Friday night was the official unveiling of the name of the group of individuals formerly known as Ryan Seaton Quartet. The new name of the group is Union Street, which is comprised of Toby Hitchcock (tenor), Ryan Seaton (lead), Andrew Goldman (baritone), and Aaron McCune (bass). They were accompanied on the piano Friday night by Roy Webb, but it is currently unknown if he will be their full-time pianist.
Union Street has a very bright future. Each of the four guys has a very strong solo voice, and when you combine the four of them together, it is strong as well. Normally my Review Mondays are reserved for CD or DVD reviews, but I decided to instead review what I like to call a “YouTube concert” of that night.
Lets take a look at each of the four guys who together make up Union Street:
Toby Hitchcock (Tenor): If you are looking for a current southern gospel tenor singer to compare Toby Hitchcock to, your best bet would be Wes Hampton. He has been called “an incredible talent” by Daniel J. Mount of SouthernGospelBlog.com, and Daniel is exactly right. Interestingly enough, Hitchcock has not had a long history singing southern gospel music professionally. However, he certainly has a bright future if he sticks with it. Here, you can hear some of the similarities to Wes Hampton as Hitchcock takes the lead on “It Is Well.”
Aaron McCune (Bass): While Hitchcock had very little history in southern gospel music, Aaron McCune has sung for some well-known groups including the Anchormen, Palmetto State Quartet, and most recently Gold City. According to his biography on Union Street’s website, McCune is a cousin of Squire Parsons. This video features McCune taking the verse on the classic hymn “The Old Rugged Cross,” with the rest of the guys joining him on the chorus. (For those wondering, yes it’s the same arrangement that EHSS used on their “Glory To His Name” project.)
Andrew Goldman (Baritone): The baby of the group is Andrew Goldman, who is finishing up his senior year of college at Oakland City University. Don’t let that baby face fool you though, because his voice is all grown up. If you are looking for a vocal comparison, I would say that he reminds me of a young Doug Anderson. Look out, because Goldman has a bright future in this industry! Just listen to this powerful rendition of “Who Am I?” from Friday night.
Ryan Seaton (Lead): There’s not much about Ryan Seaton that isn’t already known. He spent six years with EHSSas they made their rise as one of the top male SG quartets. After departing EHSS, he embarked on a solo career. He never lost his love for quartet singing even as a soloist. Here, he takes the Gaither Vocal Band’s arrangement of “Please Forgive Me” and gives it his own powerful flavor, showing why he is one of the best lead singers on the road today.
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There have been many questions as to the extent of Union Street’s touring schedule. This question has been addressed on the group’s website:
This group, aptly named “Union Street” will be touring, but at a limited scale. All of the members have families and if Ryan has learned anything over the past 9 years of traveling it’s how important family is to the success of a group.
Even though they may be starting out by touring on a limited schedule, it is hard to deny that Union Street has a bright future in this industry. Each of these men have the voices that can both carry a powerful lead, but yet blend together for some tight harmonies. Their energy and excitement for this music will help take them places, while they are still grounded enough to not let their singing careers take them away from their families.
Like Father, Like Son
Both of these videos have been posted elsewhere, but I thought it would be cool to put them together in the same post.
Like father (Ernie):
Like son (Eric):
I never got the chance to see either of these tenors with their respective groups the first time around, so Im just soaking it all in now and making up for lost time!
Posted by joshvanklomp on February 8, 2012 in Commentary, YouTube