A look at Gold City’s Facebook reveals that the group has clips of the new project up. Here’s the playlist from their Bandcamp page:

It seems that two songs that were on the original list have been cut. One, of course, is “I Stand Redeemed,” which was removed after Josh Cobb’s departure. The other song is “Heaven,” which was the Michael English hit from the 90s that was also to be a tenor feature. Other differences I noticed is a change in key and new instrumentation on “Peter, James, and John,” as well as a rearranging of the song order.

The music player states the release date to be November 15, and these clips have me excited to hear the full release.

At long last, Gold City is completely finished with the project that they have spent over a year and a half, and a couple of lineup changes, making. The announcement was made this morning on Gold City’s Facebook page:

It is finished!!!!!!!!!! Our new CD will be available the first week of November!!!!

There you have it. Now, maybe Gold City can get this behind them and look ahead to the future with this great new lineup.

Last night, I attended a Gold City concert about 45 minutes away from me, and took plenty of video of the event. Rather than write a review, I’ll let the videos speak for me.

This was my first time seeing them outside of NQC since Brent Mitchell and Craig West were still with the group. I was looking forward to hearing Dan Keeton with them, as well as hearing new lead singer Jerry Pelfrey. He has only been with them for a couple of weeks. Take a look at how the sound has come together:
(more…)

Youtube user bigdrummer21 has put up a couple of videos of one of Jerry Pelfrey’s first concerts as lead singer for Gold City (hat tip, jdsumner):

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsnOJ1P6p4U

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIv5XV0Oa6E

Though the videos are certainly not pristine quality, these offer a glimpse into the potential of this lineup. I noticed that Pelfrey’s stage presence is already strong, and will only get better the longer he’s with the group. I can already hear the Ivan Parker similarity in his voice as well. I’m looking forward to hearing them for myself in a couple of weeks.

Jerry Pelfrey. He’s apparently sung in some regional groups, and he’s from Chattanooga, TN. He just put on his Facebook that he is the new lead. A press release should be forthcoming soon.

He should be appearing at NQC on Thursday (h/t, Brandon.) Brandon has some clips of Jerry’s singing, and he sounds like a young Ivan Parker. It appears Gold City will not be losing a thing in the lead department.

Nate Stainbrook has the scoop straight from the horse’s mouth at NQC: West is leaving because two days a week at home is not enough time to raise his son. The quote here:

“Well, you see I have never traveled with a Southern Gospel group before, and I have a ten year old at home that has been used to seeing his daddy home every day. At first it was fine as my son thought it was real cool that his dad was a singer; but after awhile it started getting to my son that he only gets to see me maybe two days a week. My wife told me one day that our son was not doing well at all without his dad at home. So I went and talked to my son about it, after some gentle prodding, he told me that really wants me to be home with him again. Well you see I myself had been feeling like I was not putting my family first and then when my son verbalized his feelings to me about the situation which convinced to start really seeking God’s will. One day while I was running some errands my old boss saw me, and said he wanted to talk to me about something. So we went to lunch where he asked me if I were interested in coming back to his company. After which he told me that God had been impressing it on his heart to talk to me about working for him again. Well I knew then what I had to do. I got ahold of Danny and let him know what was going on.”

Gold City has had a lot of changes take place over the past couple of hires, and I won’t go into the nature of all of them here, but this is probably one of the most clear-cut reasons out of the bunch. Family is important, and often, juggling family and work becomes a full-time gig in and of itself. Some artists (and their families as well) can handle Dad being out on the road so much better than other singers or their spouses/kids, and they make it work. Others don’t handle it quite so well, as is the case here. It is perfectly understandable why Craig is stepping down; there’s no hidden agenda here, and Stainbrook finally going and asking him about it can put the rumors to rest better than any press release about the departure. Yes, he’s leaving, and it is to spend more time at home. As disappointing as it may be to some, Craig is just doing the right thing, the honorable thing, and there’s no juicy story.

Craig West is a tremendous young talent, as I have said many times. His contributions to Gold City’s sound, though short-lived, was profound, and I will miss hearing what he brought to the table. Perhaps one of these days, we will see and hear him again with another big group.

I have been told that Gold City has already found a new lead singer from a regional group, but I will refrain from posting who it is until I get the green light. I wonder if he has already put his vocals on the upcoming project…

Since the official hire of Dan Keeton to the tenor position in the Gold City quartet, the only video footage available came in the form of two videos from a webcast on a date when Keeton was filling in. He was still getting used to the other voices and the material at that point, but it still sounded good; however, more footage was being sought after. Finally, more has come. Take a look at these videos, the first being what is apparently Keeton’s signature solo that he has brought to the group, Oh What A Savior:

That video alone is probably the finest performance I’ve seen Keeton give ever, much less with Gold City.

Here are some more of him tackling some Gold City fare:

Interesting to note about this one: I have heard many a person say that they wish Gold City had hired Keeton after the departure of Jay Parrack. I’ve noticed an increase in the number of Parrack era songs being brought back recently, and this one is one that is exceptionally challenging for tenor to consistently sing because of the high arrangement. Keeton passes the litmus test for that one (even though I’m pretty sure I’m hearing stacks, he comes through clear enough that you can tell he doesn’t fully rely on their support.) (h/t Nate for posting the video first over at his blog!)

This one includes a fun moment before Gold City sings by bringing on a “scrap-iron” quartet of tenor(!) Jeff Easter, lead Scott Fowler, baritone Clayton Inman, bass Tim Riley, and pianist Jeff Stice.

