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Dave's Top Eight
1. Jerry Reed...Revisited by Darrell Toney (reviewed 6/07) (5 Stars) 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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Most Recent Articles
Why blog? (Three years and counting)
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-----------July 28, 2007Word Reps' Canaan Comments Shot DownThere's a news story on Reuters that more or less shoots down the info Daniel Mount was given at a trade convention a few weeks ago regarding the immediate future of Canaan Records. On the question of whether or not Canaan's music will be available in digital formats, there's a quote by Dean Hopper: Dean Hopper said he's particularly excited about the label's digital initiatives. "The digital age is here. How are we going to compete? How are we going to move our music into the future? I think Word has got the best handle on that." Granted, there are no details and Daniel's question was regarding back catalog, not the Hoppers. At the very least, though, it appears Canaan will make sure the music of the Hoppers is available via digital distribution channels. Let's hope they consider their old material worthy of digital distribution as well. Another sentence that caught my attention addressed Daniel's question of whether or not Canaan plans to sign artists other than the Hoppers. Rod Riley used to be my telephone rep at Provident back when I worked in Christian retail. Rod followed his father-in-law from Provident to Word, and he's now Word's Senior Vice President of marketing. In this Reuters article, the final sentence quotes Rod: Riley said the label is negotiating with other artists and will announce additional signings soon. This is good news. What artists would you go after if you were making signing decisions for Canaan Records? Leave a comment with your "advice" to the label. Labels: In The News, Observations July 25, 2007On The Crabb FamilyThe end of an era is coming in a few days. The Crabb Family took the Southern Gospel industry by storm in 1996. By 1998, they had their first number one song on the Singing News chart, "Please Forgive Me." I first saw them in 1998 at NQC, where they captivated the crowd with this song. The song held the top position for four months (Jul-Oct), an accomplish they would never repeat...the four month stay at the top, that is...they would have 13 more number one songs over the next seven and a half years, though. Their record of 14 numbers ones was set in October 2005. They held this record alone until it was matched in August 2006 by the McKameys. (The McKameys' chart toppers are spread over 22 years.) July 31, 2007 will mark the official "end" of the Crabb Family as a touring group. The siblings will be starting various ministries...not before they leave us with a final recording, however, titled Letting Go. A song "Child Of The King" will be the first release from the new recording that attempts to add to the already impressive string of number one songs for the group. I believe it's safe to say no other Southern Gospel group has provided us with such a wide diversity of musical styles in such a short time. From the National Quartet Convention to Brooklyn Tabernacle, the Crabb Family crossed stylistic barriers to take their music to the masses. They also brought us a degree of drama when traditional fans felt they had gone "too contemporary" with their music and/or appearance or when the outward appearance of marital bliss came crashing down. I have a feeling some fans will miss them for one reason and some will miss them for the other. I'll miss the Crabb Family, because when opening a new CD, I never quite knew what to expect. Driven remains my favorite Crabb Family CD. I'm looking forward to hearing the music they will create post-split. Labels: In The News, Observations June 26, 2007RIAA Gets Sued...Shoe's On The Other FootLink to story Beaverton (OR) – Former RIAA defendant Tanya Andersen is now suing the major record labels and the RIAA for negligent and illegal investigation and prosecution. In a thirteen count civil suit filed in Oregon District Court, she alleges that record labels didn’t use properly licensed investigators and violated her privacy. You may remember Andersen as the single mother who was accused of illegally downloaded music through peer to peer networks. After a two-year legal battle, she forced the RIAA to dismiss the case with prejudice. You can read all the legal torment that Tanya Andersen was forced to endure by clicking HERE. Read the summary of her counter suit HERE. It contains such gems as "Settlement Support