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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July 28, 2007

Carolina Quartet's New CD - Faith Family & Freedom

As most of my regular readers probably know already, I play keyboard for the Carolina Quartet whenever my schedule permits.

We have a brand spanking new CD releasing very soon. Titled Faith, Family & Freedom, this recording features a number of Country Gospel classics.

This project was recorded at Son Sound studios in Gastonia, NC. The excellent David Johnson created the tracks. You can preview a couple of the songs from the CD on our MySpace page. Click HERE.

Our lead singer, Scott Whitener, produced Faith, Family, & Freedom. I brought in several ideas for songs to record early in the process, and five of them ended up on the CD. I was very pleased to have that type of input on the recording, and now that the final mixes are done, I'm delighted to see how the final versions of the songs turned out.

The Carolina Quartet plays all sorts of venues...malls, outdoor festivals, civic auditoriums, and of course, churches. A couple of our upcoming dates include the Mount Mitchell Arts And Crafts Festival in Burnsville, NC and a women's prison facility, for example. The vast variety of people who hear our music influenced the song selection for Faith, Family, & Freedom significantly. When you're playing music for a town square full of people who come from all walks of life, many of them will more readily identify with a song like "I Saw The Light."

Faith, Family, & Freedom is a cover project, but we didn't want it to cover too many of the songs that have been hashed and rehashed to death in the past. The focus of Faith, Family, & Freedom is faith, but it's also a set of snapshots that reflect how a Christian faith impacts our families and our freedom. The first two songs, "Walk On Faith" and "An American Family," define the topical scope of this CD. You may remember the original versions of these songs, recorded by Mike Reid and the Oak Ridge Boys respectively. Other song titles include "Try a Little Kindness," "You're My Best Friend," "'Nuff Said," "The Other Side," "Angels Watching Over Me," "Write Your Name," "I Saw the Light," and "The Home Stretch." (Yes, there's practically an Oak Ridge Boys tribute happening here.)

Most of you who read this blog only know me from my writing. I'd enjoy meeting some of you at a concert setting. Check out our schedule page to see if we'll be in your area. As you can see from our schedule, we primarily perform in the Carolinas, but we'll most likely venture into a neighboring state or two before the end of the year. A few more dates for the fall are currently being finalized, so check it again in a couple of weeks if you don't see a nearby date right now. (Our touring is necessarily limited, due to the fact that Scott is a Wesleyan minister, Chris Roberts is a music minister at a large church, and I'm a minister of music as well.)


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July 26, 2007

Old Records And Songbooks For Sale

Through SGHistory.com, I frequently get requests for info on where to purchase old records and print music. I don't know if this is a recent addition to SGMA.org or not. I'd never noticed it before. The Southern Gospel Music Association now has old records (and songbooks and old issues of Singing News) for sale via what I assume is a toll telephone number (865 prefix). The titles and prices are listed online.

Now THIS is a service SG collectors and fans should embrace wholeheartedly.

The SGMA started out strong by selling prints from commissioned Mitchell Tolle paintings that featured famous artists (the Lister print is my favorite). Then their fund-raising efforts became focused on stuffed bears and celebrity baseball games during NQC in Louisville. (This may be the last year for the ball game, by the way. They're tearing down the stadium next year.)

In comparison, dealing in old records and other classic products makes a lot of sense. What better way to raise funds for maintaining the SGMA than by selling the very history you're preserving? The prices are great, too, ranging from $2 to $15. I do wish they would include some indication of the quality.

Update (8:32 PM, 07/26/07):
Daniel Mount sez: This has been up for a year or more. I've purchased from it before, and was very pleased with the records I got. However, the page is hopelessly outdated--there is a record for sale there that I tried to purchase but was told was out of stock several months ago.

Well, that stinks. There's not much point in doing something like this if you aren't going to bring it up to date once a month or so.

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July 10, 2007

Submit Those CDs For Review/Rating

At my "Submit A CD" link in the menu up top, one of the items states, "Submission of your product does not guarantee a review." My mailbox sees a fairly steady stream of CD submissions, as you can probably imagine. About a third of these ultimately gather dust on my desk.

