It seems that Youtube is becoming ripe with videos to feature this week. Today’s feature comes to us from Promise, a relatively new trio that started back in 2011. Their debut release got a 5-star rating from this site. Since that time, the group has had several changes, and the lineup stands today at tenor TJ Evans, lead/baritone David Mann, and lead/baritone Matt Baker. Baker also plays piano on select songs. The videos are from Mann’s Youtube channel, and are taken from a recent concert that was broadcast on the Internet.

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2013 brings a Southern Gospel news item right as the year kicks off! Promise has been “promising” (pun intended) big news on New Year’s Day. That came to fruition early this morning with the announcement of a new member for the trio. Here’s the press release regarding this hire:

Promise is thrilled to announce the addition of Matt Baker to their ministry. Matt is from Lenoir, North Carolina, has a lovely wife, and a beautiful baby girl. They are also expecting their second child next summer. Matt will be filling the baritone position, as well as bringing his piano playing skills into the mix.

“When Matt first stepped on stage with us, something clicked” says David Mann. “His pleasing voice and great personality make him a joy to have with us. And we found out that he’s not a bad piano player either!”

TJ Evans states, “We’re gaining both a great singer and a good friend in Matt. We’ve gotten to know him well over the last few months. He’ll bring a lot to our concert experience, and we’re very excited to see what the future holds.”

And… HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

You can visit Promise online at www.promisetrio.com, or they can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

You’ll notice that the release mentions that Baker is the group’s new baritone. This effectively gives the group a new dynamic, as former lead singer TJ Evans is bumped up to the tenor position, and baritone David Mann steps in at lead. Such a shift will undoubtedly bring some changes to the group’s sound, while still building upon the foundation that was already in place.

I’m glad that Promise will be capitalizing on Baker’s talent at the piano, as that will give a fresh aspect to their concerts. While there have been no video clips of this configuration of the group yet, I did come across one of Matt a couple of years ago, showcasing both his singing and piano playing:

This group may not have been at NQC, but here’s a lineup change that may herald the start of the “NQC Turnover” season. The Blackwood Brothers made this announcement early this morning on their Facebook page:

The Blackwood Brothers Quartet announced the retirement of lead singer, Jimmy Blackwood tonight at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center. New singer is Mike Helwig. He has a great voice and will be a great asset to the quartet.

Jimmy Blackwood has a long history in Southern Gospel music, starting with JD Sumner and the Stamps in the 1960s, as well as with his father James Blackwood’s group, the Blackwood Brothers, in the 70s and 80s. When I saw the group in concert a few weeks ago, I was struck with the energy and power with which he sang. While seeing an announcement about his retirement is somewhat of a shock, I wish him all the best, and am glad to know that the group will be carrying on under the leadership of his brother (and group baritone singer), Billy Blackwood.

That leads us to the new addition: Mike Helwig. Fans of Southern Gospel music will recognize him as the recent tenor of The Dixie Echoes, but his résumé also includes The Torchmen, The Stamps, The Wilburns, The Williamsons, The Blackwood Quartet, and, most recently, Promise. Helwig is leaving the tenor position with Promise to take the lead singing job for this quartet, and the group has picked a vocalist that fits their style and direction very well.

But why take my word for it? Hear for yourself! Here are two videos of the same song: “Jesus Is Coming Soon.” The first features Jimmy Blackwood with the current lineup of the Blackwood Brothers, and the second features incoming lead Mike Helwig during his time with the Blackwood Quartet (especially on the encore).

Here’s a few items of interest from the past week:

1. The Dixie Melody Boys are offering a limited edition CD of Ed O’Neal’s first ever recording. A copy of the Gospel Harmony Quartet’s debut recording has been found and re-mastered, and is the first of many recordings with O’Neal’s bass vocals. This is being offered in a limited supply of one hundred CDs at the DMB website.

2. Promise has announced that their tenor search is over. Michael Helwig will be joining David Mann and TJ Evans in the trio. Helwig has been with groups like The Torchmen, The Stamps The Homesteaders (Williamsons), The Blackwood Quartet, and most recently filled the tenor position for the Dixie Echoes. I am looking forward to hearing the sound with this new vocalist.

3. Speaking of the Dixie Echoes, a number of videos have surfaced with fill-in members. It is unclear at this point if these men have gotten the job, since no announcement has been made, but here are a couple of those clips:

Those two videos feature Mark Cates on bass and Junior Shelton on tenor. Cates has been on every video uploaded, but Shelton was only at this particular date as far as videos are concerned. This was also one of Stewart Varnado’s last concerts with the group. A video entitled “Dixie Echoes’ new pianist” has popped up, featuring a guy named Ben Hart:

4. Finally, here’s a clip of the Blackwood Brothers featuring new bass singer Butch Owens:

1. Promise Trio has been looking for a full-time tenor since their original tenor, James Bell, left to join the Army late last year. A couple of weeks ago, I posted some videos of a concert they did with fill-in tenor Daniel Rivera, and the feedback was largely positive as to the sound. To quell any rumors, however, Rivera says he will not be joining the group:

I just wanna thank everyone for being so supportive of me and the people who have helped me get where I am with singing and everything. As of right now, I am coming off the road from full-time traveling and singing. God has been so good to me! Even though I am young, I have had a lot of trials in my life, especially with my health. I am thankful that God has given me the gift to sing and share His word and the gospel! But as of right now, I have to put traveling aside and focus on getting my health back together. I will be continuing my ministries at my church in South Holland, IL.

Again, I thank God and everyone for everything! I say all this because I had posted a status like this after I had left my last group, but I continued my ministries and helped another full-time group with filling in a vacant spot for them, hence the reason why I post again. I know God’s plan is always perfect and I believe coming off the road from singing is part of His plan. I don’t know what the future may hold, but I know it’s something good! I love u all and thanks for being so supportive! My new solo album will be coming out soon! Basically will tell my life story. Hope ya’ll will like it!

According to a post on Promise’s Facebook page, an announcement is forthcoming about a new full-time tenor singer.

2. Diana Brantley has posted some videos of a concert from Palmetto State from a couple of weeks ago. Mike Allen and Larry Strickland were absent, but former group baritone Rick Fair filled in on bass. Here’s a video of “All Hail The Power” that gives a good taste of the vocalists’ sound, as well as that of the group’s piano player Casey Martin. It’s interesting how the group has rearranged the song; it was originally a song that gave baritone David Darst all the solos. Currently, it is divided among Jeremy Easley, Paul Lancaster, and David Staton. This kind of thing makes me interested in future arrangements of Palmetto State’s material:

3. Also in the interesting video category, here’s a “behind the scenes” clip of Driven Quartet in the studio listening to a cut from their upcoming project. It may sound familiar to some viewers; that’s because it’s a revival of a track that is found on the 1984 album The Prestigious Cathedral Quartet, which was tenor Danny Funderburk’s second release with that group. It is only fitting that his son, Jason, be the leader of the group that brings it back. Also, it looks like Wesley Smith is Driven’s official tenor, though I have seen no press release yet. Here is the final choruses of  ”I Would Not Be Surprised:”

On a side note, that must have been a LONG day in the studio!

Bonus video: The big news in Southern Gospel this week was the major change in the Dixie Echoes. Though departing member Michael Helwig sang tenor for the quartet, he has sung lead or baritone in several other places, including the Stamps Quartet. However, I came across this clip a while back that features Michael on the tenor part for the Stamps, albeit in what appears to be a fill-in situation. Here’s their rendition of “Rainbow of Love:”

Last Sunday, I headed over to Amherst, VA to hear this new trio in concert. Just over a year old, the group’s self-titled debut project received favorable reviews around the Southern Gospel blogosphere, so I was looking forward to hearing them in a live setting. Since this service marked the beginning of a week-long revival at the church, the group did an abbreviated concert, but still managed to sing plenty of music. Take a look:

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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.

In my absence last week, several news items cropped up in the Southern Gospel world, the better part of those being personnel changes. I don’t have much more to say on these developments that hasn’t already been said by the other bloggers, so I’ll encourage you to check out their posts on those. However, what I will post about is a plethora of recent video finds that piqued my interest:

First up is this collection of videos from a recent Gold City appearance:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrR_Cp4sIuA

Since the hire of Dan Keeton to the tenor slot, Gold City has brought back several songs they haven’t sung in years, this one being probably the most notable revival. I believe I posted another video of this a while back, but Keeton’s confidence and delivery has really developed on this song. Those that have pined for the Parrack-Trammell era of Gold City won’t find much to complain about with this lineup. I sure hope this group can keep together and produce original material soon.

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

Another Dan Keeton feature that has only gotten better with time. I read someone compare Keeton’s style of singing this song with that of the great Rosie Rozell. What a fine compliment for any tenor.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLCZPNl6_g4

This one’s just a mashup of different songs from the concert. Thanks to Diana Brantley of SGConcerts.com for capturing some of this concert!

Next up, after the dissolution of the Statement of Faith trio, Promise was born, and David Mann has posted some videos of the new trio:

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Several stories hit the Southern Gospel news this week. Here they are as they happened:

• From a press release by the Dixie Melody Boys, their 50th Anniversary album is now complete:

Dixie Melody Boys Finish Historic Album

The Dixie Melody Boys were recently in Nashville finishing work on their 50th Anniversary album, “The Call Is Still The Same”. The monumental project is a long time in the making. “It’s been nearly ten years since we have done a project of this scale. It will be a milestone for the Dixie Melody Boys. “said Ed O’Neal, Hall Of Fame bass singer and owner. To honor the history of this legendary group, they have included two previous DMB songs on the album. The rest of the project includes new material written by Gospel musics top writers including Daryl Williams, Marty Funderburk, Greg Day and Rodney Griffen. The album also boasts two songs written by lead singer Donald Morris. The new album highlights the current groups new direction and sound. “We are excited to blend our traditional Southern Gospel roots with a fresh approach reminisant of the DMB Band era.” stated Donald Morris.

The Dixie Melody Boys will be joined on this historic album by many former DMB Alumni as well as a few friends. “When we started working on this, so many of our friends wanted to be involved. It evolved from there into having them lend their talents on several of the songs. It will truly be a special event for us.” said tenor Matt Felts. Jason Crabb, Ernie Haase, Ben Speer, McCray Dove, Rodney Griffen and Harold Reed are just a few of the guests appearing. This will be the debut album for the group since signing with Song Garden Music Group earlier this year. A release date of July 1st has been set. A “CD Release Event” will be announced soon. For more information on the new album or where you can purchase a copy of this years must have album, go to www.dixiemelodyboys.com or to www.songgardenmusicgroup.com.

If you’re going to celebrate such a monumental event in a group’s career, that’s the way to do it; bring in a lot of the more well-known alumni to sing on the project. It is interesting to note that this will not only mark the group’s 50th year of ministry, but it will also be tenor Matt Felts’ first recording with them. All in all, it is shaping up to be a project well worth the purchase

• Speaking of the Dixie Melody Boys, it’s looking like they will be at NQC after all. In the first Singing News Showcase (the “straw poll” for the Fan Awards), the group will appear with both current members and alumni to celebrate their anniversary. It will be interesting to see exactly who will be on the stage among the alumni (the Ed O’Neal University has many graduates!)
• Statement of Faith Trio has reorganized as Promise. Lead Joe Kitson and David Mann, along with TJ Evans starting in June, will make up the new group. Mann’s wife Jael will be filling in on tenor until Evans can join. Tenor Jacob Kitson’s plans are to be announced, so be looking for more on this story next week.