are asking, they could give you a little hint of what you are actually ordering.

The prices start at $5 for 2009 issues, $8 for 2008 issues, and go up $2 a year from there.  Below is a partial price list to give you an idea:

• 2009 Issues – $5
• 2008 Issues – $8
• 2007 Issues – $10
• 2005 Issues – $14
• 2000 Issues – $24
• 1995 Issues – $34
• 1990 Issues – $44
• 1985 Issues – $54
• 1980 Issues – $64
• 1975 Issues – $74
• 1970 Issues – $84

Yes… I’m still alive.  I’ve been working on a side project that is taking up most of my time on the computer.  I hope to be announcing the project sometime next month.

This morning, I’ve seen several articles, posts, and comments across the southern gospel internet world demonizing “canned music”.  I know this is nothing new as the use of sound tracks has been looked down upon for a long time and the topic is discussed frequently on several forums.  For some reason though, this morning it all just struck a nerve.

Do I like every group using sound tracks?  No!  Of course I’d love to see every group, or at least all the top tier groups, with at least a three piece band.  However, I realize that is the current norm and all the complaining and whining about it isn’t going to change that.

You say, “Well, that didn’t use to be the norm.  Everybody used to have a band”.   That’s true, and gas didn’t used to be more than $2 a gallon with a constant threat to shoot back up to $3 or $4 a gallon.  It didn’t used to cost over $10,000 to record a project with all the bells and whistles we’ve grown accustomed to hearing.

However, if you still want to complain about all the canned music, I think there is something you can do.  Every time you go to a southern gospel concert, put a $50 in the offering plate, not a $5.  If it is a ticketed event, give the group manager an extra $20 or $30 and don’t take a stack of CDs or t-shirts in exchange.  And get all your friends to do the same.  And if you say you can’t afford to do that, well, the group can’t afford a full band either, so you’re even.

Now, I’m stepping off my soapbox.

Averyfineline has confirmed that Frank Seamans is leaving Legacy Five as soon as a replacement tenor is found.  The move has been rumored for months, beginning not long after Frank’s son, Frank JR, was diagnosed with cancer.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the Seamans family and to Legacy Five as they search for a new tenor.

This is the second time in Legacy Five’s existence that they will begin searching for a new tenor during or immediately following the National Quartet Convention.  Original member Josh Cobb left the group after the 2000 NQC.  Cobb had won the Singing News Fan Award for Horizon Individual just days before leaving the group.  My memory fails me on the specifics, but his departure may have involved some bubble gum.

While we are on the subject of Legacy Five, they have their Fall Special in their online store.  You can order their brand new Just Stand CD and Live At The Oak Tree DVD projects, along with the God’s Been Good DVD and Decade CD for $50.  You can also add the Jubilee! CD for $10 more.  Two CDs, a double CD, and two DVDs for $60 is a great deal, especially considering that three of the five projects are brand new.

From reading message boards and other blogs, it appears that Gold City and Tim Riley was the big thing on opening night of the National Quartet Convention.  I’m very glad to read all the positive responses they have received.  They have had a tumultuous few months and I’m happy to see them starting to recover.  In his run down of NQC night one, Daniel Mount raised the idea of Gold City cutting back their bookings in order to bring Tim Riley back permanently.  I honestly had not thought of that possibility, although it is an interesting thought.

For the most part, southern gospel music is the one genre (secular and Christian) in which artists tour constantly throughout the year.  The exceptions to this are the big names like the Gaither Vocal Band, the Cathedrals in their final years, and Ernie Haase & Signature Sound.   This question has been asked several times, but I feel is still worth raising.  Do southern gospel groups that limit their touring have the ability to do so due to their popularity or does the limited nature of their appearances create the popularity?  It is much more memorable to see an artist once a year rather than once or twice a month.  If a group comes around your area once a year, if you want to see them, you have to go that one time.  It makes the appearance a “must see” event.  On the other hand, if the popularity isn’t great enough, people could still pass on the concert thinking that they’ll catch them next time/year or another group the next weekend.

So, is Tim Riley a big enough legend in southern gospel music that his return would create such a demand for Gold City that they could cut their annual bookings by a substantial amount?  I’ve never counted, but I’ve always heard that Gold City does close to 200 bookings a year.  How many would they have to cut?  Fifty?  A hundred?

Of course, two questions have to be answered first before this possibility can even be considered.  Is Tim healthy enough?   The second is does he even want to resume touring, even limited touring, permanently.

Daybreak Quartet – Hymns

A couple of months ago, the Mark Trammell Trio announced the hiring of Joel Wood as their new tenor.  At about the same time as the announcement, Joel’s previous group, the Daybreak Quartet, received their new Hymns project.  In that situation, I could understand being discouraged.  Losing a vocalist the same time as your new CD arrived from the duplicator would be a tough pill to swallow (though it seems to be common in southern gospel music).

