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| From the program
aired the weekend of Nov. 10th & 11th, 2007: |
It's been a while since a CD has come along that I have enjoyed so thoroughly
as the new one from our Featured Artists on this program, the Gaither
Vocal Band and Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, called
"Together." When Ernie Haase asked Bill Gaither what
could be better than one great quartet, Bill replied, "Two quartets!"
And, together, these two quartets have set a new standard in quartet
(octet?) singing. I appreciated the fact that they've included several old
quartet classics among the songs they included, so this CD (and its companion
DVD) should quickly become a favorite of any fan of good quartet singing.
(It quickly became the number one bestseller in our online webstore,
springside.com.)
Ernie and Bill and the others were excited about this project a year
ago when they first started working on it and I couldn't wait to hear it.
But it was worth the wait. Just to clarify, the CD used on the broadcast
was a studio recording. They did a companion video (DVD and VHS) that carries
the same title and has the songs from the CD but also a few additional songs,
recorded live in concert.
The Vocal Band's long-time lead singer, Guy Penrod, says the
project came together so well because the two quartets enjoy hanging out
with each other when they are touring. "We get up in the morning and go
knock on the other's bus, then go have coffee together. Then we play basketball
sometimes or lift weights; we eat lunch and dinner together and go out and
get to sing about Jesus together."
The CD featured on this program, "Together," by the Gaither Vocal
Band and Ernie Haase and Signature Sound is available from our
mailorder service, Springside. Just call 1-800-38-MUSIC to order. You can
order easily from our webstore by
clicking
on this link to go directly to this item. (Orders over $40 in the USA
qualify for free shipping.)
Our Artist Spotlight guests this time were Phil Cross and Poet Voices,
featuring songs from their new CD called "Worship Focus - One."
Phil Cross and Greg Crowe (and even their new member,
Mitchel Jon) all sing individually as well as in the trio, mostly
in churches. So it made sense that they would come out with a CD that includes
their "Southernized" versions of some of today's best-known worship and praise
songs. I liked what Phil said about the fact that he could adapt songs that
are often considered "contemporary" to please Southern Gospel ears, and hopes
that someday soon artists in the contemporary field will recognize that they,
too, can enjoy songs which are considered "Southern Gospel." Actually, that's
already happened to some extent. Gold City's song "Midnight Cry"
comes to mind, which has been very successfully recorded by many contemporary
(or at least "non-Southern") artists.
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