Kyle Boreing
Apr 27, 2009
Observations
What if….
Okay, here’s an interesting (and purely HYPOTHETICAL) possibility….
Gold City is now looking for a tenor singer. Their previous tenors have had a history of relying heavily on their nasal singing capabilities (and to Steve Ladd’s credit, he seemed to move away from that as he grew with GC), and they worked out well with the other singers in the group at the time.
Now, however, Gold City is relying heavily on Bruce Taliaferro and Danny Riley, who blend well together and have similar vocal qualities. While I’ve seen people expressing interest in seeing Jay Parrack come back, I don’t think that would be the right move for their sound right now.
Jump over to the current 5-piece Gaither Vocal Band. Bill is using Wes Hampton, basically, as a utility vocalist. Since the beginning of the year, Wes has been filling the gaps when David Phelps or Mark Lowry have not been available (and has show some amazing range while doing so), but there have been a LOT of people out there expressing concern that Wes will ultimately tire of being the fifth guy in a group of former members who already have built-in fan bases.
Granted, I can’t see Wes walking away from what is probably one of the better financial situations in gospel music, but even casual fans have taken notice that Bill is taking the Vocal Band out on their own tour for the first time since the Homecoming inception. Theories and rumors are running rampant that this has to do in part with driving more sales, and if that’s the case, perhaps all is not golden in the land of Gaither.
Wes has a vocal quality that blends very well with just about everybody. He’s got a wonderful range, and is not a nasal tenor singer. While not quite a POWER tenor, I think he has a wonderful sound that would fit in well with Bruce and Danny. Not only that, but he has youth, and if he came from the GVB, would bring a bunch of fans with him, I’m sure. From a logistics standpoint, Wes lives in Birmingham, Alabama, which is an hour away from Gold City’s headquarters in Gadsden. That’s a much easier commute than the three hours it takes to get to Nashville.
In short….what if Wes Hampton were to join Gold City???
