Makes sense to me…
I just got through reading Danny Jones’ latest blog entry on the state of southern gospel music. I urge you to read it as well if you’d like, but a clue as to where he’s coming from is in the title, “If It Ain’t Broke, Why Fix It”?
So many today are insisting that gospel music change to keep pace with the times, that it’s not attracting any new fans and disappointing its’ long time ones. Danny understandably asks if that’s true, or are those who make such suggestions just making “much ado about nothing”?
Danny quotes from industry people who cite increasing attendance at certain annual gatherings as being up and their own experience at listening to doomsday prophets for decades saying that the music is on shaky ground.
True, many thought traditional quartet music was dead after the advent of CCM and more contemporary styles in the southern field in the late 1960s and early 70s. And after CCM became the “IT” sound in Christian music in the 1980s, the gospel quartet-based sound seemed doomed again.
But groups like the Cathedral Quartet and Gold City kept the traditional base going. And now, 20 years later, some are saying that the traditional sound is again under siege and must adapt to current “progressive” trends and withstand the challenges from within from artists like the Crabb Family. Is the traditional style on the way out?
One of the people Danny quoted didn’t appear very worried…he stated that as the gospel audience gets older(which we all do), their tastes become more settled and southern gospel sounds pretty good to them at that point. While it seems reasonable to assume that traditional sounds will always appeal to the aging fans, I hope that thinking so will not deter artists who make the traditional gospel music from trying to broaden their appeal to a wider audience.
Do I agree with Danny’s conclusions? Well, yes…to the extent that fans of traditional, four-part gospel music have no reason to fear that genre’s demise. That style of singing and the gospel quartet are integral parts of the American musical tradition, and will never disappear. Will “southern” gospel continue to be defined by that sound? I’m not as sure about that.
The one thing that is certain in history is change, and just like our father’s Oldsmobile has been replaced by other types of cars, our music will always change. There will always be other styles joining the ones that exist…but you know what? There’s room for everything…those of us who love quartets and the sounds of that music will always have it to listen to…different people will be singing it, but the types of music that have stood the test of time will always have adherents. We may have company from other styles from time to time, but the other styles have to stand the test of time, as quartet singing has, to claim an equal footing with it as a valid part of gospel music, and not just a trendy “fad” with no permanent shelf life.
The burden of proof, then, is on the other styles that try to push the traditional out of the way. Gospel quartet music will always be with us….and rumors of its’ death are greatly exaggerated.
Posted on Apr 22, 2006 - 07:58 PM | [0]
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