What are we here for?

I am really glad that Daniel Mount is a part of the gospel music blogosphere.

Not only does he contribute many good topics for discussion, he inspires me to contribute my own ideas to the cyberworld.

Today, he posed the question "What is news?", and directed it to readers of southern gospel oriented websites and blogs. There is no doubt that a good deal of what purports to be news and information at these places is more filler than anything else. Some use their filler to press the hot buttons of their readers in order to attract response and attention. Other filler simply causes readers to wonder "Why is this here?"

I know I have been a "filler repository" of sorts on occasion in my little corner of the web...and no doubt, mine has inspired both the above cited responses in varying amounts, as well as variants beyond and in-between.

But my blog has never been a site that purports to report all the latest news of gospel music, so how does what I do fit in Daniel's discussion? I feel that there are general procedures that all internet sites, including e-zines and blogs, should follow when posting things that anyone with computer access can read. I try to follow them as best I can here.

First of all, consider who your audience is. Unlike some internet writers who only write with friends and other people they know in mind, I know that anyone who can log on to a computer can read what I write at any given moment. So I try to remember that not everyone knows who I am or what I do, and I never assume that someone will automatically understand what I'm trying to communicate. So I try to carefully word my thoughts as clearly and unambiguously as possible so as to not be misunderstood.

Of course, more than once in the history of this blog, I have had people read what I've said here and deliberately misread and distort what I've said, sometimes with malicious intent. That happens. I have also been guilty of not expressing myself as clearly as I could have. This happens often, too. Such things cannot be avoided when you take the risk of putting your thoughts down so that others can read what you say. But by and large, I try to post what I have to say as carefully as possible, while also mindful not to bore them or needlessly provoke them.

Second, know why you're writing. My blog is no more and no less a look at the world around me through my always inquiring and inquisitive mind. Sometimes I propose answers, sometimes just stop at questions. But I never pretend to be what I'm not. Although I've got a relatively good grasp of gospel music history, sports, media, and theology, I never consider myself an "expert" in any of those fields. I am always learning, and trying to understand more and more. The day I stop learning is the day my life will end. I hope to convey that tone to all of you readers.

Third, understand your audience. The people who read my blog are as diverse a group of people as there exists. My most avid readers range from gospel music professionals to casual gospel music fans, from politically conservative Christians to downright liberal secularists, and from avid sports fans to those who wonder why sports gets as much attention as it does in American society.

I would guess that most gospel music e-zines and news sites are made up of similar combinations of people. I feel it would behoove them all, then, to always be open to feedback from their readers and to listen to their likes, dislikes, kudos, criticisms, and concerns. Then determine how you can best meet their needs by what you write. Research into the composition of internet audiences is not as exact as that of research into other kinds of print and broadcast media, but it is possible to discern who your readers are, and how best to serve them.

And therein is my last point tonight. It's true I write this blog as an expression of myself(for who else can I express, after all?). But I try to remember that if what I say and do doesn't make a positive impact in the life of at least one other person, it is all in vain. I write what I do in prayerful hope that all of you will get something out of it that you can keep for a long, long time. It is part of my calling as a child of God to submit and serve Him for your benefit. I think such an attitude will enable all of us to fulfill our goals more effectively and serve more people.

We are not alone here...we all need each other.

Truly great gospel music

I enjoy sharing gospel music information with my friends.

Recently on a gospel music message board, I asked a trivia question about a well-known classic gospel quartet album.

Knowing me, it was not surprising that the gospel quartet doing it was the Couriers, and it happened to be about their first stereo LP, "I Believe".

Not only was it probably the first gospel quartet album issued with a "gatefold" cover(one which folded out), but I wanted the readers there to consider the place and way it was recorded.

The album itself is noteworthy for its inspired renditions of "It Is Well With My Soul", "Swing Down Sweet Chariot", "Lift Me Up Above The Shadows", and the title song, but has what I feel is the finest version of "He Bought My Soul At Calvary" ever recorded.

But it was recorded in 1961, before the Couriers became the well-known, acclaimed group they would be within just a year.

In fact, at that time(as was the case with too many quartets), times were tough for the Couriers, and if not for their own determination and trust in God's call on their lives, they might never have made that album.

It so happened that they discovered that a Harrisburg, PA area restaurant they frequented had a banquet room in its basement, equipped with an upright piano.

Seizing the moment, the dedicated quartet got permission to use that basement banquet facility to make a record. For in 1961, all a quartet needed was a piano to back them, and a certain amount of resourcefulness and creativity.

According to my good friend Neil Enloe, the quartet's lead singer and pianist at that time, the Couriers recorded their album right there, using blankets placed strategically on the piano to control its' sound for the purposes of noise control and recording.

The album was made, issued, and today remains one of the more sought after Couriers' recordings.

Today, so many gospel artists feel the pressure to record in the finest studios available, with the most well-known producer and engineers they can afford, and to use the finest in technological advances in existence(stacking machines, pitch correction equipment, etc.).

And if you can get that, more power to you. The better and more polished you can make your recordings, the better your chances they'll help your career grow and develop as quickly as possible.

But do you need that to make great gospel music?

Not necessarily. Consider the 1961 Couriers Quartet. They were just three years removed from Bible college, off to a bumpy start in the ultra competitive world of gospel quartet music at that time. They certainly weren't in the league of the Blackwood Brothers, Statesmen, or even the Chuck Wagon Gang at that time. They didn't have the backing nor the resources of those better known groups, nor the access(yet)to the finest recording facilities of the day. And there was no Wayne Haun or Lari Goss available to record them in the most state-of-the-art manner.

When the Couriers Quartet decided to record "I Believe", they were four dedicated, faithful young men singing their hearts out for God in the basement of a restaurant, accompanied only by an upright piano draped in blankets. Yet when you hear them sing "His Promise Is True" or "He Bought My Soul At Calvary", you feel that indefinable presence of a special spirit.

And really, to a lonely person listening to a record player in a dark room, do all the high-tech bells and whistles matter? Do they really enhance the spiritual experience of listening to the music?

You can understand every word the Couriers sing on "I Believe". And the arrangements are done in such a way that the emotive power of the music comes out in full force, unhindered by any artificial techniques.

And what more can music do than move the soul, and bless the ears of the hearer?

To one degree or another, we have become so accustomed to using all the gains of technology to achieve the most basic of objectives. And when it comes to making gospel music, we can easily drown out that still small voice if we're not careful.

I would argue that it takes greater musical skill to make classic gospel music from an imperfect facility and by covering a piano with a blanket and singing one's heart out than it does to commission the finest session players in the world and pressing buttons on high-tech machines to get similar results sound-wise, for practical purposes.

Now, mind you, within two years from the release of "I Believe", the Couriers used the most modern techniques and studios available along with an orchestra to make another classic gospel quartet album("Nothing...But The Gospel Truth"). And I treasure that album very much, too. But it took as much skill, musicianship, and faith to make "I Believe", and that album(and others like it)never fails to lift my spirits and bless me.

If you get the chance, listen to "I Believe", and see if it doesn't make you feel the same way.

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