Our ten regular reviewers all attend concerts, but between us all (even with Diana Brantley’s frequent and appreciated contributions!), posting can get slow at times. So I decided to open the website to submitted reviews.
If you’re interested in contributing reviews, email editor@southerngospelblog.com, and I will create an account for you and email you a temporary password.
For guidance on how to write a review that will get published here, check out the new Submission Guidelines page.
Seeing these men at NQC last year was just a teaser, so when Paid In Full finally got within my territory, I was delighted to make the trip to see them! (As you’ll probably know, Paid In Full was the winner of the Horizon Group of the year from the Singing News Awards last year and they got to sing their hit song “What the Storm Does Not Know” on the main stage. )
It was rather a stormy afternoon and evening thanks to Hurricane Fay, but the Glenn Anthony Baptist Church was a dry and comfy setting for a concert on Saturday, Aug. 23. I was delighted that they performed so many of the songs from their new hymns album “Sounds of Faith.” I’ve really been enjoying the CD with its wonderful arrangements of some favorite hymns. One of the things I particularly like about their style is that after a singer is featured on the first verse of a song, then they add only one more voice on the second and then eventually add the third part. They sure do have a beautiful blend and a somewhat country sound due mostly to the instrumentation of their tracks.
Here’s what they sang:
I had the trusty digital camera busy getting some videos, too, so here’s what I’ve put together on youtube:
Paid In Full is going to be at Dollywood on Oct. 12 and 13 for the Gospel and Harvest Celebration so make your plans now to go and see them!
It’s usually fun to hear a group for the first time, especially if they are a group whose music you haven’t heard before. That was the case for me when I heard Soul’d Out Quartet on July 20th in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The group’s baritone and bass guitar player, Tanner Stahl, posts fairly often on the Singing News forums, so I thought I would just go over and see what the group sounded like! I got to the church during soundcheck and I enjoy seeing the guys before they get all dressed up for their performance. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Dusty Barrett from the old Crystal River is singing tenor with them now. At that point, Dusty and new pianist Michael Howard weren’t shown on their web site, but they are now.
The group performed a good mix of old standards and original music. I particularly liked the way they performed Boundless Love and their new songs, He Is My Lamb and I’ve Been Saved. Here is a link to a video of He Is My Lamb - my favorite of the evening. And here’s a video of several more of their songs from that evening. From reading the liner notes on the CD I bought (Ain’t Nobody), Matt Rankin (owner and lead singer) writes most of their new music.
As a pianist, I also enjoyed hearing 19-year old Michael Howard. I was very impressed with his abilities and I bought his solo CD. The liner notes revealed that he did all of the piano arrangements on the CD. There is a very wide variety of styles and instrumentation on the CD and I would encourage you to get it if you enjoy listening to piano music. Michael and Tanner also had a bit of fun playing a duet of Goodbye, World Goodbye.
This is a group I definitely want to see again.
On Sunday (August 10), I took the chance to see the Ball Brothers at Calvary Baptist Church in Ashland, Ohio. It was an annual event; though not all-day, it was otherwise my first time to be at an old-fashioned all-day-sing and dinner-on-the-ground.
The Ball Brothers are actual brothers; Andrew Ball sings tenor, Daniel Ball sings lead, Stephen Ball sings baritone, and Josh Ball, though not a bass in voice quality, sings what I call “choir bass” (think Bill Gaither, Claude Hopper). Their blend and harmonies are very tight, tight enough to make their sound unique among male quartets. In professional Southern Gospel circles, most family groups where all the members are related have at least one female vocalist; though Southern Gospel fans have become accustomed to tight family blends in mixed trios or quartets, this group is unique among male quartets.
They sang a mixture of new (orchestrated), acapella, and classic piano-and-bass-guitar convention songs. They did not have live accompaniment; however, they did have a sound man, Josh Gibson, Daniel Ball’s brother-in-law.
During intermission, a church quartet and mixed trio each sang several songs. The church quartet, led by the pastor singing lead, sang “Damascus Road,” “I Rest My Case at the Cross,” “Glory Road,” and “Even Thomas Couldn’t Doubt It.” The mixed trio sang “I’m Happy With You, Lord,” “God is a Good God,” and “In My Robe of White.” The last song, “In My Robe of White,” was written by Genice Spencer Ingold, who was a member of the trio.
I had the time to talk with members of the group for a little while about some of their upcoming plans. Be watching for big things from the group.
On August 2, I had the chance to catch a set by the Dan Keeton Quartet at an outdoor sing north of Mansfield, Ohio. It was a fairly short set; they only sang eight songs.
Perhaps partly because of the lineup change, the group stayed in mostly familiar territory musically, both as to who was featured (most of the songs featured Dan) and as to song selection (most of the songs were familiar classics, though the group did one original song and two relatively forgotten songs from the Hinsons and Downings repertoire.
“Saints Will Rise” was the high point of the set; the group ended with a sky-high three chords and a cloud of dust ending and got a response that would have made an encore fitting if they had had a track ready.
The group is in transition, so this brief set was probably not that great of a snapshot on which to rate them. But it did show their potential.
About 700 people gathered Saturday night to wish Jason Waldroup a very fond farewell from his position as Greater Vision tenor and to show him their support of the next part of his journey to further his education and serve as a minister of music. And the people came from all over the United States - 20 states, including states as far away as California, Texas and Arizona were represented as folks checked off their states as they entered the auditorium. It was an expression of their thanks to Jason for his touch on their lives in his thirteen years of service.
Stan Whitmire provided some wonderful piano accompaniment for the evening and even performed two solo numbers, Old Time Religion and Winter Wonderland. Stan has played for many, if not all, of their live performance DVD’s through the years and he knew he wanted to be part of the tribute to Jason.
The evening provided lots of singing but it also offered time for reflection on things from over the years that were very special to the men of Greater Vision. I think there was a good balance of both emotional and light-hearted moments. Early in the evening, Jason took the opportunity to speak to the group before he could finish singing “You Can,” a special song that Rodney had written with him in mind.
One of the highlights for me was a “Thanks for the Memories” video that had photographs and clips from events through the years Jason has been with the group. Perhaps Gerald Wolfe will figure out a way to put it on the GV website for us all to enjoy again and again. Meanwhile, here are the links of my video clips from the concert: (My very special thanks go to my friend Suzanne from Pigeon Forge who graciously swapped seats with me so I could have a better camera angle. )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV197xsrDs8 - Tribute to Jason
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9OdnhPoPw0 - Jacob Kitson sings Little Much
About two-thirds of the way through the evening, Jacob Kitson was brought on stage to be introduced and to sing. Jacob did a wonderful job on “Little Is Much” but even more special than his singing was Jason’s obvious approval of him as his successor.
Here’s a list of the songs that were sung:
He’s Still Waiting By The Well
Tell Me the Story Of Jesus
Paid In Full Through Jesus, Amen
We Are So Blessed
God Will Pass By
You Can
I’ve Never Been Sorry
My Name Is Lazarus
A Mighty Fortress
Faces
He’d Still Been God
Little Is Much
Unclouded Day
‘Til the Storm Passes By
Sheltered In The Arms of God and I Will Serve Thee (sung by the audience)
God Wants To Hear You Sing
I know that Jason will be very successful in his calling and I look forward to getting reports on his progress from time to time. And I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing more of the new version of Greater Vision.