Center also falsely claimed that Ms. Andersen had 'been viewed' by MediaSentry downloading 'gangster rap' music at 4:24 a.m. Settlement Support Center also falsely claimed that Ms. Andersen had used the login name 'gotenkito@kazaa.com.' Ms. Andersen does not like 'gangster rap,' does not recognize the name 'gotenkito,' is not awake at 4:24 a.m. and has never downloaded music." To sum it up, the RIAA sued a disabled 42-year old single mother in Oregon two years ago, accusing her of illegally downloading music from the internet. Her daughter was 7 when the alleged copyright infringement occurred. Among other things, the RIAA demanded to interview her daughter face-to-face, three years after the alleged violations were said to have occurred. Ultimately, the case was dismissed "with prejudice" (meaning Andersen was free to seek to recover her expenses incurred for the lawsuit). Andersen has now filed her own lawsuit against the music industry. This could be a landmark case. The tide of RIAA abuse could be turning, pending the result. I'm all for using music legally. I don't advocate downloading copies of songs you don't own in some legal form. However, the RIAA has been emboldened by some bad law in recent years and as a result, they're finally getting some much deserved egg on their faces. If you're an artist or songwriter who thinks whatever the RIAA does on your behalf is well and good, consider the following... The RIAA attempts to collect $750 PER SONG for every illegal file discovered in a violator's possession. These are songs that can be been purchased legally for less than $1.00 each. How could this possibly be considered a reasonable penalty? The RIAA makes the Internal Revenue Service appear almost as forgiving as God Himself. For contrast, if you break federal law by failing to file a tax return, the IRS levies a 25% penalty plus interest (6% annually). For each month you fail to pay the penalty, you're charged an additional .5%. If the RIAA were the IRS, you'd pay less than $2 per song if you got caught stealing. $750 per song is only the beginning, though. That's just for civil cases. It gets much worse if the RIAA wins in criminal court. For a first time offense, a violator could theoretically be fined $250,000 and spend FIVE YEARS in prison. For comparison, I once sat on the jury for a criminal court case where we agreed to convict a man for voluntary manslaughter. The judge only sentenced him to FOUR years. Something is seriously out of whack in our society when stealing a song carries a more serious conviction that killing a man. But that would be only for a truly serious violation, right? Maybe not...the RIAA's website asks, "Don’t you have a better way to spend five years and $250,000?" Directly below this question is a list of examples of what could cause you to suffer such a fate. The first example reads, "Somebody you don’t even know e-mails you a copy of a copyrighted song and then you turn around and e-mail copies to all of your friends." The implied threat is that even if you obtain one file, not of your own free will, and share it with people you do know, you could go to jail and owe more money than the total income of the average person multiplied by several years. If that's not proof enough that the RIAA might sue you in criminal court for a minor violation, consider the case of Tanya Andersen...a woman who was sued without a shred of merit. According to reports, she had never even heard of file sharing at the time she was sued. Let's hope her countersuit takes some of the wind out of the RIAA's over-inflated sails. Labels: Copyright Law, In The News, Observations June 19, 2007Peace Back On The Road.. We're not sure whySGReporter Update 06/19/07 JEREMY PEACE BACK ON THE ROAD.. WE'RE NOT SURE WHY Peace says: "Southern Gospel is not exploding, but simply imploding on itself." read the story here: Labels: In The News, Observations June 12, 2007Despite Reports, All EMI-CMG Titles Aren't Available DRM-Free At iTunes At the following link, we read: http://www.cmspin.com/newsmanager/anmviewer.asp?a=4331&z=26 "This week, Apple launched its iTunes Plus option, featuring music from EMI artists -- including EMI CMG's ENTIRE digital catalogue -- in a higher quality DRM-free format." Later in the article, the writer adds: "From award winners Chris Tomlin, tobyMac, Nichole Nordeman and Steven Curtis Chapman to newcomers Mandisa and Britt Nicole, EVERY EMI CMG favorite is now accessible in DRM-free format via iTunes Plus..." (The emphases on the words "entire" and "every" are mine.) The truth isn't quite that rosy. If you've upgraded to iTunes 7.2 by now, type in "Steven Curtis Chapman" and