Rating: 5 stars

Producer: Gerald Wolfe
Label: Independent Release
Website: www.promisetrio.com

Song titles: Don’t Try To Tell Me; Tell Me The Story of Jesus; New Wine; Land of Living; Whosoever Will; I’ve Got A Love; He Is Mine; On A Journey; There Is A River; Happy Tracks

When the Statement of Faith trio disbanded earlier this year after group founder Jacob Kitson’s departure, two of the members, baritone David Mann and lead Joe Kitson, teamed up with tenor TJ Evans to reorganize as Promise. Kitson soon left, however, and Mann and Evans called their mutual friend James Bell to fill the tenor spot as Evans moved down to lead. With the release of the trio’s debut project, the Southern Gospel music world gets a formal introduction to Promise.

This CD, produced by Gerald Wolfe, features ten Greater Vision songs from the 90s. Wolfe provided the original tracks to the group, and thankfully, they are all songs that haven’t been re-recorded to death. The real question is whether or not the trio is relying so heavily on the Greater Vision influence that they themselves are just becoming a “lesser Greater Vision,” so to speak. When a group does a project of this nature, they run the risk of producing copied versions of the earlier recordings that may or may not stack up. The fact that this is the group’s first project also gives them the challenge of defining their sound, and the combination of these factors makes for a tricky musical situation. Has Promise avoided the pitfall of becoming “GV Lite?”

The answer, thankfully, is yes.

While the tracks are indeed the ones used in the original versions, the singers deliver the songs in a way that very much makes them their own. To illustrate this, I’ll use one of the better known songs on the project, “He Is Mine.” On this song especially, the group will undoubtedly be held under close scrutiny because of the song’s popularity when it came out, and Mark Trammell’s great performance of it. While Mann has drawn comparisons to Trammell from a lot of bloggers and readers in recent months, he does not deliberately go for a Trammell-esque delivery, instead opting to put his own nuances into the song. On the final chorus, the group sings it pretty straightforward until the last notes, when the tenor takes it up, rather than giving the standout to the baritone as in the original. Little differences like that show up all throughout this project, and the versions stand on their own. Other highlights include TJ Evans’ take on a Gerald Wolfe signature, “Land of Living,” and James Bell singing “Whosoever Will.”

I know this seems like an awfully positive, optimistic review for a group’s first project, but honestly, there’s really nothing to complain about. You would be hard pressed to believe that this trio is entering their third month of existence with the blend that they possess. I’m sure it helps that they sang together in college, but there are enough years in between that it would be like starting over now. Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that the voices “click,” and the result is a project of covers that doesn’t sound like a project of covers. To use a horrible pun, Promise shows great promise with this first project. Time will tell whether a collection of original songs will continue their upward trend, but for now, they have a lot of things going for them and have a lot to be proud of here. Promise’s self-titled debut receives 5 stars.

Rating: 4 stars

Producer: David Staton
Label: Song Garden Music Group
Website: www.dixiemelodyboys.com

Song titles: Jesus In My Boat; Bottom Of The Basket; Too Much Thunder; His Blood Alone; There’s Joy In Serving Jesus; God Will Hear Your Prayer; Good Ole Boys; That’s Why I Sing Gospel Music; Go To The Well; The Call Is Still The Same; Gotta Get The Good News Out; I’ve Got Family There

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Rating: 5 stars

Producer: Jeff Collins
Label: Horizon Records
Website: www.kingsmenquartet.com

Buy Here

Song titles: Back To Grace; Oh What A Hallelujah Day; I Knew It Was Him; That’s All I Need; Grace Says; Ordinary Man; I Can Hardly Wait; If Not For the Love of Christ; After the Sunrise; Loving Shepherd Gracious God

The Kingsmen have opened up an interesting chapter in their history during the past few years. After several lineup changes that ended up dissolving the Kingsmen Band and left the group with a new tenor (Harold Reed), and baritone (Bryan Hutson), the group released When God Ran, a project that was arguably the best that they had released in years, according to several critics. Not long after, the group hired young pianist Cody McVey, and the next mainline release, Missing People, was a good project, but in this blogger’s humble opinion, didn’t quite reach the same level as it’s predecessor.

