www.TexasGospel.ca | office@TexasGospel.ca | facebook.com/TexasGospel
Horizon & Sonlite Records artists The Kingsmen and Endless Highway and producer Jeff Collins were honored for their work in the Southern Gospel genre at last week’s Absolutely Gospel Music Awards held at the Historic Franklin Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee.
StowTown Records is thrilled to announce the release of a brand new recording from multi-award winning group, The Perrys. John 3:16 features this popular group at their very best, delivering powerful songs that have made them a mainstay in the Southern Gospel Music genre for more than four decades.
Music runs through Scotty Inman’s veins. A second-generation vocalist, Scotty’s music career has taken him around the world and allowed him the share the message of Christ on stages that many only dream of.Â
CROSSROADS RECORDS
Arden, North Carolina (May 6, 2022) — Since 2018, the Down East Boys have been enhancing their reputation as some of the best singers in the genre with chart-topping and meaningful songs — and their latest song, “Your Sins Are Forgiven,” has been no different, quickly climbing the charts. Now, they follow that success with their new album, The Stories We Tell, out now from Sonlite Records.
The collection is the first featuring the current lineup of singers (lead Ricky Carden, baritone Daryl Paschal, bass Alex Utech and tenor Doug Pittman). The Stories We Tell offers a sampling of all the elements that have contributed to the success of the group’s musical ministry — uplifting songs; thoughtful, creative arrangements relevant to today’s faithful while keeping strong links to tradition; and, above all, singing that gives each voice an opportunity to testify within a tight-knit quartet setting.
Beginning with “Good In The Good Times,” which features Pittman on a rousing affirmation that “God is good in the good times and better in the bad,” and ending with a horn-driven cover of the popular Hemphills song “Ready To Leave,” the set includes current single, “Your Sins Are Forgiven”; the moving recollection of salvation as a youngster in “The Altar,” featuring and co-written by Carden with Chris Binion; the classic country-flavored waltz time “Before the Cross” featuring Paschal; “Don’t Want A Maybe So,” a call for “a faith that’s steady, stable, sure and strong” that finds Utech making his debut featured vocal with the group; and “The Story They Tell,” another Carden feature, and the song that inspired the album’s title.
“It’s hard to believe we’ve been recording with Sonlite Records for almost 20 years. So no need to stop now! We are excited about releasing The Stories We Tell, which is our first album with the current lineup of guys,” says Carden. “Daryl, Doug, Alex and myself worked really hard to find just the right songs with the right messages for the listeners. Our current single ‘Your Sins Are Forgiven’ has already made its way up the charts at radio and streaming and we know the fans are going to really enjoy all the songs. Our prayer is that this set of songs will encourage and brighten your day as you listen to the stories we tell.”
Listen to The Stories We Tell on Texas Gospel Canada!
SPECIAL: CROSSROADS RECORDS
Arden, North Carolina (May 6, 2022) — In October, The Primitive Quartet and Mountain Home Music Company began the groundbreaking Through The Years series that is bringing the beloved gospel group’s music to new generations of listeners through streaming services and digital sales platforms for the first time. These releases continue the group’s long legacy as a bluegrass gospel artist that started in 1973.
Now, the series continues with Volume 4, which features an a capella tune (“I Wonder What They’re Doing In Heaven”) and an instrumental (“I’ve Got That Old Time Religion In My Heart”), as well as three popular songs: “No Longer An Orphan” and “I Can’t But God Can,“ written by Reagan Riddle, and “Yes He Can,” written by Mike Riddle.
When completed, the series — curated by the Crossroads Label Group’s Greg Bentley and The Primitive Quartet’s Mike Riddle — will encompass eight volumes covering nearly 40 years of historic releases, including a Christmas collection and a compilation of songs from the several live albums the group has released over the years. Rarely has such an archival exploration been directed exclusively at digital platforms, and the combination of historical interest and forward-looking accessibility serves to guarantee that not only will long-time fans of the storied group have their favorites close at hand, but that the vital musical ministry of the Primitive Quartet will be available for discovery by generations of fans yet to come. Â
Listen for music from the Primitive Quartet on Texas Gospel Canada!
SPECIAL DAYWIND RECORDS
It’s been a special week for Karen Peck Gooch and her husband Rickey Gooch.
Rickey returns to Emory University Hospital every year for tests after battling cancer seven years ago. This year’s check shows he is still cancer free. But this isn’t the only thing they’re celebrating.
Rickey and Karen celebrated 33 years of marriage on Thursday.