The fact is that I'm only able to sell a portion of the reviews I write, and there's only so many reviews I'm willing to write as a free service above and beyond those that I do sell. I've tried writing short "nutshell" reviews in an attempt to include every title received, but when I scan covers, type in song titles, etc., it can still be very time consuming.

I always feel a bit guilty neglecting someone's "baby," though, especially since I request these submissions. I particularly hate to leave projects that I consider to be 3-star quality or better unmentioned.
With that in mind, I'm about to make a promise that I hope will be appreciated.

In the future, every submitted CD will receive a published rating. That's the very least I can do for artists who take the time to mail a project in for a review.
(Of course, I reserve the right to revoke this guarantee if it proves to be too overwhelming at any point in the future.)

These "rating only" blog entries will include no details, no list of song titles, no record label info, and no cover photo. I'll merely list the artist name, the CD title, and a rating based on my 5-star scale.
Fair enough?

Of course, this won't replace my regular reviews. Any CD you submit will still have a chance to get the full review treatment. I've received a great deal of personal satisfaction from writing in-depth CD reviews for years, and I have no intention of stopping now.

This will merely be a handy method for clearing out the backlog that builds up from time to time.

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May 29, 2007

Roy Webb No Longer EHSS Pianist

From a Signature Sound newsletter issued today:

Roy Webb will no longer be the piano player for EH&SS. I want to publicly thank Roy for his three plus years of service to our group. We truly wish our brother and His family the best as they move forward. Roy gave us all many laughs.

Please keep EH&SS in your prayers as we too move forward in the days ahead.

Oh What A Savior He Is,

Ernie


The first reasons given were because of the family situation surrounding Roy's dad, but now the absence has been made permanent.

-Daniel Britt

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May 26, 2007

Honk If You Love Southern Gospel

When I was younger, I never planned for my life to turn out this way. At 25, I was into artists like Petra, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and Steven Curtis Chapman. 16 years later, it's Southern Gospel that defines much of my daily existence.

Some days I get two or three CDs in the mail from artists seeking a review, so I'm constantly hearing new music as well as older standards (mostly on my iRiver portable player). At church, about 50% of the music sung by the Adult Choir, which I direct, is Southern Gospel. (The rest is choral standards and P&W.) I write articles for this blog at least every couple of days. I play keyboard for two part-time quartets. I wrote an encyclopedia on the subject in 2005, which I hope to expand in another year or two. The list goes on and on.

Plus, I've had my license plate for so long, the stack of renewal stickers on it is an 1/8th of an inch thick or more. (I'm not stretching the truth when I say this.)

What does a license plate have to do with Southern Gospel, you ask? Well, I'm tired of the old plate.
I've been noticing these new NC plates on cars lately with red letters instead of blue. Plus, I wanted to do something fresh to promote this website, and a new license plate seemed like a good idea.

I've just sprung for the vanity plate pictured above.

I also just reserved the domain name in the photo, which will be pointed directly to this blog as soon as it goes into effect. Never fear, Musicscribe.com will continue to point to this website as well. I have it prepaid through 2014. (I would have used it, but NC license plates have an 8-character limit.)

So honk if you see me driving down the road in my goofy looking Kia Rondo (pictured at right). By the way, it DOESN'T get 29 highway MPG, no matter what they say. If you honk and the Southern Gospel music I'm listening to doesn't drown out your horn, I'll try my VERY best to remember to simply wave back at you (with all FIVE fingers completely extended).

"Bass-ically Yours" has been asking lately, "What are you doing to promote Southern Gospel?" (paraphrased). Well, I'm driving a Kia Rondo which I bought in order to conveniently transport my keyboard to gigs, and it will soon sport a license plate directing fellow travelers to check out THIS blog.


I'm going extra miles, literally, to spread the word.

