Anyone who frequents the various Southern Gospel forums around the Internet (Southern Gospel Forums, Singing News forums, etc.) most likely would recognize the screen name Seaton. The guy behind that handle, Steve Eaton, has just recently thrown his hat into the Southern Gospel blogger ring with his new blog, Southern Gospel Views From The Back Row. It appears he is getting started the right way; his first post states exactly what he’s bringing to the table and how he will make it so his blog is something truly new. He’s already been known to make positive contributions to discussions on message boards throughout the SG world for quite a while now, so readers will know that his posts will be of the same caliber.

All of that, and his layout is pretty darn impressive as well!

Make sure to head over and welcome him to the blogosphere. (David Bruce Murray just cringed!)

It has been quite a while since one of these has been done, but there is a new project being released that has turned the heads of several bloggers at the same time; so much, in fact, that we felt like a mega-review would be prudent, since the majority of us would have reviewed it at some point anyway. So I, along with bloggers Daniel Mount, Wes Burke, Brandon Coomer, Nate Stainbrook, and Phil Boles, have collaborated on reviewing the new Booth Brothers project, Declaration. It is worth noting that we were able to wrap up the review to have it posted on the same day of the project’s release date (by pure coincidence!)

Fans of both the Booth Brothers and Lari Goss will find plenty to love on this project, so look for the review posted on this and the other blogs on Tuesday.

Welcome to the new and improved Swain’s Musings! After much urging from my fellow bloggers (Daniel Mount in particular!), I finally took the plunge and switched to WordPress after a little over three years of working with Blogger. It’s been quite a ride these past few years, and hopefully the quality of this blog will only improve in this new environment.

Thank you all for reading Swain’s Musings thus far, and for your continued readership!

For all those interested in lyrics and scores of the old hymns of the church, Daniel Mount has just launched an extensive archive for these things: FreeHymnal.com! Click here for more information.

Folks, let me say this; having a life isn’t fun!

All kidding aside, I’ve been busy, busy, busy with stuff outside of this blog and haven’t had much of a chance to sit down and write a thing! Here’s some things I’ve missed:

1. GoldCityTribute.com has been launched by fellow blogger Brandon Coomer. Like the Cathedrals Tribute site run by Daniel Mount, this site is a great place to find all things related to the history of a particular group. The information is well-researched and written, so go take a look!

2. Blackwood Brothers Announce New Baritone Singer In a press release at the Singing News website today:

Memphis, TN – The Blackwood Brothers Quartet are excited to announce the addition of a new member. Jimmy’s younger brother, Billy, has joined the group, filling the baritone spot. Billy played drums with the group back in the seventies, but has pursued a solo ministry career since that time. Billy plays drums on the new record and has also helped with vocal arrangements.
This is a new day for the Blackwood Brothers, the beginning of a new era of gospel music ministry, continuing the tradition and taking it to new levels.
We would like to thank Brad White for his years of service with the group and pray God’s blessing on his solo ministry.

It’s nice to see Jimmy bringing another Blackwood back into the long roster of Blackwood Brothers members. It’s a smart move in two ways: longtime fans will already be familiar with Billy, and the fact that he has already been involved in the new project will help to fit him in seamlessly. This Blackwood group has a very solid sound, and it will be great to hear them sing new material on the new project.

Readers of Musicscribe no doubt are aware of recent changes to FTC guidelines for blogs. As such, this blog has added this statement to the sidebar on the right about project reviews:

To comply with FTC guidelines, we at Swain’s Musings state that, unless otherwise mentioned, the CDs that this blog reviews were given to the reviewer(s) free of charge. This does not have any bearing on the final rating and is not even taken into consideration when reviewing the project. Due to recent guideline changes, this statement is necessary, because these guidelines assume that a more favorable review is given when the product is received for free.

Via Burke’s Brainwork (who got it from our fellow blogger overseas, Phil), Legacy Five has jumped into the sometimes crazy world of blogging.

Artist blogs are always an interesting read, and I’m sure this one will be as well. Be sure to welcome them into the fold!

For a little over two years, I’ve been bringing all of you readers post after post of thoughts on Southern Gospel music from my perspective as a 16 (almost 17) year-old. God has really blessed my endeavors, giving me a wide readership and opening so many doors for me and this site. It has been a real joy watching God cultivate my efforts.

For those two-plus years, I’ve been going it solo in my blogging. Recently, however, an opportunity has come along that I am very excited about. I would like to introduce you all to the new co-author of Swain’s Musings: Jeremy Bell!

Jeremy hails from Lynchburg, VA, a neighboring city to my hometown of Bedford. For the past couple of years, we have worked together in VA Southern Gospel, an organization that works to bring Southern Gospel music to the younger generation. Jeremy has run his own blog under that same name for a time, focusing on Southern Gospel in VA, as well as on the national scene. Often, however, we tended to overlap on many things, resulting in either one of us not being able to post to our blogs because of the overlap.

To remedy this issue, our blogs are merging into one. We both decided that we should keep the Swain’s Musings name, because it would be easier than creating a new identity and essentially starting from scratch. Jeremy and I will do our separate posting on here, but we will also collaborate on things such as CD reviews from time to time. Our first joint review, Tribute Quartet’s For This Time, will be up soon.

Head on over to Jeremy’s old blog to see his previous work, and be sure to welcome him to the writing team here at Swain’s Musings!

Doug Harrison, author of the well-known SG blog Averyfineline is in the midst of a book project, and is collecting responses about the Southern Gospel genre through a survey. It is open to fans, bloggers, and artists alike.

Like him or not, Doug raises some very interesting questions in the survey. I’ve already taken it, so join the 250+ people that have as well here.

He goes by L5BBfan on various SG forums, but now he’s diving into the blogosphere with Nate’s Southern Gospel Ponderings.

It’s always great to welcome a new blogger into the fold. Be sure to go over and welcome him to the Web!

Update: It seems that several young bloggers have dug into the blogosphere well lately. Be sure to go over and give Phil Boles a warm welcome!