averyfineline

Via NG, an interesting review of the Gaither Vocal Band from the Pueblo Chieftain Online. Money quote:
When I looked for samples on You Tube of the Gaither Vocal Band, I found what I thought was a sanctimonious group of posers, probably using Jesus, who I came to know under a strict Catholic upbringing, like the […]

As most of you know, I’m currently conducting a survey into attitudes and beliefs about southern gospel music from the perspective of fans and professionals. The survey has been up for a few weeks now and I have been overwhelmed (in a good way) by the number and substance of your responses.
Currently there are over […]

A reader offers some thoughts on my confusion about Barbara Mandrell:
I wonder if SG’s sudden interest in Barbara Mandrell isn’t, in actuality, Barbara’s sudden interest in SG.  We’ve all known for years that Barbara is a devout Christian but it seems to me that it wasn’t until her son married a failed-country-singer-turned-gospel-singer that suddenly Barbara […]

NQC coverage and attention have sort of sucked a lot of non-convention oxygen out of the room lately, so consider this your open thread for non-NQC stuff. Some things to get us started.

Karen Peck Gooch is the new president of the SGMA, and the association’s first female leader. Better late than never, of course.

I didn’t […]

Gaither: I’ve been thinking all week about the take-away themes or feelings from this year’s NQC. And the overriding theme is this: There’s pretty much nothing of value and hardly anyone left that hasn’t been Gaitherized (more here). 
Which is to say: So much of NQC is – whether consciously or not – working from […]

After dinner tonight I couldn’t resist taking another listen to those Stamps Baxter clips from earlier today and ended up clicking my through a series of other clips from the same recording. Here’re two of the highlights by way of an encore.
First, “Every Day is  a Song,” which is both a lovely, understated number, and […]

While I’m finding some time to collect my final thoughts from NQC, two Stamps Baxter clips.
First up, and since kids on stage have been taking up a lot of our energy lately, a delightful clip of some kids leading “O The Glory Did The Roll” at Stamps Baxter (h/t, SS). You’ll wanna wait for the […]

I’ll save the wrap up for a separate post and deal here mainly with the fan awards and what of the evening’s remainder I caught. Comments especially welcome from anyone who stayed for what came after BFA tonight.
THE BIG STUFF
Fan Awards: In general, a show with big, 40th-anniversary ambitions, but a pretty low-key/ho-hum affair […]

There’s always at least one night like this. The night when at some point you just have to leave because too much music is just too boring, and you start fearing that if you don’t get out of there immediately, all traces of individuality may be sucked out of your identity and you will turn […]

And so, dear readers, we meet again like this, me writing in a far-flung suburban hotel in Louisville, and you  reading … from wherever it is you read the internet when you read it.  Before we get started, I’d like to give a big wish-you-were-here to MNP, whom many of you will recall from years […]