And singing doesn’t have to sound pretty? That is a great excuse for bad singers to buy a bus and hit the road, flogging their crappy CDs on unsuspecting audiences because, after all, it’s crap for Jesus! People that believe that lie are the main reason that SG will never be perceived by the general listening public as anything other than country music’s redneck, overall-wearing, spoon-playing, “kid from Deliverance” cousin.

p.s. Wade and BUICK, great posts.

Hissong has a wonderful sound. The many times I have seen them in person they have exhibited a very high standard of “showmanship”, which is vital and most importantly, MINISTRY, which is (or should be) the very CORE of Gospel music. You will be hard-pressed to find tighter harmony and higher energy out there these days.

Having said that, the review was fair and balanced, to borrow a phrase from the Fox network. Perhaps if Doug had been reviewing “Hissong: Live from Heaven” he could be chastised for his remarks that were deemed to be negative. Otherwise, he was strictly being objective and truthful and statitng his own opinion. In America, and especially on his own website, I believe he has that (at least) right.

Those who attack “Avery” in the name of Hissong actually do little to further the ministry of Hissong; and truth be known, likely cause a bit of embarrassment to the group. To me, it looks a bit like a “Christian” blowing up an abortion clinic; all “in the name of Jesus”.

I do hope this post, being strictly my opinion and very neutral, does not incite a barrage of tongue-lashing. There is one last thing I would like to mention, since we all like to vent our own pet peeves: reading posts that have been typed in cellphone “text talk” is a bit annoying.

“Aside from that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”

A few requests: Please refrain from calling Avery “old man” or make remarks about his weight. He is younger than me, I believe, and I probably outweigh him by 45 pounds, so you can imagine how this makes me feel.

If I’m a member of Hissong, I’m thrilled by this free publicity. Honestly, I’m really interested in hearing the title cut after reading the review.

It’s Hemp-hill, not Hem-phill IIRC.

Casual Observer #41 - great observation…I wish everyone who ever did anything for the “glory of the Lord” felt the same way. If they did, gospel music would be much better than we could ever imagine. Oh yeah…it would be reaching a lot more souls as well.

I recently attended a funeral of a personal friend of HisSong’s and they were asked to sing. They gladly agreed even though each of them had some allergy issues that day. The group was discussing what song to sing and Adam Elrod’s voice by his standards was not up to par to sing as he felt he should. Someone mentioned to him that it would be OK!! Adam stated that he was ALWAYS taught to do his BEST in whatever setting but especially at someone’s funeral because he would be singing them into Heaven.

The entire group strives for perfection in every aspect of what God has called them to do. I have heard Dennis many times quote the scripture that that says “Whom God Calls He Equips”. The gentleman are definately equipped to garner a #10 single and equipped when you hear them in concert, on the radio or your personal cd player to deliver what the writter of the song has written and deliver it to usher the listener into the the presence of God.

Thank You….

Note to Avery: Keep the reviews coming.

Note to Avery’s critics: Keep reading and keep those flame throwers oiled up. This is hilarious.

Note to both Avery and his critics: It wouldn’t hurt to do a little self-editing for spelling and clarity before posting.

Thanks for all the laughs.