see how many of his releases are available in the new iTunes Plus format. Chapman has recorded for EMI's Sparrow label his entire career, but The Great Adventure is only available in the old DRM-crippled format that has been around since iTunes began. The same goes for More To This Life, For The Sake Of The Call, Signs Of Life, Heaven In The Real World, and others. Only a minority of titles from Chapman's vast repertoire are in the DRM-free format as of this moment. I was wanting to buy the alternate versions of "The Great Adventure" off of The Live Adventure, but that recording is still crippled by DRM as well. You'd think if EMI wasn't going to be totally honest in their press release, they'd make sure they were telling the truth about the six artists whose names they listed as examples at the very least. DUH! Admittedly, the ratio is much better for Nordeman, Tomlin, and tobyMac who have smaller "catalogues" than Chapman, but even those artists have at least one CD that isn't DRM free yet. They could just as easily have said "some" or "most" rather than "entire." They must think we're all too dumb to notice they fibbed to us. Well, one of us isn't. Release the music already...or stop saying you've released it all until you really have. Labels: In The News, Observations May 29, 2007Roy Webb No Longer EHSS PianistFrom 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 Labels: Announcements, In The News, members May 28, 2007Southern Gospel One Of "Three Big Differences" For Wyoming NativeFrom Hattiesburg, Mississippi comes this response to the question, "Give me three big differences between Wyoming and Mississippi." 1. The weather. 2. The culture. It's a slower lifestyle generally than Wyoming. 3. I like the Southern gospel music. LINK Labels: In The News Denny As KennyThe Register-Herald of Beckley, West Virginia had an extensive and entertaining story yesterday on Dennis Murphy's side gig...impersonating Kenny Chesney. LINK Labels: In The News May 23, 2007Anthony FacelloSGReporter UpDate 05/22/07 ANTHONY FACELLO BACK ON THE ROAD After filling the tenor position with Heaven Bound, the Down East Boys, the Journeymen and Mercy’s Mark,.. now Anthony Facello announces that, in a few weeks, he will be premiering his new group Crossroad. read the story here: Labels: In The News May 5, 2007More Gaither Brothers Click HERE to read a 2001 newspaper article that mentions the "Gaither brothers," "Lynda Randell," and "Anthony Berger." (I've linked to Google's cache of the article, because The Daily Toreador requires registration for you to view their articles directly.) One direct quote from the article states: Gaither began his career with his three brothers as a part of Bill Gaither and the Gaither Vocal Band. In a post from last week, I mentioned a poorly written report in passing that could have very well come from a grade schooler. In contrast, the example today comes from a NEWSPAPER (a college publication at Texas Tech, from the look of it), supposedly operated by intelligent, scholarly minded grown-ups, complete with an editorial staff and everything. Labels: In The News, Observations April 26, 20072007 Dove AwardsThe 2007 Dove Awards were distributed last night. These awards recognize achievement in all of Christian music for the period of November 1, 2005-October 31, 2006. Below are some winners that should be of interest to Southern Gospel fans. The complete list of winners is available HERE. Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year - “Give It Away”; Give It Away; Gaither Vocal Band; Gloria Gaither, Benjamin Gaither; Gaither Music Group Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year - “My Cross”; Flyin’ High; Lewis Family; Wayne Haun; Vine Records Country Recorded Song of the Year - “Jonah, Job And Moses”; Front Row Seats; Oak Ridge Boys; Tia Sillers, Bill Anderson; Spring Hill Music Southern Gospel Album of the Year - Give It Away; Gaither Vocal Band; Bill Gaither, Michael Sykes, Marshall Hall, Guy Penrod, Wes Hampton; Gaither Music Group Bluegrass Album of the Year - Flyin’ High; Lewis Family; Wayne Haun; Kevin Ward; Mountain Home Country Album of the Year - Precious Memories; Alan Jackson; Keith Stegall; Arista Records Labels: In The News The Christian/SG/BG Genre MythDaniel Mount blogs on John Styll's comments regarding Southern Gospel, Black Gospel, and the "umbrella" of all other forms of Christian music. Mount found Styll's original comments at Nashville's Channel 2 television station's website. (You can also view a video of the news story at that link.) "John Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association, defines gospel music, not as