Mark Trammell Quartet Live Concert

May 21st at 7 pm eastern

The Mark Trammell Quartet believes the Bible to be the inspired word of God. If you like singing and preaching that stirs the soul, makes you smile, and honors Christ, then this is a must attend event for you and your family! Sit back, relax, and join us for this lively LIVE CONCERT broadcast live from “The Rock” a vibrant church in Plaistow, NH.

ASGM Members $7.50, non-members $15.00

You can register and pay for the event here. The link to register is on the left under “Event Details.”

As I was watching some newer GVB footage, I came upon a clip of the Franklin/Mullins/Lowry/Gaither lineup on YouTube. The uploader says the performance was from a TV special hosted by JD Sumner & the Stamps. The audio quality isn’t that great, but this rare footage is still worth a watch anyways.

Now that that is settled, he was not on the road with the guys this weekend. Instead, he was at home with his daughter for her First Communion. I definitely respect Doug for taking time of the road so he could be with his family for this special event.

So back to EHSS. Similar to when Devin McGlamery was off the road after his injury, Wayne Haun stepped in to fill the void left by Doug. Doug is no easy void to fill, but Wayne did a respectable job from what I can tell. Here’s a video of Wayne singing one of Doug’s signature songs from the latest project, “Sometimes I Wonder.”

Ernie Haase & Signature Sound is (are?) blessed to have a pianist on the road with them that has the versatility of a Wayne Haun. It also helps that Wayne wrote many of the newer songs they perform on stage, making the transition run that much more smoothly.

We were introduced to Amber’s singing at a young age. She appeared on the Gaither Homecoming series at age 10, singing “Away in a Manger” on one of the Christmas DVDs.

The next time we heard from her was three years later, when she sang “Jesus, I Heard You Had a Big House”

Well, she’s all grown up now. As evidenced by her rendition of “How Great Thou Art.” If you think the first verse sounds sweet, just wait until you are blown away by the second verse!

As you can clearly see, Amber’s voice has matured beautifully. She definitely deserves to be in the discussion of the best young southern gospel singers on the road today.

I believe one of the reasons the Homecoming series has fallen off is due to some poor song choices to use on the video. Not that the songs are bad, but I just don’t think they had the same impact that others would have.

When the Homecoming series started, a large majority of the songs sung were ones that a majority of the viewing audience. However, as time went on in the series, they started to feature newer songs sung by the individual artists. You didn’t have the same sing-along feel that the early videos had.

However, the recent “Tent Revival Homecoming” and “The Old Rugged Cross” videos were very popular. These videos didn’t feature the legends of the early homecomings, but rather it was the songs that brought me back to the feelings I had watching the earlier videos.

So, this is my personal memo to Bill Gaither, even though he will likely never read this. There was an electricity in those early Homecoming videos that was second-to-none. Even though you cannot physically bring back some of the gospel legends that helped make those videos great, your song selection was another strong element of the videos. Keep the old classics fresh and alive by introducing them to a whole new generation of gospel music lovers. In my mind, thats what makes your videos great. Sure it was nice to see Vestal, George, Glen, Rex, J.D., and others, but what made the videos great at least to me was the feeling of singing along with my favorite artists. However, its difficult for your viewing audience to sing along to songs that they do not know.

Any other man who was sentenced to be killed
would beg for mercy from the courts that day
Any other man looking at his mother’s grief
would call the waiting angels to escape;
but Jesus wasn’t any other man

Jesus wasn’t any other man. I don’t know about you, but those words really capture the essence of this entire Easter season. Think about this. If you were a perfect man (or woman), would you be willing to die on the cross for crimes you didn’t commit? I know I probably wouldn’t.  But Jesus did.

If you follow the stage to the left, they set up folding chairs along the wall by the double doors on each side.

I finally found a seat in the side arm of the balcony, second row. I was next to two young couples in my row, with their six kids sitting together in the row in front (oldest of them probably in middle school). Probably 70-80% of the remainder of the auditorium was of the gray-haired variety, so I wondered how well the guys would be received.

