Crabb Family Concert (Central City, KY)
September 3rd, 2008On Wednesday, August 27th, I attended a gospel concert in my hometown of Central City, Kentucky. Labor Day weekend is always the big event weekend in Central City with activities going on every day and night from Wednesday through Sunday. It’s kicked off every year by a Gospel Fest featuring an outdoor concert by the Crabb Family. This year, however, we were also delighted to have the quartet Gold City here. But since I had church and choir practice, I missed all but their final two songs. From what little I got to hear if them, they were fabulous!
This was our first year hosting the Crabb Family as different groups, as they are now not traveling and performing together anymore. I was a little sad about this because I’ve always enjoyed the entire Crabb Family singing together, but I knew it would be a wonderful night of music nonetheless. This year we were fortunate to have almost all of the original Crabb Family with us, which was very nice. We saw performances by Crabb Revival, Aaron and Amanda Crabb, and Jason Crabb. Mike & Kelly Bowling were performing in Florida that day, so we missed them.
The Crabb Family portion of the evening began with Aaron and Amanda Crabb performing two songs off of their debut CD, After the Rain. They first sang the title cut of the CD, After The Rain, followed by a very passionate rendition of Miracle. Aaron then shared a story about God’s provision in his family’s life and how God can perform a miracle in all of our lives if we just ask Him. He shared about how it has been his experience that God always shows up in the places we least expect Him to be and how beautiful that is. He they prayed a prayer that God would touch each person there and perform a miracle in their lives. After his prayer, Aaron began to sing There’s Power in the Name of Jesus which really put the audience into a worshipful mode. Following that he led us in singing the Bill & Gloria Gaither classic, There’s Something About That Name. That was my one of my favorite moments of the night. Hundreds of people singing that stunning, powerful song a capella. Nothing compares to voices uniting in song praising their Father. What a sweet incense rising up to the Lord. It was a sweet moment. You could really feel the Holy Spirit moving in that place.
I was somewhat disappointed to not see Amanda Crabb more involved in the Aaron and Amanda set of songs. She sung harmony a bit with Aaron, but that was basically all. Aaron took the reigns for most of it and did all of the lead vocals and all of the talking/praying.
The concert continued with performances by Crabb Revival (featuring Adam Crabb and Terah Crabb-Penhollow). They began with the following four songs off of their debut CD, Runaway Train:
- Runaway Train - a rousing, upbeat song that got the audience a little bit energized.
- Carry On
- The Journey - Before singing this, Adam Crabb shared a bit of how God has strengthened him and matured him during the process of forming Crabb Revival and how He has opened so many doors for their ministry.
- Smiling Down On Me - This song was performed differently than recorded on their project. Amanda Smith took the lead vocal spot for the first verse and chorus of the song, followed by Terah Penhollow singing lead on the second verse and harmonizing with Amanda on the final chorus. Amanda Smith, formerly of the McRaes, is wife of Crabb Revival lead guitarist Zach Smith.
Crabb Revival finished their portion of the evening by performing two of the Crabb Family’s most beloved songs, Greater Is He and The Reason That I’m Standing. These are the songs that got the most response from the audience, which was not very surprising to me. Although Crabb Revival is a great band with a quality sound, they have strayed away from the Crabb Family sound we’re all used to. Their sound has gotten a little more progressive with more contemporary and rock influences. In a traditional southern gospel loving community such as Central City, the newer sound of Crabb Revival took some people aback.
We were then delighted to see Jason and Aaron Crabb join Adam and Terah, who remained onstage after Crabb Revival finished. Jason began the final portion of the concert by talking about how much he enjoys getting to be back onstage with his siblings as the Crabb Family whenever he can, since those times do not occur very often nowadays. He shared that he feels honored that God has shown favor to their family by allowing them to branch out into their own seperate areas of music ministry and be successful at reaching lost people. He shared that he is often amazed at the fact that God took one family, one ministry, and branched them out to have five separate ministries (Gerald Crabb, Jason Crabb, Mike & Kelly Bowling, Crabb Revival, Aaron & Amanda Crabb) answering the call to spread the gospel of Christ. He said that he often realizes that there are times that all five ministries are onstage at exactly the same time in five different states, performing to five different groups of people. But the incredible thing is, Jason shared, is that they are all communicating a single message of hope and sharing the Gospel that unites us all. The group went on to perform some more of the Crabb Family’s most beloved songs.
The first three songs were all upbeat and got the audience excited and on their feet.
- Sacrifice of Praise
- Something Going On in the Graveyard
- The Lamb, The Lion, and The King
They then performed my personal favorite Crabb Family song, Through The Fire. After singing the song, Jason shared the story of how their father, Gerald Crabb, came to write that amazing and powerful piece of music. The first lyrics of Through The Fire that came to Gerald were the first two lines of the chorus: He never promised that the cross would not get heavy, or the hill would not be hard to climb. Jason shared that his father struggled with finishing that song for a good year. One night at a Crabb Family concert, Gerald met a young woman’s who shared a part of her testimony with him. She was in the midst of a terrible time in her life and was struggling. But she told Gerald that through everything and her family were going through, she was still trusting in her Jesus to carry them through. That was the inspiration it took for Gerald to finally create this powerful, inspiring song which has touched countless numbers of people. The Crabb Family continued their set by performing Please Come Down To Me.
After the song, Jason asked everyone to close their eyes and search their hearts to see what was standing in the way of enjoying a rich life in Christ. He encouraged everyone to ask God to come to them and forgive us for all that we have done to fail Him. Jason prayed and then asked people to raise their hands if they needed God to make a change in their life. He invited those that raised their hands to come down in front of the stage so they could pray for them. So many of those people got incredibly emotional and you could almost see the Spirit working on their hearts. Adam and Jason Crabb, along with guitarist Zach Smith and drummer Micah Schweinsberg, all went down offstage to pray with those people at the ‘altar.’ After a few moments, Jason and Terah began to sing the hymn, I Surrender All accompanied by keyboardist Jedidiah Richardson. It was a very special time. It was incredibly moving to see what was happening there.
Jason continued by saying how much they enjoy performing in Central City because it’s only a few miles from the Crabb Family’s hometown of Beaver Dam, KY. He shared that many of their family member and friends were in attendance including all of their spouses, children, and the Crabb Family’s grandmother and mother, Kathy Crabb. Jason’s wife’s parents were also there. And at the request of her Dad, the Crabb Family performed Please Forgive Me.
They ended the concert by performing Andrae Crouch’s rousing song Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus. They even brought their mother onstage to sing the verses. I enjoyed hearing her sing, as I never had done so before. She has a very deep, very powerful voice. It’s no wonder that her children are so talented!
All in all, it was a very enjoyable concert. I have seen the Crabb Family perform many times over the years, but this was my first since they have begun traveling and performing separately. I honestly thought it was better than I had seen from them before. I’ve always enjoyed them and the songwriting of their father, Gerald Crabb. But there was something different. I have always thought that part of their appeal was that they seemed to genuinely love what they did and love doing it together. Perhaps that is what I can attribute the change and improvement to. Since they do not get to perform together very often anymore, I’m sure they treasure the times when they are able to. It was a sweet experience to witness.
Whether they’re Aaron & Amanda, Jason, The Crabb Family, Crabb Family, or whatever, they’re still fantastic. So if any of them are ever in your area, make it a point to attend. You’re sure to have an enjoyable experience full of worship and wonderful music!
To view my photos from the concert, follow this link to Daniel J. Mount’s Southern Gospel Blog photo gallery: