I wasn’t too surprised that Doug Harrison quickly pooh-poohed the news of the Gaither Vocal Band’s unheaval. I do agree with Doug to a certain degree, though. This could be the beginning of the end for the GVB.If the group does retire, say, in six months, though, wouldn’t this be a great group of guys for people to remember as the final version of the GVB? For final lineups, it would have to rank right up there alongside of George, Glen, Roger, Scott and Ernie.

I hope the group doesn’t come to an end that soon, though. With these particular pieces in place, the setup for the continuation of the GVB seems pretty obvious. Bill Gaither will retire at some point down the line, and assuming this combination works well together, they will continue either as the Gaither Vocal Band or under another name with Mark Lowry stepping into Bill Gaither’s shoes as the primary speaking voice for the group on stage.

However long it lasts, versatility appears to be the name of the game from here on out for the GVB. They’ve always had a deep bench of substitute singers they could call on if someone wasn’t able to sing, but having five singing together all the time will add a new dynamic to the mix.

Of course, Michael English has lost some of his upper register. He should be able to yield those frequencies to David Phelps and concentrate on his trademark soulful articulations with a cap of E above middle C or so. Lowry’s combination of wit and wisdom will bring back a familiar wrinkle. His vocal abilities were often overshadowed by his overt personality, but he returns with seven years of very successful solo experience under his belt. He’s a better singer for it, and a more rounded entertainer since he’s had to be more than just a cut-up at his own shows.

Will the star power of the other four ultimately squeeze Wes Hampton out of the picture? I hope not, because his tenor features will offer a nice contrast to David Phelps.

By the way, that horribly pieced together photo above is a great candidate for Photoshop Disasters.

Gaither isn’t a particularly low bass singer. Is there room to stack five distinct parts? Yes, there’s actually plenty of room when you take the added seconds and sixths that Gaither favors into consideration. With this roster, he won’t have to pick and choose which harmony to include. The expected notes of the triad or seventh chord can all be included with the addition of a extra tone for spice. The challenge will be to create the types of arrangements that reflect the expectations of the audience. If the GVB begins to sound too much like Take 6’s vocal jazz, their fanbase might realign a little more drastically than they’d like.

The most immediate and positive effect for the GVB is best expressed by a personal example.

Once I read the news about the return of Michael English, Mark Lowry, and David Phelps to the Gaither Vocal Band, it only took me 45 minutes to get a group of 8 friends to agree to attend their upcoming concert in our area. I told them it was going to be at least $40 a pop to get reasonably decent seats, and no one even flinched. One guy couldn’t go because of other plans he’d already made for that day, but every other person I asked agreed. None of those people would have attended the event before this announcement was made.

That’s star power at work. I suspect the event will be sold out by this weekend as word gets around.

The only element of this whole story that disappoints me is Bill Gaither’s lack of truthfulness about Guy Penrod’s departure back in October. I don’t see the advantage of the spin  lie that Penrod would return after a few weeks. Daniel Mount says he was informed in October that Penrod wouldn’t return on the condition that he not post it. As it turns out, the excitement over the return of what are arguably the three most popular members of the GVB alumni will overshadow this detail, but it still happened. Gaither could have just as easily announced that Guy had left in October and that Lowry, Phelps and Jason Crabb would be filling in until his replacement was named. Instead, he put out those feel-good lines about it being his idea for Guy to take a well deserved break for a few weeks to recharge and come back to the GVB stronger than ever.

Lest I leave this article on a down note, I want to say that one of the biggest thrills for me that no one on the discussion boards seems to be sharing so far is the fact that Guy Penrod is recording a solo Country CD. “Jesus And John Wayne” was enough to whet my appetite for such a CD. I’ll buy it even if no one else does.