Since that time, another lineup change has happened with the departure of lead singer Phillip Hughes, which moved Bryan Hutson to the lead position and brought in former Kingsmen/Carolina Boys lead Randy Crawford in to fill the baritone spot. The obvious question is this: what can this version of The Kingsmen bring to the table?

The group wastes no time in welcoming Crawford back into the lineup, as the first track of the project features him. An upbeat Joseph Habedank/Matthew Holt collaboration first heard on Statement of Faith’s debut project, “Back To Grace” sounds made for Crawford’s voice. Likewise, the other Statement of Faith cover, “I Knew It Was Him,” (written by the same team, coincidentally), fits Harold Reed like a glove. The other covers include an Oak Ridge Boys/Triumphant Quartet tune (“If Not For The Love Of Christ”) and a convention song (“After The Sunrise”). The nice thing about the majority of these covers is that they don’t sound like they were taken from another group. Rather, the group does a fine job of making them their own, particularly the Habedank/Holt tunes.

Other highlights of the project include the title track, which once again features Crawford and could easily become a career song for both he and the Kingsmen, and “Ordinary Man,” which is a progressive tune that puts Bryan Hutson out front. The final track, “Loving Shepherd Gracious God,” has gotten a lot of attention from several bloggers, and features what probably the smoothest sound collectively from the group in quite a while.

To sum it all up, the rehiring of Randy Crawford has created a sound for The Kingsmen that is thick, powerful, and smooth, all rolled into one, and this project does exactly what it’s supposed to do in the way of taking hold of that sound and showcasing it. While some of the other reviews I’ve read have criticized the project for being “musically schizophrenic,” it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The styles on the CD do tend to jump around from track to track, but I’m of the school of thought that, as long as it doesn’t go out in left field at every turn, it makes for a fun listening experience; the listener can be continually surprised.

With a group dynamic and song selection that is arguably one of the best the group has had to date, there’s not one thing I would throw out of this project if given the chance. Grace Says receives 5 stars.

In the past couple of weeks, several of us Southern Gospel bloggers (Daniel Mount, Brian Crout, Adam Edwards, Wes Burke, Brandon Coomer, David Bruce Murray, Steve Eaton, and me) put our heads together and gave our thoughts on the new Kingdom Heirs project. Here’s the results. Overall, our thoughts on the CD were very positive! (more…)

Rating: 5 stars

Producers: Lari Goss and Gerald Wolfe
Label: Greater Vision Music
Website: www.greatervisionmusic.com

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Track list: Everything Christmas (Overture); God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; Do You Hear What I Hear?; A Cradle In Bethlehem; It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year; O Holy Night; Sleigh Ride; I Heard The Bells; Grace Has A Face; There’s No Place Like Home For The Holidays/I’ll Be Home For Christmas

I’m a pretty hard sell on Christmas music.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not the type that rages against the fact that we are bombarded with the stuff on the radio starting shortly after Thanksgiving and lasting till what seems like an eternity when Christmas rolls around. I will say, however, that I get bored with it really easily. After all, when all of your major radio stations in your car are blaring it, you tend to just go on autopilot and tune it out.

The same goes for Southern Gospel Christmas music. Every year, you’ll have at least a couple groups come out with a brand-new Christmas project, and most of them fail to stand out. In fact, they are downright lackluster. Needless to say, I was kind of wary about this particular project for that reason, but when I saw Lari Goss’ name in the credits, I knew that it couldn’t be that bad.

I’m glad to say my instinct was correct; the long-time team of Goss & Greater Vision have churned out a Christmas album that features classy arrangements of both Christmas classics and more recent songs. Most of the songs incorporate background vocals by the Voices of Lee, which further enhances the big sound of the album. The full-orchestra sound that Goss is famous for incorporating is in full swing here, even kicking off the project with an overture of music that includes “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year,” “Unspeakable Joy,” “Joy To The World,” “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “Hark The Herald Angels Sing,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “The First Noel,” “Gloria In Excelsis Deo,” and “Angels From The Realms of Glory.”

The first vocal performance of the project comes in the form of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” which features an arrangement not unlike the one The Cathedrals did on 1985′s A Cathedral Christmas A Cappella, although this one does have instrumentation. The trio takes a quartet arrangement and very ably makes it their own. The return of Chris Allman on tenor is made very prominent throughout the piece, and really kicks up on the last two verses. Speaking of Allman, if one has been under a rock for the past year, he need only listen to this project to hear that he has not lost a thing over the years; his feature on last verse of “Do You Hear What I Hear” is absolutely stellar. I can honestly say I did not expect that from a Greater Vision tenor, as they usually do not venture into that territory of high notes, but Allman handles it with aplomb.

Other highlights include Rodney Griffin’s take on a soft ballad with “A Cradle In Bethlehem” and Gerald Wolfe’s signature performance of “O Holy Night,” but really, there’s not a bad track on the project. Christmas projects usually have one or two “sleeper” songs, but I was pleasantly surprised with every single one here.

Bottom line: If you’re tired of the same boring Christmas music every year, let Everything Christmas rescue you from that. This project gets 5 stars.

Rating: 4 stars

Producers: Dustin Rogers, Keith Rogers, Derek Rogers
Label: Independent Release
Website: www.dustinrogersmusic.com

Track list: Consider The Gospel; Little Maria; He’s Been There; Lord, Pierce My Heart; I Still Miss You; Handing My Life To You; That Kid; I Worship You; Just A Word; Open My Eyes

Hear a full preview of this project.

Every once in a while, I’ll receive a project to review that is from an artist that may never rise to the ranks of national renown, but they produce a body of work which has a quality on-par with those groups and people that have that privilege. Such is the case with this album from Dustin Rogers, a pastor in Nebraska. According to a short bio on his website, Rogers has been playing guitar and writing music since his college days. This collection of songs he has written over the years is his debut recording project.

On Consider The Gospel, the listener who is looking for fully orchestrated tracks and a heavy sound will be disappointed. The music on this project is more on the “scaled-back” side, with most of the instrumentation being centered around the acoustic guitar (played by Rogers), often supplemented with piano, bass guitar, and on some tracks, a fiddle or kick drum. This approach to the music allows the songs to speak clearly and for themselves rather than being buried behind big production. Since Rogers probably wrote and arranged most of these pieces primarily on the guitar, the stripped-down sound gives them a more personal feel as well.

The songs range from Gospel songs to folk songs with a Christian message. The title track starts off with two verses of the hymn “Man of Sorrows” before segueing into a song in which the singer ponders how powerful the impact of the Gospel story is. From there, the album covers the adoption of a Romanian girl living in poverty (“Little Maria), dealing with the loss of a loved one, but living with the hope that they are in Heaven (“I Still Miss You,”), a sobering narrative on a “problem” child (“That Kid,”), and a story about how just the simple act of striking up a conversation with a stranger ended up being an encouragement to both the stranger and the conversation starter. Most of those songs were written from personal experiences in Rogers’ life (many of which are told on his website), and it gives each a quality that any listener can relate to. The rest of the tracks are songs of worship that, like the other songs, have a very real, accessible feel.

Final thoughts: When I heard that this was a debut project, and that it was a collection of songs all written and arranged by the person doing the singing, I almost groaned. Most of the time, the trouble with these kinds of albums is that they fall into the trap of producing a bunch of songs that all sound so similar that it becomes bland and monotonous. Not so with Consider The Gospel. Rogers has managed to avoid that, and instead wrote songs that stand on their own two feet. Each one, like I mentioned earlier, has a message we can all relate to, and the lyrics are often thought-provoking. It is always refreshing to hear songs that can appeal to everyone, not just a selective audience.

Bottom line: For a songwriting and recording debut, Consider The Gospel is a fine piece of work.