Devin came out to do the pre-show product special. Before announcing the special he told everybody about why he is in a sling, saying that he would never argue with his wife again (don’t worry, Ernie told everyone the real reason later in the concert).

After a couple more minutes, the guys came out and opened with the song “Singing in the Midnight Hour”.

I know that last time I was at a concert I took videos, but I decided against that because it takes away from the concert experience for me. Plus, there are enough videos already posted to YouTube from their recent concerts. So that’s where the videos in this review came from. Instead, I sat back and enjoyed the music for once and also tried to people-watch for reactions.

A majority of the first half of the concert came from the brand-new “Here We Are Again” album, which I reviewed here. The first standing ovation of the night came after “Walk With Me,” which they finished without their microphones, much like this .

After a fairly long intermission, and Doug Anderson singing “Dreamin’ Wide Awake” and “Jesus Is Holding My Hand,” they sang a bunch of songs that had been requested. Among them were “Step Into the Water,” Can He, Could He, Would He,” and of course “Get Away, Jordan.” Even after the guys were done with the song and a joke about Ian’s Right Guard taking a left turn, the audience was still standing, so they sang the chorus through one more time. That one, I wasn’t expecting! They also sang “Yesterday,” which they said they hadn’t staged in awhile, but were messing around with it at sound check that afternoon. They added a new lick at the end that was unbelievable!

Ernvis was in rare form, and the crowd gave “Can’t Help Falling In Love” a very warm reception. The kids in front of me didn’t enjoy it quite as much as their parents were next to me. After a few more songs, the guys closed the concert with songs like “You Are Welcome Here,” “His Name Is Wonderful,” “Oh, What a Savior,” and “Boundless Love.”

By the time I stepped outside it was 8:55. The concert started at 6:00. Yes, it was almost 3 hours of a concert experience I will not forget for a long time! I bought their new table project DVD “This is Ernie Haase & Signature Sound,” and it is great! Be looking out for a review of the DVD in the hopefully near future.

Here’s another nugget for my Minnesota readers. I overheard Ernie talking to someone during the intermission, and he said that they recently booked a concert for the Twin Cities (it’s not on the website yet, so hopefully its okay that I announced it).

I’ve had people tell me before that $20 is too much to see a gospel concert. But my friends, its a $20 well-spent! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you might even see Ernvis!

Ivan Parker and Brian Free are no strangers to sharing the stage together, having spent time together in the 1980s with Gold City. In this funny clip, they help each other out as they each do their product pitches just before intermission of a recent concert.

Anyone have a favorite segment?

For the third consecutive year, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound will return to Atlanta Motor Speedway to perform the National Anthem prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 night race on Sunday, Sept. 2.Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (EHSS) is a Grammy-nominated and award-winning gospel quartet that combines modern musical concepts with the timeless quality of vocal groups to break the traditional mold of gospel quartets. The quartet was formed by Ernie Haase, the tenor singer of the famed Cathedral Quartet.

“Ernie and the guys have done an outstanding job on the National Anthem over the past two years,” said Atlanta Motor Speedway President and General Manager Ed Clark. “We have received more favorable comments than ever regarding their performance. They will be back for a third year by popular demand. Their anthem will be just one element which will make for a very special weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the AdvoCare 500.”

“Doug, Ian, Devin and I are so excited to be coming back to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the third year running,” said Ernie Haase, the group’s founder. “It’s an honor for us to be asked to sing the National Anthem at any event, but to be asked to do it at such a prestigious event as this, and for three years running, that’s just amazing. We’d like to thank Ed Clark and all associated with AMS for their faith in us. We hope to continue to impress the fans and to do everyone proud.”

Whether or not you agree with how EHSS is pushing back the boundaries of Southern Gospel, it is awesome to see a SG group “in popular demand,” as Clark said, on a national stage.

I know firsthand that if someone enjoys what they hear from EHSS, there’s a decent chance that they will branch out and find more Southern Gospel groups to listen to.

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.