Dave's Top Eight

1. Jerry Reed...Revisited by Darrell Toney (reviewed 6/07) (5 Stars)
2. Sounds Like Sunday by Janet Paschal (reviewed 5/07) (5 Stars)
3. True To The Call by Kingdom Heirs (reviewed 3/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
4. Revival by Gold City (reviewed 10/06) (4 1/2 Stars)
5. Get Away Jordan by Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (reviewed 2/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
6. Breakin' Chains by Three Bridges (reviewed 5/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
7. Big Sky by The Isaacs (reviewed 4/07)
8. Skywriting by Mercy's Well (reviewed 7/07)

Click title to purchase at CBD.com...click artist name to read Dave's Review. A CD will automatically fall out of the Top Eight after twelve months if no CD surpasses it before then.

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May 16, 2007

The Return Of Canaan

Reading Doug Harrison's musings about the return of Canaan Records sparked some random thoughts in my brain as well.

The potential that a new Canaan offers is picking up where Spring Hill left off and possibly going further than Spring Hill ever did. If Canaan signs some ex-Spring Hill groups who haven't found label homes yet (like the Booth Brothers and the Hoppers), that's well and good. Maybe they'll pick up the Florida Boys, who haven't had a decent recording in a while now.

These groups need a good label home just to maintain the level they've already reached. The Hoppers proved they could put out a good CD on their own, but where's the distribution? If The Ride isn't available at www.cbd.com, it's not very likely to be in many Mom and Pop retail outlets. The Booths have been biding their time and putting out decent custom level recordings, but where's the radio airplay? Granted, they're still working singles off of their 2005 release, He Saw It All, but I'm not sure how much that's translating into album sales at this point. Adding the Florida Boys would be a nice gesture, given the historical significance of the group.

I don't know if any of these are potential Canaan signees. I'm just saying there are existing artists that could lend validity to the Canaan roster and benefit from such a relationship themselves.

However, it isn't the obvious that makes me hopeful about a Dave Clark led Canaan Records. I'm more interested in learning what sort of fresh talent he'll be signing? Will there be any crossover work or specialty projects? (A Southern Gospel female trio recording consisting of Amy Grant, Judy Martin, and Sonya Isaacs with Vince Gill producing is one possibility that springs to mind.)

More than anything else that may come out of a revived Canaan, you have to think the songwriting standard is going to be set high with a guy like Clark at the helm. That's worth allowing your mouth to water a bit. Word Distribution's channels are as large as they get in Christian music, which is another plus. As for airplay, hopefully an added influx of quality will force Southern Gospel radio to step it up. That hope is weak, unfortunately, given SG radio's track record. At least there's XM's enLighten channel, which should give the Canaan label artists national exposure.

The good (or bad) news is that down the road, Canaan can simply apply a pop touch to the artists they invest in, focus on Christian contemporary airplay instead, and not be too deep in the hole when all is said and done. (I thought Spring Hill was going to do this with the Booth Brothers, in fact, when they put a BB cut on one of their worship CDs.)

It looks like Canaan is poised to give SG a fair shot. This in and of itself is welcome news. Spring Hill finally gave up. Gaither Music Group, Daywind and even the more conservative Crossroads labels are diversifying stylistically to cover their bases for the future. Will the output of Canaan be richly blessed and perhaps even "save Southern Gospel from itself" as Bill Gaither did in the 1990s? It's a lofty goal for sure, and my expectation is that perhaps they'll have a good influence. Specifically, I'm expecting Canaan to deliver production/vocal/arranging quality that will rival the latest CDs by the Isaacs and the Gaither Vocal Band within their first two years, and I'm hoping the songwriting will be even better. (That's not to say the Isaacs or GVB songwriting quality isn't up to snuff, just that I'm expecting a consistent quality in the songwriting department from Canaan.)

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posted by David Bruce Murray @ 12:11:00 AM


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