However, the Daybreak Quartet used the situation to their advantage by using it to promote their new CD.  For a two week period in July, they allowed visitors to their website to download the entire CD for free in exchange for letting other people know about the offer.  With people wanting to hear the Mark Trammell Trio’s new tenor, I’m sure the offer garnered a lot of interest.  To use a cliché, it was a great example of turning lemons into lemonade.

OK, I got the preliminaries out of the way.  What about the CD itself?  Is it any good?

Short Version…. definitely.

Long version….

The project features the four vocalists (Wood, lead Dennis Fanning, and brothers Jason and Nathan Prisk, baritone and bass respectively) and a piano.  There are no drums, no bass, or any other instrumentation.  Greg Howlett (five tracks, including an instrumental “The Old Rugged Cross”) and Legacy Five’s Tim Parton (six tracks) both provide wonderful tracks.  I tend to judge piano only tracks the same way as accapella singing.  If I don’t notice the lack of other instruments (or music at all), it is good. The playing isn’t flashy or overriding, but it never becomes boring or mundane.

One of the best things the CD has going for it is the song selection.  Daybreak Quartet didn’t just record the standard ten or fifteen songs you’ll hear at least once every month at most baptist churches.  True they did a few overdone songs (including “Mansion Over The Hilltop” and “hey, it started the Gaither Homecoming thing, so we have to record it” -“Where Could I Go?”), but you’ll also find songs like “Constantly Abiding”, “The Lord’s My Shepherd”, “Safe Am I” and “This World Is Not My Home”.

Tim Parton did the tracks for the latter two songs and they standout to me as the project’s two best songs.  Parton also did the wonderful arrangement of “Safe Am I”, including a portion of “He Hideth My Soul”, even though the CD liner notes question all the high notes in the arrangement.  As much as I like “Safe Am I”, “This World Is Not My Home” is my favorite song on the project.  While it isn’t blazing fast, Parton’s bouncy piano work keeps me nodding my head along with the song, even after dozens of listens.

Since the two months the project has been out, it has stayed in my car as one of the CDs in heavy rotation during my daily commute.  I’ve spent more time listening to it than probably any other hymns CD in my collection.  Daybreak Quartet’s Hymns CD is one of my favorite southern gospel hymn/”four guys and a piano” projects that I’ve ever heard.

I skipped the individual star ratings this time, but I give the project four and half stars.

I don’t want to embed any more videos, but I do want to specifically point to a couple more videos of Gold City’s concert at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO.

DavyAir, who has posted almost two dozen videos from SDC, recorded “In My Robe Of White“.  I think Chris Cooper does a good job on it and even throws in a couple of high notes I wasn’t expecting.  This video also includes several seconds of the band playing before the encore.

Matt Paasch, aka SGNut on You Tube, has uploaded “When He Calls, I’ll Fly Away” and the encore.  Yes, Chris hits the high notes on the end.

I think these two videos show that Chris Cooper is definitely capable of pulling off the high notes that Gold City is known for.

I also want to mention a few other things concerning Gold City:

• I know I don’t have to point it out, but Tim Riley’s still got it.  Danny should hire him.  If not Tim, I think Chris West would be a good pick.
• Congratulations to Danny and Holly Riley.  Holly is pregnant with their second child.
• The group’s bus driver, Ed Martin, has been cleared by his doctor to resume work.  Ed’s been off the road recovering from back surgery.
• Chris Cooper has been the subject of a lot of discussion about whether or not he could pull off the tenor spot for the group.  As I said above, I think the newest videos on You Tube show that he fits in just fine with Gold City.  However, Chris did something else besides sing at Silver Dollar City that has been mentioned online, but hasn’t generated nearly as much discussion as his voice.  Danny Riley posted on facebook that Chris led a man to the Lord at the product table following a concert.  Now, good singing is great, but even at an amusement park, “Ain’t That What It’s All About”?

Here is another video from You Tube user DavyAir.  This one features the Mark Trammell Trio’s new tenor, Joel Wood, singing “Safe On The Glory Side”.

You Tube user DavyAir has uploaded several videos recorded at Silver Dollar City over the last couple of weeks.  This video shows Tim Riley filling in with Gold City and the Band of Gold.

Doug Harrison, editor of A Very Fine Line (what I assume is southern gospel’s most infamous read blog), is conducting research for a new book.  As part of that research, he has posted a survey on his blog.  Of course, he’d like to get as many responses as he can, but he especially wants input from southern gospel professionals (current, former, on stage, behind the scenes, full time, part time, sometimes, gonnabes, wannabes, etc.).  I know a few former full time artists read this blog and not others, so I’m inviting them (and everyone else) to take part in the survey.