Rating: 5 stars

Producer: Ricky Free
Label: Daywind Records
Website: www.brianfreeandassurance.com

Buy Here

Track list: Anything is Possible; I Believe; God Will Close the Door; The Part Where You Come In; Remind Me of the Cross; It’s My Life; Turn the Page; Stand Among the Millions; It’s Gotta Be God; Never Walk Alone

After Brian Free & Assurance released Live In New York City in 2005, many people waited with anticipation to see what the group would produce next. What could follow such a successful effort? The answer came in the form of 2006′s It’s So God! That particular album has been mentioned time and time again as a “career project” for the group. It received five-star ratings from many reviewers, and the song selection and production were top-notch. After bass singer Keith Plott left the group in 2007, Jeremy Lile, formerly of Crystal River, was hired and Real Faith was released. This garnered attention as being both Lile’s debut with the group, and the group’s true foray into the cutting edge of Progressive Southern Gospel music. While the song selection on that album and the next, Worth It, was certainly stellar, the major complaint that many had was that the production gave those efforts a computerized, almost robotic sound, which was a detriment to the body of music, and kept either of those albums from surpassing the quality and success of It’s So God!

Earlier this year, it was announced that Ricky Free, Brian’s son and former drummer for the quartet, would be taking over the production of the group’s projects, breaking Barry Weeks’ two-project run. Ricky had already produced a few projects for the group (Christmas with Brian Free & Assurance, Timeless Hymns & Classics Vol. 2, and Acappella) that were very well-done, and many, including this blogger, hoped that he would finally get a hold of a true mainline release and steer it away from the computerized sound, and get back to the pre-Real Faith quality of the group.

At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, Never Walk Alone is today’s It’s So God!

There is plenty to like on this project: song selection, sound, production; all are stellar. While the group still maintains the modern feel of their previous two mainline releases, the sound is crisp and clean with sounding completely tweaked. Songs like “Anything Is Possible,” “God Will Close The Door,” and “Turn The Page” have the driving, progressive sound the group is known for. The album has its fair share of slower songs as well; bass singer Jeremy Lile gets the lead on a beautiful track entitled “Remind Me of The Cross,” returning baritone Derrick Selph carries a “mission statement” song on “It’s My Life,” and tenor Brian Free lends his trademark soaring tenor for “Stand Among The Millions.” He is also featured on the project’s title track, and takes it almost completely solo save for some harmony lines by lead singer Bill Shivers from the second verse on. That particular tune is one of my favorites on the project for a few reasons: it’s a very real and powerful lyric, it highlights the tight harmony Free and Shivers have built in the ten years they have been singing together, and it’s a completely different sound for the group. The only instrumentation is piano and orchestra, making for a striking contrast from the rest of the songs to close out the project.

Final thoughts: I’m afraid I’ve sounded like a crazed fan all over this review, but the truth is, I don’t know of a single thing to complain about on this project. Every aspect of it, right down to the album liners, is top-notch. Brian Free & Assurance have certainly outdone themselves here, and I’m anxious to see how they will follow this one up in the future. This is surely one of 2010′s best albums in the Southern Gospel genre.

Bottom line: For fans of BF&A who are tired of the over-compressed sound and longing for the days of It’s So God!, I would encourage you to pick up Never Walk Alone.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Producer: Wayne Haun
Label: Mansion Entertainment
Website: www.triumphantquartet.com

Buy Here

Track list: “Saved By Grace,” “Love Came Calling,” “I Can Take You To The Place,” “Mercy, Forgiveness and Grace,” “Movin’ Up To Gloryland,” “The Undertaker,” “Jesus Is Your Ticket To Heaven,” “We Shall Overcome,” “Holy Hands,” “The Cross of Christ,” “You’ll Find Me There”

There are some groups that have established themselves in their time in the Southern Gospel industry as a group whose sound is instantly recognizable, whether it be in the style in which they sing, the vocal components, or both. Triumphant Quartet is definitely part of that class of groups. They also are distinctive in that they are one of those rare groups who have never had a lineup change in their entire existence, which is going on nine years. That’s quite impressive in and of itself, and no less impressive is this group’s ability to find and record material that is of considerable quality. Love Came Calling, the quartet’s first effort on the Mansion Entertainment label, continues that trend.

Out of the eleven songs featured on this project, four are re-imaginings of songs, which is a term that I use for a song that has been done before, but is taken by the group and made different enough that it is not merely a cover version. The first track, “Saved By Grace,” was done originally by The McGruders and is given an upbeat, orchestrated sound that is typical of a Wayne Haun production. The built-in encore seems a little redundant, especially with the fade-out ending, but that does not take away entirely from the quality of the song. Other covers include “Movin’ Up To Gloryland,” which features David Sutton delivering the famous “movin” standouts on the chorus in different ways throughout the song to give some variety, “Jesus Is Your Ticket To Heaven,” a jazzed-up Ronnie Milsap hit that features Clayton Inman, and “We Shall Overcome,” a Nelons classic that is also very well-orchestrated.

The original songs on Love Came Calling are no less stellar. The title track lets baritone Scott Inman deliver the song in a soft, understated way that lets the lyric effectively communicate, making it one his finer features to date. “I Can Take You To The Place,” is a brand-new song done in a straight-ahead convention style that the group does well. Tenor David Sutton takes the lead on “Mercy, Forgiveness, and Grace,” a new ballad that, like Scott Inman’s feature, is one of the best Sutton has done. Bass singer Eric Bennett delivers an eerie lyric about death from the perspective of the undertaker in a song entitled “The Undertaker.” The elder Inman sings a mid-tempo tune about the peace that comes knowing that “Holy Hands” hold us, and then the younger one carries a powerful ballad about the Cross in “The Cross of Christ,” and then turns around immediately following that to take the second verse on an upbeat new offering from the writing team of he and Joseph Habedank. Like the project’s start, this is a strong song that highlights the group’s harmonies, and shows that Inman can deliver a range of styles effectively, and it turns out to be one of the project’s best tracks.

Final thoughts: Like I mentioned earlier, Triumphant’s strength lies in having a very recognizable sound, and part of that is retaining the same lineup in their entire existence. Such consistency allows for a better harmony and sound, which in turn makes for good music. However, you can have great harmony and still have mediocre songs. Fortunately, Triumphant has time and time again avoided that pitfall. This project embodies a collection of both new songs that are high-quality, and old songs that are given new life. The production fits both the songs and the singers to a T, giving a bit of life to the music, but not so much so that it becomes distracting. I came into this review expecting a good product, and I did not leave disappointed.

Bottom line: Fans of Triumphant Quartet will find nothing to complain about here, as the group continues to produce quality material, even after a record label switch.

Rating: 4 stars

Producers: Wayne Haun & Lari Goss
Label: Gaither Music Group
Website: www.erniesigsound.com

Buy The CD Here or Buy The DVD Here.

Track list: “Wedding Music,” “Step Into The Water,” “Boundless Love,” “I Thirst,” “This Ole House,” “Champion Of Love,” “I’m Gonna Live Forever,” “Can He, Could He, Would He,” “Wonderful Grace Of Jesus,” “Sinner Saved By Grace,” “An Old Convention Song,” “Mexico,” “God Delivers Again,” “Life Will Be Sweeter,” “Moving Up To Gloryland,” “Plan Of Salvation,” “We Shall See Jesus,” “Yesterday,” “Gaither Medley,” “He Made A Change,” ”Oh What A Savior”

When Ernie Haase started the Signature Sound Quartet in 2002, it was no secret that the group’s ties to the Cathedral Quartet legacy were strong. After all, Haase’s father-in-law was the Cathedrals’ bass singer, George Younce. Wisely, however, the group set out to make a name for itself, rather than just riding on the coattails of the Cats’ success, although they did throw in the occasional Cathedrals song here and there on their project. Now that the group has established itself as a quartet all its own, it seems like the perfect time to give a salute to the group from which its founder came.

One thing I have always admired about Signature Sound is that whenever they cover a song that has been done previously, they do not simply do the same arrangement that every group has done; they try something new with it. Such is the case with the bulk of this project. Take, for instance, “Boundless Love.” Rather than starting the song with a couple of piano chords like you would expect, the opening “boom boom clap” (think Queen’s “We Will Rock You”) throws the listener for a loop and leads into a high-energy arrangement of the familar quartet number. Several more subtle changes are made as well, with inclusions that will intrigue long-time Cathedrals fans, like when piano player Wayne Haun is featured on “Champion Of Love” in an interesting parallel to piano player Gerald Wolfe’s feature on the same song when it was first recorded.

Final thoughts: Overall, I was very impressed with this body of work. Am I a fan of every song that was selected? No. But there’s really nothing here that has me reaching for the skip button. I’d much rather hear those particular takes on those songs instead of the take that every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a quartet has tried to do. That is one of the main reasons this project is such a good tribute; it’s not just recycled arrangements and lackluster performances. It’s an honest effort to maintain the originality and highlight the harmonies that The Cathedrals were known for.

Bottom line: For fans looking for a fitting tribute to one of the finest quartets Southern Gospel music has known, or a collection of classics that have been given new life, this is the project to turn to.

Rating: 4 stars

Producer: Rick Sandidge
Label: Mansion Entertainment
Website: www.threebridges.net

Track list: “David,” “Satan and Grandma,” “In The Valley There’s A Rock,” “Cooling Water,” “Not The Great I Was,” “Don’t Let Go,” “Everyday It Starts All Over Again,” “Wait On That Mountain To Move,” “I Believe,” “A Little Song Coming On,” “In The Sky,” “Free”

Three Bridges is a group whose name has been around for several years in Southern Gospel music. The trio debuted in 2002 with the Soldiers album, and from there went on to get nominations for awards such as the 2005 and 2006 Trio Of The Year in the Singing News Fan Awards, as well as have great radio success, garnering seven Top 10 singles and three #1 singles.

Other than the occasional appearance on TBN and a couple spins on the radio, I was not all that familiar with the group going into this review. I can remember hearing most of their stuff and not being entirely impressed. However, a lineup change earlier this year gave the Three Bridges sound a complete overhaul. Baritone and group manager Elliott McCoy filled the tenor and lead positions with Jeremie Hudson and Shannon Smith, respectively. Those two names should be recognizable to fans of The Imperials, as both of those men were with the group a couple years ago.  The change was met with a largely positive reception, and I can’t put it any better than fellow blogger David Bruce Murray did when he said that Three Bridges “went from a group I wouldn’t drive across town to hear to one I’d drive an hour or more to hear.” Refined is the first effort from this new lineup.

In a situation such as this where a group has had numerous hits and have a shakeup of this caliber, the best move is to make a release with covers of those hits as well as some new material. This way, their fan base can hear how the new voices handle the old material, but are introduced to the group having a new sound all their own. Refined does exactly that. The project wisely starts off with two new songs. The opening track, “David,” is an upbeat tune featuring lead Shannon Smith, as well as some tight harmony on the choruses. The next new song, “Satan and Grandma,” is an interesting country ballad about the power of prayer that tenor Jeremie Hudson delivers to fine effect. Just from these two songs, anyone even remotely familiar with Three Bridges can tell that the sound is something completely new for the group.

For the next nine tracks, many of the groups better-known songs are covered. Vocally, the group definitely turned it up a notch from the previous forms of Three Bridges. Hudson and Smith still have the dynamic harmony that they had with The Imperials, (check out “Not The Great I Was,” where the two hit a couple of David Phelps & Guy Penrod-esque chords) and baritone Elliott McCoy blends well with their voices, and the new versions of these songs blow the originals out of the water. The only downside to this is the fact that most of the group’s hits featured the lead singer and had a similar sound, so after hearing Smith’s voice on a lot of songs that sound close to the same, it starts to run together. The only old track that doesn’t feature Smith is “I Believe,” a slow, soft song near the end of the album featuring Hudson. A new track, “Free,” brings this CD to a close. It’s a progressive track that features a guitar in the mix with riffs similar to that from rock group Santana’s “Smooth” and a sound that recalls, coincidentally, something that a recent Imperials lineup would do.

Final thoughts: I was very impressed with the sound displayed here. The only real complaint I have is the one I addressed earlier: most of the covers sound alike, so it runs together. Nevertheless, this new chapter of the group sounds fantastic throughout, and I am looking forward to hearing future efforts from them.

Bottom line: Refined solidifies this lineup as a breath of fresh air in the history of Three Bridges, improving upon the group’s previous material as well as introducing new songs that show what the group can do on their own.