UPDATE (May 26, 2007, 10:28 PM): I may have spoken too soon about my little Kia's mileage. I've had the car about six weeks now, and the best MPG figure as of yesterday was 24.5 (even after one tank that was mostly burned on the interstate). However, today, when I filled up my tank, the pump click off at 11.6 gallons and I could only force in another half gallon for a total of 12.1. I got 331 miles out of that tank of gas, which means the MPG was over 27...YEA! That's more like it! Now I'm just hoping this fill-up wasn't some sort of fluke...

UPDATE: (May 26, 2007, 11:34 PM): The new domain name is working now.

UPDATE: (July 15, 2007, 2:15 PM): I'm sad to report the mileage reported in my first update above was indeed a fluke. The next fill-up was terrible. Evidently, the pump used previously had an over sensitive kickoff trigger. It probably would have held at least another gallon with a regular pump. On the next tank, I filled up after going 200 miles and it held 9.6 gallons, which is 20.8 MPG. The two tanks averaged out to 24.4 MPG, which was mostly highway miles on a car that's rated to get 29 on the highway. NOT TOO GOOD!

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May 17, 2007

Hoppers' Ride On Canaan

Earlier this evening at a Hoppers concert in Rutherfordton, NC (which I attended), Dean Hopper announced from the stage that The Ride will be one of the first projects distributed by the new version of Canaan Records. This was during Dean's product pitch. He was encouraging people to buy the table version (which includes an bonus DVD), "because we aren't going to make any more like this." Then he broke the news about Canaan picking up The Ride. The Canaan version will only include the CD. He stopped short of saying the Hoppers had "signed" with Canaan. (Let's not get that cart in front of the horse.)

This is great news for the Hoppers.

The Ride
is far too good not to be sold in stores.


This is also a very smart move on the part of Dave Clark and Canaan. Even though they didn't really have anything to do with producing The Ride, putting their name and reputation on a high quality recording from the very beginning will demonstrate to the music world at large that they mean business.

Hmm...I wonder if Canaan will distribute that western CD the Booth Brothers recorded. I won't be holding my breath!

By the way, I don't know if Canaan plans to change the artwork on The Ride, but just for kicks, I went ahead and doctored up the photo displayed with this post.

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May 11, 2007

Three Bridges Crossing Over?

Don't get your shirt tail in a knot over the headline.

Three Bridges is playing at a major Black Gospel festival on May 26. Joyfest has been held at the Carowinds theme park just south of Charlotte, NC for a number of years. Click HERE for the story. The same promoters also have annual contemporary Christian days at Carowinds. They actually tried a Southern Gospel day for two or three years...I remember seeing the Dixie Melody Boys and the Isaacs there...but the attendance wasn't all that great.

Three Bridges will be appearing along with Black Gospel heavyweights Fred Hammond and Israel & The New Breed at Carowinds on May 26. Tickets are in the $45 range, but I'm pretty sure that also includes admission to the theme park.

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April 27, 2007

Website Stats

Doug Harrison has just reported his most recent stats from Averyfineline.com, so I may as well do the same. That way, those readers who are curious about whether anyone actually visits our respective blogs can give that itch a good scratch and be done with it for a while.

The Musicscribe.com domain has had 229677 page views and 145017 unique visitors in 2007. To compare apples to apples with AVFL, the month of March here at Musicscribe.com saw around 1800 page views per day, or a little more than half as many as AVFL reported for the same time period.

Also, I'm happy to add that the traffic at the SGHistory.com domain has surged considerably in April. We've had 59272 page views in 2007, with nearly half of those coming in April alone. With a few days still remaining in the month, we already have 27175 page views in April.
A big word of thanks goes out to all the editors who have so generously worked to preserve the history of SG music, particularly in recent weeks.

A bit of further explanation is probably in order. SGHistory.com launched in March of 2005. Our monthly page views have never surpassed 12,000 before. Of course, the added flurry of editing activity has surely counted for much of the increase in page view stats in recent weeks,
given that we have multiple editors posting from different computers, but that's really the whole idea that inspired the site. I believe we're well on our way to establishing a definitive site on the web for the preservation of Southern Gospel history.

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Dove Brothers Host Another Benefit Event

The Dove Brothers Quartet has already been involved with several benefit concerts in 2007. On July 16, they'll be the host group for an event that hits particularly close to home for group member, Jerry Martin.

Marisa Rosa is Jerry and Teresa Martin's great niece who has been diagnosed with leukemia. She has undergone a number of treatments already and will face much more of the same in the near future. The Rosa family is in great financial need. They also desperately seek your prayers.

The concert (which will also feature G.L.A.D, a trio from the Bladenboro, NC area) will be held at Galeed Baptist Church in Bladenboro, NC on July 16. The event starts at 7:30 PM. This will be a non-ticketed event. A love offering will be taken for Marisa and her family.

If you're unable to attend the concert, you can send donations to the DBQ office at: 713 South Main Street, Bladenboro, NC 28320. I
f you need more information, you can reach Jerry or Teresa Martin by phone at the DBQ office: 910-863-3808. Please pray for the Rosa family and ask God what He would have you do.

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April 17, 2007

Dove Brothers Headline Benefit Concert

I'm trying my hand at promoting a concert next week. If you're within driving distance of Rutherfordton, NC, I'd love to see you next Thursday, April 26 at the RS Central High School Auditorium!

Below is a copy of a press release I typed up and sent out to various Southern Gospel media outlets last night. It contains all the pertinent information.

(By the way, don't derive from the previous paragraph that I just started promoting the concert last night.
I'm not THAT dumb! About thirty of us have been busy getting the word out on this since January...posters, radio, advance ticket sales, church newsletters...the whole nine yards.)

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Dove Brothers Headline Brazil Mission Benefit

(Rutherfordton, NC) - This summer, a mission team from North Carolina's Sandy Run Baptist Association will travel to Brazil where a construction team will assemble a church building for a needy congregation. An evangelism team will also be making the journey to conduct worship services and witness one-on-one in Brazilian homes. During previous summer trips, the Team has seen hundreds of decisions for Christ in Brazil where the people are very open to hearing and accepting the Gospel message. The construction team also built a church in Brazil in 2005.

The award winning Dove Brothers Quartet will headline a special benefit concert for the Brazil Mission Team on Thursday, April 26 in the spacious RS Central High School Auditorium, located on US Hwy 221 just north of Rutherfordton, NC. The concert begins at 7:00 PM. Also appearing on the program will be regional favorites, the Carolina Quartet (formerly the Melody Masters), and the event's local sponsor, Southern Sounds Quartet from Rutherford County, NC. All profits from this event will be donated to the 2007 Mission Team to defray the costs of building materials (estimated at $10,000) and for the team's traveling expenses.

Concert tickets are $12.00, and will be available for purchase at the door on the day of the concert. For more information, call 828-248-3559.

Regarding this highly anticipated event, McCray Dove (DBQ Owner/Manager/Lead Singer) commented, "We are honored to appear at this special concert for mission work in Brazil. The Dove Brothers have a heart for seeing the Gospel message spread to the entire world."

David Bruce Murray (SSQ/CQ Pianist) added, "The current radio single by the Dove Brothers is so appropriate for what we have planned on April 26. Even if you're unable to support the concert through the purchase of a ticket, YOU CAN PRAY for this experienced Mission Team to have a successful and safe journey. We already know the hearts of the Brazilian people will be open and receptive to the Good News of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to assist the Mission Team through this concert by equipping them with the necessary tools for effectively accomplishing their tasks."


Dove Brothers Quartet

The Carolina Quartet

Southern Sounds Quartet

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April 11, 2007

Caeser Salad - Bruce Hornsby Fan Tribute Recording

Several day ago, I announced that I have a piano cut ("Heir Gordon") on a Bruce Hornsby fan tribute CD titled Caeser Salad. The official website for this recording is up and running now.

Go to www.saladcd.com for FREE DOWNLOADS of all 18 tracks. Donations to the Carolina Healthcare Foundation and/or the Merlin Project for Multiple Sclerosis are encouraged.

By the way, if you've ever wanted to "critique the critic," this is your chance. I can dish it out, so I ought to be able to take it. Feel free to give my track a listen and leave a comment beneath this post or on your own website.

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March 26, 2007

New At SGHistory.com

I'm pleased to say we've had a number of additions to SGHistory.com in the past few of weeks. Fresh blood contributors Levi Johnston, Jeff Foster, and Jarrod Boyd have been diligent in adding to the database...Foster in particular has added a great deal of information. THANKS Jeff, Levi, and Jarrod!!

New pages have recently been created for the Prophets, Called Out Quartet, Dixie Melody Boys, Statler Brothers, The Inspirations, Roger Bennett, and Jimmie Davis.

New pages are also up for the songs "Midnight Cry," "Oh What A Savior," "Champion Of Love," "I've Read The Back Of The Book," "Jesus Saves," "Amazing Grace," "Heroes Of The Faith," and "Step Into The Water."

Whether you're a full fledged Southern Gospel historian or just a devoted fan with information on one group, you are welcome to join us as we work to preserve the history of Southern Gospel music.

All you need is a little information from me to get started. Shoot me an email, and you'll be off and running.

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March 23, 2007

Caeser Salad - Bruce Hornsby Tribute - FREE MUSIC

I have a piano cut on an upcoming music collection. It's a fan tribute to Bruce Hornsby, with a total of 18 tracks contributed by names you've probably never heard...should be an interesting and eclectic mix. Titled Caeser Salad, this project is a sequel to another Hornsby tribute CD from a few years ago, Shadow Hands.

At some point during the month of April (the tentative date is April 9), the official website for Caeser Salad will go "live" and you'll be able to download the entire project...get this...for FREE. Donations to the Carolina Healthcare Foundation and/or the Merlin Project for Multiple Sclerosis are encouraged by the producer of this project, but not required.

I'll furnish a link to the Ceaser Salad website as soon as it's up and running. Meanwhile, you can go ahead and download Shadow Hands if you like.

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March 21, 2007

Roger Bennett Funeral Live Video Stream

Roger Bennett's funeral service will be streamed live over the internet this afternoon. Click HERE for details.

The video stream begins three minutes before 2 PM, Central Daylight Time. That's 3 PM Eastern, 1 PM Mountain, and 12 Noon Pacific.

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XM Special on Legacy Five, Bennett

I don't normally post on the blog much about upcoming shows of Daniel Britt & Friends on XM (really because you have several other places where you can keep up with that: the schedule page, the newsletter, or enlighten34).

However, there is a unique spotlight coming up that I thought you should know about.

Before Roger Bennett passed away on the 17th, we had plans already in place, and the broadcast fully produced, to air a special on Legacy Five the week of 3/26/07.

Now that Roger has passed, this interview and L5 spotlight will be even timelier. This is one of Roger's last interviews, recorded during NQC week 2006, just following the news of his leukemia relapse.

There's a lot of conversation with Roger in this special where he talks very candidly about his health struggles and some hard places where he has walked.

You will notice a tribute to Roger just before the produced broadcast airs. This edition of the program will last over an hour.

Here's the official synopsis of next week's show:

Coming up on the next Daniel Britt & Friends: In the quartet world of gospel singing, a group of FIVE guys may seem to be a quandary. Not so when talking about Legacy Five! This "quartet," with their talented pianist Roger Bennett, carries on a legacy the spans generations. You have the invitation to hear their music and share stories of their individual lives coming up. We've got them all sitting around our table with a place set for you, too. Glenn, Frank, the two Scotts and the one and only Roger are here for the hour. With the passing of Roger earlier this month, this interview provides one of the final opportunities for listeners to hear directly from his heart. It was recorded in September 2006, just a matter of days after Roger's reoccurrence of leukemia and he talked with us about that current situation he faced. In addition to the special hour-long highlight on Legacy Five, we also begin the program with a tribute to Roger Bennett. This is certainly a program worth holding out for and it's coming soon on Daniel Britt & Friends.