genre, but as a huge umbrella that today covers every conceivable musical style. He said, “Christian refers to a message to the lyrical content not so much the musical form.” According to Styll, there are only two genres of gospel music; the black gospel of Mahalia Jackson and the southern gospel of the Blackwood Brothers." Styll is halfway correct. Gospel/Christian music in general is not a genre. "Christian Rap" is mostly just bad attempts at rap with Christian lyrics, for example. Come to think of it, I could shorten that label to something more accurately descriptive, but I won't, since this is a family oriented website. I kid!...I actually own some Christian rap. (I don't own any modern rock, beside which rap looks tamer and tamer as the days go by, though. Watch that video and you'll hopefully see why.) Back to the point... I agree with Styll that Gospel/Christian music in general is not a genre. But by the same arguments he poses for the "umbrella" of Gospel music not being a genre, neither is Black Gospel or Southern Gospel. The musical style of the Blackwood Brothers wasn't unique to Gospel music. It was much like the pop music of the same era. In fact, the Blackwood Brothers got their big break by winning American Idol. (OK, so it wasn't called American Idol, back then...it was Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.) More than just a few groups had regular radio broadcasts where they sang both pop music and Gospel during those days. This has generally endured within Bluegrass and to a degree in Country where artists like Randy Travis, the Oak Ridge Boys and others have incorporated a healthy dose of Gospel music in their performances. You see very little of this in mainstream pop or other more recently popularized styles, though. When a Christian star like Amy Grant or Sonya Isaacs attempts to cross over with a song that appeals to mainstream audiences, their existing Gospel fans protest loudly. Grant is an example of one artist who overcame this obstacle. Isaacs, so far, is not. Granted, Styll attempts to label Black Gospel and Southern Gospel as genres due to what he believes to be common lyrical characteristics, but if that's the case, why is every other musical genre on earth primarily defined by the musical style? You don't define rap by lyrics primarily...you define it by the style in which those lyrics are delivered. Ditto for Country, disco, etc. There has never been a popular musical style that was reserved only for Gospel music and there never will be. At some point, sooner or later, a popular style that was considered to be exclusive for Gospel or secular WILL be repackaged. The original American music form known as the Negro Spiritual ultimately influenced styles that became the Blues and Jazz. Going back even further, J S Bach wrote music for the church as well as instrumental music with no innate spiritual connotations whatsoever. What's sacred about Bach's two part invention in A-minor? Nothing. By the way, it's also a bit funny when you look at the entry for "music genre" on Wikipedia after reading or hearing Styll's comments. Contemporary Christian Music IS listed as a genre, but the only two Gospel genres (according to Styll) aren't. Hey, they got it wrong, too. :o) That being said, I guess I expected more in terms of accuracy from the head of the Gospel Music Association than from Wikipedia on this particular topic. Additional source material for your consideration: 1. The blog of the reporter who did the story on GMA week. 2. www.dictionary.com definition of "genre" Labels: In The News, Observations April 18, 2007Diamond Awards Ever More BogglingVoting for the 2007 Diamond Awards is taking place HERE. The deadline for getting in your votes is May 19, 2007. Let me just say this about this year's crop of nominees. If you are one who looked over the Dove Award categories a couple of months ago and felt like something wasn't quite right with one or two nominations, your sonar signal ought to be red hot after seeing the Diamond Award nominations. You'll look at some of them and say, "WHO?" This is a cloud that hangs over these awards every year. Of course, it's inevitable with the Duet category when there's so few well known duet configurations from which to choose. Other categories are more telling, though. In the Male Vocalist category, you have Jason Crabb, Guy Penrod, etc., and Dale Golden. In the Female Vocalist category, you have Kim Hopper, Lauren Talley, etc., and Cheryl Golden. In the Trio category, the Mark Trammell Trio evidently isn't nearly as popular among Southern Gospel fans as Faith 3, the Alan Harris Family, and the Wright Family...yeah, wright. But it isn't just that aspect... The 2006 WINNER of the "Album Of The Year" (Give It Away by the Gaither Vocal Band) is nominated again for 2007. If the people running the Diamond Awards don't even bother to check to see when an album was released to be sure it falls within the year they're recognizing, how can these awards carry any degree of credibility? It's So God by Brian Free & Assurance is also nominated, even though it released very early in 2006. I could perhaps see that slipping in, but you'd at least think they'd remember, "Hey, the GVB won last year with Give It Away...maybe it shouldn't be nominated this time." Labels: In The News, Observations April 10, 2007PR Photography: Spit Out Your Gum!I'm honestly not doing anything here but having a good laugh. No hard feelings are meant by this post; please don't read that into this. I opened a Press Release via email recently with this high-resolution, professionally photographed image of Eighth Day announcing a talent search to replace a member of their team. This image is what I saw:  A closer look, thanks to such high resolution, shows that Mr. D in the middle likes his chewing gum! -Daniel Britt Labels: Advice, Humor, In The News, Observations April 7, 2007EMI DRM-Free Music Available NowThe first EMI artist to release DRM-free music since the Apple/EMI joint announcement is an alternative band called The Good, The Bad, And The Queen. The story is HERE. They didn't wait for Apple's launch of the higher bit-rate files on the iTunes store, nor did they use Apple's proprietary AAC format. Instead, they are offering their music as 320kbs MP3 files at their online store. (Granted, you'll have to convert British pounds to dollars if you're in the USA wanting to buy these files.) See also: More DRM Bites The Dust DRM Dam Finally Bursts Labels: In The News, Observations More DRM Bites The DustFollowing the lead of Apple, Microsoft has announced they will also offer DRM-free music from EMI at their online store. The full story is HERE. "Consumers have made it clear that unprotected music is something they want," Asher said. "We plan on offering it to them as soon as our label partners are comfortable with it." By the way, I have inquired as to whether or not EMI's deal with Apple will affect Gaither label products such as the Homecoming series and music by artists Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, the Isaacs and the Gaither Vocal Band. Gaither's label isn't owned by EMI, but EMI is the distributor. If so, it could mean some already popular Southern Gospel artists will see an increase in online sales. Gaither's publicist said they'd be letting me know; when they do, I'll let you know. See also: DRM Dam Finally Bursts Labels: In The News, Observations April 2, 2007DRM Dam Finally BurstsiTunes To Sell EMI Catalog DRM Free On March 26, 2007 I wrote: Digital Rights Management (DRM) serves only to make life more difficult for LEGAL users. As soon as the music industry wises up and stops making life more difficult for people who are willing to pay for their products, the better off they will be. Boy, the music world listens when I speak, don't they? Others have been working on making his happen for years, but when I weigh in, things change in a matter of mere days. I'm just kidding, of course. Click HERE for the story. iTunes and Christian music giant EMI (CLARIFICATION: EMI is a music giant, period...not just a Christian music giant) have just reached an agreement to sell the entire EMI catalog DRM FREE. This is incredible news for the music buying consumer. I expect the other large music companies will follow EMI's example. This may not mean a great deal for Southern Gospel artists at the moment. I'm not sure how many, if any, are part of the EMI family. I know EMI distributes some SG related titles, most notably Gaither products, but I don't know if the deal with iTunes carries over to distributed titles or not. The music industry is finally getting it. Here's why this is going to work so well: It's going to be cheaper now (relative to how much you value your time, of course) to buy music legitimately than to steal it. "How?" you might say. When you weigh obtaining a file of dubious quality illegally (that also may be difficult to locate) against spending $1.29 to download the same song from iTunes with quality assurance, most consumers are going to prefer to just pay up. The price is cheap enough and the convenience is so great that the time saved is worth it. By the way, an added bonus to the DRM free tracks is that the bit-rate for the 30% higher priced tracks will be increased to 256kbs. This will add value to the $1.29 price point over the standard 99 cent rate for DRM crippled, lower bit-rate tracks. Another bonus...people who buy complete albums via iTunes will get the better quality unprotected tracks with no additional cost. According to the article: Full albums in DRM-free form can be bought at the same price as standard iTunes albums. Labels: In The News, Observations March 29, 2007Does the 'Christian Music Genre' Still Exist?We talk a lot about putting labels on the "style" of music, but consider this question: Does the 'Christian Music Genre' Still Exist? If the answer to this question is "no, not really," then what is "Christian Radio" to do? No longer is it a choice between "sacred" and "secular." And frankly, God has always used whatever and whoever he wants anyway. Is it a day of reckoning with this dichotomy of life we live? --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Does the 'Christian Music Genre' Still Exist? http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070329/26584.htm --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- There is a real catch-22 with it and I could argue both sides. -Daniel Britt Labels: CCM, In The News, Observations March 17, 2007Roger Bennett Passes Away Singing News is reporting that Roger Bennett passed away this morning. Click HERE for their report. Roger Bennett was an immensely popular pianist during his years with the Cathedrals and Legacy Five. He had a tremendous wit even during his struggles with cancer. His name will be added to the Southern Gospel Hall Of Fame later this year. I always thought Bennett was one of the most tasteful piano players in Southern Gospel. He knew how to add just the right amount of flash to a song to make it stand out. He had a good sense of flow. At NQC's Pianorama one year (when Anthony Burger was still the featured host), all the other players were wowing the crowd with flashy runs and bombastic tracks, Bennett went up when it was his turn and played a calm hymn. The only time I ever had the opportunity to speak with Bennett briefly was at a Cathedrals Reunion concert at Furman University in Greenville, SC during the late 1990s. I bought his piano book and got him to autograph it. Come to think of it, that's the last time I got an autograph from an artist. I still use the piano book in church on a regular basis. Of course, most everyone knows that Roger Bennett won a dozen or so Singing News Fan Awards in the Pianist category. His tenure with the Cathedrals coupled with his skill at the piano and outgoing nature both on and off the stage cemented his relationship with the fans. Labels: In The News, Obituary March 14, 2007Mark Lowry Added To NQC Main StageAlthough they're not billing him as a soloist, NQC has just announced that Mark Lowry has been added to the main stage. He will appear on Friday night as part of a 50th anniversary celebration of the NQC and will perform along with LordSong. I think this is a move that will give NQC some added drawing power. Labels: In The News, Observations March 13, 2007Southern Gospel launches in CanadaThis 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 Labels: Announcements, In The News, XM News March 9, 2007Another Group MergerRuppes sisters, Valerie Ellenburg and Heather Day, will be joining their sister, Kim Lord, and brother-in-law, Michael Lord, as members of LordSong by August. Greg Day will also be joining LordSong as a vocalist. Chuck Peters has the story (or you can visit www.lordsong.org for more details). This should be a dynamic combination. Labels: In The News March 5, 2007Vine Records Noticed By Billboard WriterAt a time when the viability of many record companies seems less than certain, three new labels are launching in the Christian community... Haun and Ward...conceived Vine Records as a shelter for artists they believe in. "Artists that I had been working with for the past 10 years were out of a home as far as a label goes, and there was nowhere to go," said Haun, an award-winning producer who previously served as vice president of A&R (artist and repertoire) at Daywind Records. "We put some funds together and started with one project, and that one turned into two, and now we have a label." Read the full of the article HERE. There's an interesting stat included in the article regarding how Christian music was one of the few music "genres" that had measurable growth in 2006. Labels: In The News February 23, 2007Baptist Church Workers Aren't Under SBC AuthorityThe following is quoted from the New York Times: The Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has started a campaign to call attention to alleged sex abuse committed by Southern Baptist ministers and concealed by churches. SNAP presented a letter Monday to Southern Baptist Convention executive committee members in Nashville, asking the group to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on sex abuse and to create an independent review board to investigate molestation reports. Church leaders concede there have been some incidents of abuse in Southern Baptist congregations, but say their hands are tied when it comes to investigating complaints across the denomination. Unlike the Catholic Church, with its rigid hierarchy, Baptist churches are independent. They make their own decisions about hiring ministers and conducting investigations, Baptist leaders say. ''They don't want to see this problem,'' said Christa Brown, a SNAP member from Austin, Texas, who says she was sexually abused as a child by a Southern Baptist minister. ''That's tragic because they're imitating the same mistakes made by Catholic bishops.'' The article goes on at length about how the Southern Baptist Convention supposedly doesn't want to deal with this issue, even though the SBC has already done as much as its level of authority (none) allows it to do, and that is to advise. The situation has been clearly explained more than once to SNAP. Southern Baptist churches volunteer their participation in the SBC. All SBC churches are independent entities. The SBC as a whole answers to the churches, not the other way around. The same applies for state Baptist conventions as well as local Baptist Associations. The only entity that has authority over a staff member at a Baptist church is the church itself, and even then, all they can do is fire the person and cooperate with law enforcement to see that they are properly prosecuted. This concept is so foreign to the world at large, even when it's abundantly and plainly spelled out, the people who ought be hearing it instead stick their fingers in their ears and chant, "La la la la la." Child molesters need to be removed from churches. Everything that can be done should be done. But asking the SBC to exercise authority over a local church when it has no legal right to exercise some sort of authority makes no sense at all. I'm on the staff of a Southern Baptist church. The SBC doesn't have the authority to force me to lift a pencil, much less submit to a review that might result in disciplinary action. Neither does the state convention. Neither does the local association of Southern Baptist churches. In the past, the SBC has passed resolutions that may have seemed to speak for all member churches as far as the mainstream press is concerned...a boycott of Disney, for example...but it has always been up to each church to go along. SBC churches don't even have to pay dues to the convention in order to maintain membership. All that is required is that they be a member of a local SBC association, and some member churches choose not to donate to the local association. The SBC has done everything it can with regard to advising and educating local churches regarding this problem. I'm sure the convention will continue to provide advice in the future as well. Trying to shame the SBC into overstepping their authority makes no rational sense. The SBC already encourages background checks before hiring a staff member and encourages churches to cooperate openly and fully with law enforcement whenever there's an accusation of abuse or molestation. The church where I attend is in the process of writing policy that would require background checks even on people who simply volunteer to work with children and youth. I completely admire and support SNAP's cause, but they've gone about this backwards. As foreign as the concept may be to someone coming from a Catholic or even a United Methodist background, church staff members, including everyone from the senior pastor to the piano player, answer to the congregation in a Southern Baptist church. Labels: In The News, Observations February 22, 2007Group Merger - TK & McCraesGroups are merging! Could this be a new and exciting trend? The news came out today that former First Love members Troy and Katy Peach have merged with the McCraes. The new entity will be known as TK & McCraes...plural. Wouldn't TK & McCrae be better, since there's only one McCrae involved? Besides, it's more fun to say when it rhymes. Or, since there's actually four people counting Amanda Till, it seems that TKA & McCrae would have been considered. Anyway, this made me wonder what sort of names we might get if more artist "mashups" are on the horizon. 1. Hinsons + Karen Peck = Henpeck 2. Freemans + Willie Nelson = Free Willy 3. Triumphant + Lee Greenwood = Triumphantly 4. Inspirations + Point Of Grace = Inspiration Point I spent a whopping five minutes. I'm sure someone can come up with more creative ideas than these. The comment section is open. Labels: In The News Southern Gospel Satellite SurvivalenLighten 34 has been available as a 24 hour, solid Southern Gospel formatted channel on XM Satellite Radio now for nearly a year. enLighten program director Marlin Taylor answered a few questions about the merger and how it will affect the Southern Gospel fans at this link. A few key quotes from Marlin worth underlining: Q: What will happen to enLighten, is it likely to go away? A: Absolutely not! I am pleased to report that in listenership, enLighten ranks in the top one-fifth of all of XM’s 170 channels ... with more than a half-million persons tuning in every week! And, many of “our family” are listening for long hours most every day. This makes the enLighten body of listeners a serious segment of the total XM subscribership … and management recognizes that a goodly number of you listen to little else in the XM lineup. Add to this the fact that Sirius has no counter-part to enLighten or anything remotely close to it. ... While I cannot speak for corporate management, it is my confirmed belief that the biggest change you, the enLighten listener, might encounter sometime in the years down the road is a change in channel number, which could occur at the point when the two channel lineups are melded into one. Bottom line: I see absolutely nothing for anyone to be concerned about regarding the future of enLighten. Another piece of good news is that, just within the past few days, senior management has acknowledged that – even though many of you have been begging for this channel for years – enLighten 34 is a major XM success story! Hallelujah and praise the Lord! -Daniel Britt Labels: In The News, XM News January 16, 2007China is paying attention to Southern GospelHere's an article about the recent Harmony Honors that appeared in "The Global Herald" online news service for Chinese Christians. Just another way "Southern" Gospel is reaching out. -Daniel Britt Labels: In The News January 11, 2007Outcome Still PendingA blog comment posted HERE yesterday asked if the March 2006 lawsuit filed by Milwaukee, WI lawyer, Kevin Demet, alleging fraud against gospel singing star and Homecoming cast member, Jessy Dixon, had been resolved. According to the reporter, Gina Barton, who wrote the original article (and who I mistakenly listed as "Gail" in my original article linked above), it has not. Labels: In The News January 4, 2007Tourists Love To Look At Stuff I know my last few posts have been all over the topical map, but please indulge me one more time. I was just reading about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his privately funded spacecraft. Take a look at this image. This is the craft that you'll be riding in when Bezos and company (Blue Origin) begin taking tourists to the "edge of space," hopefully by 2010. Click HERE to check out the coverage. Here's a bit of the article: Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000, with the aim of developing a new type of vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing rocket ship capable of taking passengers to the edge of space. At altitudes in excess of 62 miles (100 kilometers), customers should be able to scan Earth's curving expanse beneath a black sky, experience a few minutes of weightlessness and justifiably brag afterward that they've been to outer space. Sounds great, but I've seen the photo and I have a question. How are we supposed to "scan Earth's curving expanse" when the darn thing doesn't have a single window? You can read more about it HERE. Hey, I'm pulling for him anyway. Bezos has done a great job with Amazon.com so far. When a guy is as focused as Bezos is on delivering great products at an affordable price, the idea of adding windows is bound to occur to him before he starts selling tickets. Labels: In The News, Observations January 3, 2007Gloria Gaither admitted to the Emergency Room last nightI talked to Bill Gaither just now and he mentioned that Gloria had to be taken to the Emergency Room last night. He didn't specify why but he said something about the fact that she can't talk right now... Details aren't necessary to pray, so pray away! UPDATE>> From Emily Southerland at the Gaither headquarters: Gloria has been struggling with bronchitis, so she wanted to make sure it didn't go into pneumonia. The chest x-ray was clear and she is just fine. Thanks for the prayers. -Daniel Britt Labels: In The News 
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