Our best to both of them!
Listen for Karen Peck & New River’s latest “Answer Is Jesus” on Texas Gospel Canada!
SPECIAL CROSSROADS RECORDS
Arden, North Carolina (April 11, 2022) — Like a picture, a well-chosen name for a music group can be worth a thousand words — and to prove the point, one need look no farther than McKamey Legacy. In its simplicity, the name announces that the great Southern Gospel heritage of The McKameys, one of the music’s most beloved artists, is in the hands of a new generation, committed to honoring that legacy while carrying it forward into the future. And now, both the fidelity and creativity embodied in that commitment is fully revealed with the release of McKamey Legacy’s debut album for Horizon Records — the label which served as home to The McKameys for the last half of their decades-long recording career. The self-titled album is now available for pre-save, add or order ahead of its May 27 release.
Not surprisingly, McKamey Legacy starts off by immersing the listener in the new group’s approach to The McKameys’ voluminous song catalog. Indeed, the very opening notes to the first song, “The Message,” faithfully echo those of the original version, even as the new group recasts it as a female lead that features Connie Fortner, Ruben and Peg McKamey Bean’s daughter. Fittingly, the song is one of many written for The McKameys by Fortner’s sister, Sheryl Farris, as are the next two — “Always” and “I Will Trust You Lord.” Yet McKamey Legacy also serve notice that the trio — Connie, husband Roger and their son, Eli—are not content to recreate the past. Indeed, new songs lie at the heart of McKamey Legacy, with its interior half given over to fresh material, including the first single, “Still” — appropriately enough, a brand new song from Farris. The project closes by returning to The McKameys’ songbook with two old favorites, 1991’s “The Rising of the Son” and 1984’s “Dust On The Altar.”
To those familiar with The McKameys, McKamey Legacy’s simple, sturdy arrangements will sound immediately familiar — as they should, given the many years that Roger and Eli, who are responsible for most of the instrumental work here, spent with the group. Once again, though, a deeper listen reveals that the classic sound is being tastefully and reverently updated for modern ears, with subtle touches that underline McKamey Legacy’s determination to go beyond easy recapitulation. From start to finish, McKamey Legacy is a project that wraps its timeless gospel messages in a powerful blend of old and new.
“We are so excited about the release of our first project,” the group enthuses. “This project has a blend of old McKamey favorites, as well as a few new songs that have never been recorded before. We hope and pray that each song on this project brings comfort, peace and hope to each and everyone who listens to it, and we pray that every part of it brings glory to God, for He is the one who put this ‘legacy’ together.”
Pre-order, add or save McKamey Legacy HERE.
SPECIAL CROSSROADS RECORDS
Arden, North Carolina (April 29, 2022) — It’s been almost exactly two years since Horizon Records’Lauren Talley released her luminous, intimate version of the enduring “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow” — a heartfelt response to the uncertainties that gripped the world during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic — so to call a new single from the acclaimed Southern Gospel singer eagerly awaited scarcely does justice to the impact that “Shut Him Up” is likely to have on audiences more than ready to hear it.
Written by the team of Joseph Habedank and Jimmy Yeary — both accomplished songwriters adept at exploring a broad range of styles to find the best setting for a song’s message — “Shut Him Up” announces its perspective on the Resurrection almost before the first word is sung. As a repetitive guitar figure contrasts with a descending riff to create an almost ominous feeling that underlines the song’s contemporary arrangement, Talley begins with the tension between the miracle of Christ’s birth despite the efforts of King Herod, before moving quickly to the bold lyric of the chorus:
“They couldn’t shut Him up
They couldn’t keep Him down
They couldn’t stop what He was born to do
They tried to silence Him
By crucifying Him
They tried to seal Him in a cold, dark tomb
But when it was all said and done
They couldn’t shut Him up”
A second verse brings the message forward with its focus on the stone that was rolled away from His tomb, while a bridge before the final swelling choruses drives the point home:
“From the stable to the Sermon on the Mount
They couldn’t hush Him, couldn’t drown Him out.”
“I’m excited to begin a new era of music with the release of ‘Shut Him Up,’” says Talley. “It’s the first single off my first record as a full-time solo artist. Writers Joseph Habedank and Jimmy Yeary put a clever twist on a familiar story, and producer Gordon Mote helped create a fresh sound that I think fans are going to love. I haven’t had this much fun singing since my teenage years!”
Listen for Shut Him Up on Texas Gospel Canada!
Texas Gospel Canada Southern Gospel Radio 