Daniel Britt & Friends is heard each week on XM Satellite Radio's enLighten 34 - Mondays at 7PM ET, Thursdays at 10PM ET, and Saturdays at 12 Noon ET. You can also hear it online at xmradio.com, at AOL Radio, or with DirecTV on channel 828. After the broadcast, you can download the extended interview from www.danielbritt.com

-Daniel Britt

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March 20, 2007

Oak Ridge Fan Boy

On Friday, I'm off to Johnson City, TN to my first ever Oak Ridge Boys concert. I've wanted to attend one of these events for years (literally), but every time I learned they were coming within driving distance, I already had something planned.

Not this time.

I ordered a tee shirt from their website.

I hope it shows up before Friday.

I'm an Oak Ridge Fan Boy.

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March 13, 2007

Southern Gospel launches in Canada

This link announces the addition of XM's Southern Gospel radio channel, enLighten, to the satellite radio menu in Canada via XM Canada (www.xmradio.ca).

This announcement also means that the weekly release of "Daniel Britt & Friends" will now be heard throughout all of North America.

Expect these changes to take effect April 1, 2007.

Welcome, Canadians!

-Daniel Britt

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March 9, 2007

Blogger Summit Report

I just got home a short while ago from the "Blogger Summit."

In attendance were Mickey Gamble, Chris White, Scott Wagner (sp?), and Jim Stover of Crossroads; Wayne Haun and Kevin Ward of Vine Records; bloggers Doug Harrison, Daniel Britt, and me. Daniel Mount participated by phone as well.

Mount has posted a running commentary of our discussion on the Singing News forum. Go ahead and read that first, if you want, because I'm not going to rehash what he's already posted.

In a nutshell, the agenda for the day presented by Crossroads was:
1. Let's talk generally about various aspects of the industry.
2. Here's what we do in these various areas.
3. Do you have any questions?
4. What would you do if you were in our shoes?"

Topics included the state of radio, television, concert promotion, product distribution, finances, declining sales trends, marketing techniques, the Singing News chart and Fan Awards, SG choral music, record production (particularly song selection), and artists. A few acronyms were thrown around...BMI, NARAS, AGM, etc.

For those of you worried about us being bribed, I guess I should disclose that we all got a free DVD and Crossroads picked up the tab for lunch. No cash...oh well...I guess I'll just have to keep on being honest with my opinions rather than becoming a devious promotional mouthpiece for the SG recording industry. :o)


Seriously, at the end of the day, I was glad to have the opportunity to meet several people I hadn't had the chance to meet previously. In the process, I learned some details about the recording industry that will help me be a more accurate blogger in the future.

Additionally, I had the opportunity to make a couple of face-to-face suggestions to the Crossroad execs about embracing digital downloads (which they appear to already have in the works) and being pro-active in improving inferior SG radio (which they aren't really doing at the moment, but have tried in the past with only marginal success). I was also able to lend some perspective to the discussion from my previous experience working in Christian retail.

What was the result of today's meeting? We met, we talked, we ate, we talked some more. Only time will tell if anything fruitful actually took place today, but that wasn't really the point. The point was to give bloggers an opportunity to share suggestions with Crossroads while they in turn gave us a glimpse "behind the curtain" of the Southern Gospel industry.

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March 7, 2007

Blogger Summit

No one else has announced this yet, so I might as well be the first.

Doug Harrison, Daniel Britt, and I will be meeting with some Southern Gospel record execs this coming Friday to chew the fat. Daniel Mount will be joining us by phone as well.

Call it a meeting of the minds or a meeting of the mouths or a meeting of blogger's whose first names begin with D.

It should be interesting. And no, I don't expect we'll be signing any recording contracts...the Blogger Quartet...the mind reels with sarcastic comebacks to an announcement like that. :o)

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