Ever wonder how some of the legends of yesterday that are no longer “in the spotlight” sound today on a more modern song? Here’s one of those legends: Ernie Phillips. One of the more famous tenors to come along in the history of the Kingsmen, and Southern Gospel in general (remember his big ending on “Love Lifted Me” on Live… Naturally?), and the father of Mark Trammell Quartet tenor Eric Phillips. Since the departure of Harold Reed for the LeFevre Quartet, Phillips has been filling in for The Kingsmen. Here he is taking one of Reed’s signature songs while with the group, “God Saw A Cross.”

If this doesn’t make the case for why The Kingsmen should try their hardest to get Phillips out there with them full-time, I don’t know what does. (Well, this and the fact that, from what I hear, he can still do those sky-high endings!)

Update: Daniel Mount informed me this morning that there had been more videos from this concert uploaded since this post went up. I’ll post a few more, some of which also highlight new lead singer Bob Sellers. Even if Ernie Phillips doesn’t turn out to be the man for the job, this is still an interesting look at one of the legends still toting the mail!

Yes, it’s true! Via the group’s Facebook page:

After three months of searching, praying, and auditioning. Mark Trammell Quartet is happy to announce that former Mark Trammell TRIO tenor Eric Phillips will rejoin the group at the end of the year. Eric has faithfully served the city of Gadsden, Alabama as a law enforcement officer for the last 2 years and has earned highest honors in his service to them. Eric states “When music is in your blood, its hard to get it out. I’m looking forward to getting back on the road with Mark and the guys, seeing friends I haven’t seen in two and a half years and most importantly encouraging people with the gospel message thru song!” Mark states “I couldn’t be happier with Eric‘s decision to return. He loved being a police officer and I admired him for his work. The first song we sang together when he asked to be considered again confirmed what God was trying to tell everyone in the room. All I can say is welcome home Eric, good to have you back!”

Mark continues “We would like to thank 28 men and two ladies that showed interest in filling the position. We are honored that you would trust this ministry that much. Also, we MUST thank our friend Jim Cox from Cumming, Ga for his excellent job of filling in at the tenor position over the last two months. Jim has been a true joy to our fans and friends across the country.”

As always, a classy press release from a classy group.

2011 has proved to be a year of returns for fan-favorite singers to the groups which propelled them to that state. Earlier this year, we saw Burman Porter return to the road with the Dove Brothers. Now more than ever, I can say that the Mark Trammell Quartet is the group to watch. Eric has a tenor voice that is high and consistent, and helped to give the trio version of this group the “wow” factor. I believe it was Daniel Mount that stated that Always Have A Song, the Mark Trammell Trio’s final project with Phillips’ voice on it, just sounded like a quartet album without a bass. Phillips’ return will make that quartet a reality!

Join me in welcoming Eric back to SG!

I got this in my inbox this morning. The Old Paths have hired this singer after Brandon Barry’s move to the LeFevre Quartet.:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqv5b6FW_0Y&sw

Can you guess the age of this bass singer (or who it is?) I feel like I really should know who he is, but my mind is drawing a blank! From the angle the camera is shooting, the guy almost looks like Pat Barker, and the sound is reminiscent of Barker’s as well, but I’m pretty positive that he hasn’t left the Mark Trammell Quartet. We will soon know for sure who the guy is! My guess for the age is somewhere in the 20-25 range.

In yet another find coming from user iamredeemed1, here’s some videos of the Mark Trammell Quartet in a concert that took place the same night as the Tribute Quartet concert mentioned earlier. As revealed in these clips, the group is staging songs from their new Daywind release, Testimony, which was produced by Lari Goss. I remember having a conversation with a couple of the group members a couple months ago, and they stated that this release would not predominantly feature the typical big, orchestration-driven sounds usually found in a Goss production (although they are certainly present on some tracks.) Judging from the clips, they were right. It actually sounds rather like something that any given lineup of the Cathedrals with Mark Trammell might have recorded.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhjyk8KU0fQ

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZF0WD3Z3X0

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