I’m back! It seems like that I have said that a lot recently, but quite honestly, this senior year of high school has thrown my schedule out of whack more than it has ever been. Hard to believe it will be over in a little over two months. On a positive note, I finally made my college decision, and will be attending Radford University in the Fall as a Software Engineering major!

Now, turning the focus back onto the world of Southern Gospel, Gold City is once again welcoming a new tenor. From a Facebook message posted by Gold City around the time I started this post:

“Brent Mitchell has decided to come off the road. Dan Keeton is the official new tenor for Gold City. As many of you know, Brent and Heather welcomed a new baby girl, Paislee, back in January. She has been experiencing some health problems and he has decided to come off the road to focus on his family. We will miss Brent and covet your prayers for his daughter. For more on this, visit goldcityqt.com“

Earlier today, Dan Keeton posted an open letter at his website, keetonsong.com. You can read the letter in its entirety there, but I will post an excerpt of it that makes the announcement:

“…As of Monday, March 28th, 2011, I retired and disbanded “The Keetons”. Nancy is doing what she loves, being a High-Risk Labor and Delivery RN. Jim Sheldon will follow his calling in a full time music ministry and your friend, Dan Keeton, has accepted the position of Tenor in the one and the only … Gold City Quartet!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support of The Keetons. Please come see me soon with Gold City!

Dan Keeton
www.goldcityqt.com”

I was talking a friend of mine the other week after a webcast appearance of Gold City in which Dan Keeton was filling in, and at the time, I was unimpressed. It could have been the quality of the webcast, the fact that I was forgetting that it was only his second night out with them, I don’t know; whatever the reason, I told my friend that I didn’t think Keeton was a good fit at all.

That being said, I have heard clips and comments from several people who don’t mince words about what they think about a group’s sound; people who can be very tough critics. Every single one of them have come away from seeing Keeton with the group recently saying that the sound Gold City had was unbelievably strong, and that it was reminiscent of the Jay Parrack days. I’m hoping some new video will pop up soon, because my interest has definitely increased.

My doubts in Dan’s fit have certainly been erased by what I have seen and heard, and may this lineup of Gold City have the best possible run it can have! I certainly wish Brent Mitchell and his family well, and I encourage you all to pray for he and his little girl as they deal with the recent health issues.

Update: Also from Facebook, a personal statement from Brent Mitchell:

For all who have asked. I am no longer with Gold City. My 3 month old daughter has been very sick for the past few weeks and I feel I need to be with my family at this time. Family has always come first in my life but I am so sad to leave my dream job. I just did not think it was fair to Gold City for me to hold them back not knowing the future health of my little girl. Please pray for my family that she will get thru whatever her little body is going thru right now. I will miss GC and cherish the little time I had there!

I got the opportunity to attend a benefit concert in my area last weekend featuring Gold City, Garden of Grace, and Doug Smith. This concert was part of an annual series put on by Central Virginia Angel Hearts, and all the proceeds for this event went toward the medical expenses of Erin Hope Coleman, a four-year old girl who has complications due to a very premature birth. I was unable to take any video, but my friend Andrew Graham was, and here’s what he posted:

“It Won’t Be Long” will be featured on the groups upcoming release, Somebody’s Coming, but in the meantime, they’ve been staging the song and working in some comedic moments!

What Children Believe – This was an unplanned moment in the concert, but Daniel had remarked from the stage how fun it was to watch little Erin Hope (the girl whom the concert was held for) dancing around to the songs the group was singing. As soon as he said that, she made her way up the stairs to give him a big hug. He picked her up and told Bryan he wanted to do this song for Erin Hope, and so the group did. This was one of the highlights of the night, as far as I’m concerned.

Truth Is Marching On

Midnight Cry – New lead singer Craig West has been making quite a name for himself in that position for Gold City, especially on this signature song. Ivan Parker may have introduced it, but Craig gets my vote for the best singer to take it on since Parker. It is worth noting that I was told after the concert that Craig was still recovering from bronchitis that night.

Anyone who has perused the various SG blogs these past few months undoubtedly knows that former Mercy’s Mark bass singer Chris West (who is, coincidentally, Craig’s brother) is the soundman for Gold City, and that he has been coming up to sing bass on a couple of songs every night. Daniel Riley confirmed from the stage what speculation has stated for some time: Chris is being prepped to take Tim Riley’s spot when he eventually retires again. West only sang this song, “After A While,” with the group that night, but judging by the sound and the response of the crowd, he will be the perfect fit with the group.

Due to “real world” time constraints, and the fact that the Southern Gospel world has been relatively quiet, I haven’t been blogging lately, but time is more free now, and what better to start the blogging back up than a news roundup of the past week?

1. The Songfellows Quartet have announced the hire of two new members, and the change and people hired are big enough that this announcement caught my eye immediately. On tenor is a recognizable name from his days with the Singing Americans, Stamps, Kingdom Heirs, etc., Rick Strickland, and bringing the bass part is Brad Smith, whom you may know from his days with Monument Quartet and Blackwood Quartet, among others. Both of these hires possess considerable talent; I have long said Smith is one of the most underrated vocalists out there, and while Rick Strickland sounded a bit shaky at the Singing Americans reunion, time on the road will solve that. While I’m not all that familiar with the Songfellows, this personnel change is very intriguing, and I’m hoping to get to hear them sometime soon.

The rest of my updates are nothing but Youtube videos, so let’s get started!

This video of a young Scott Fowler with The Sound has been making the rounds, and rather than be redundant, I won’t post it, but if you look through that particular user’s channel, he has a veritable gold mine of footage from groups. Here are a couple clips I found, but if you have the time, it’s well worth it to go through his entire channel:

To finish up, here’s the first clips of baritone Jon Epley with The Inspirations: