Label: DaywindProducer: Mark Trammell and Wayne Haun
Song Titles: "I Have A Heavenly Father," "I Love To Tell The Story," "Roll Back River Jordan," "My Heavenly Father Watches Over Me," "The Lord Is Good," "Heaven," "Longing For Beulah Land," "Choose God," "The Lamb Upon The Throne," and "Goodbye World Goodbye"
Website: www.marktrammellministries.com
The Mark Trammell Trio combines a seasoned veteran with two of Southern Gospel's rising stars. Baritone Mark Trammell made his mark early on with the Kingsmen and the Cathedrals. He then helped form Greater Vision and most recently pulled a stint with Gold City . . . an impressive resume to say the least. Tenor Eric Phillips sang with a regional group called Riverbank before going full time with the Melody Masters. Lead singer Joseph Smith was with the Booth Brothers during their rise to national attention.
As you can see from the song list above, the first nationally distributed project for this trio contains mostly familiar tunes. It's also worth noting that some of the tracks are from the existing Daywind catalog. While using previously recorded tracks is certainly helping get product before the public quickly, the trade off is that the tracks aren't uniquely their own. In other words, not only may you have heard these songs before, you may have already heard the exact same tracks.
Fortunately, the vocals do set these guys apart. They've gone for a straight forward blend, with a minimum of vocal acrobatics. The opening tune "I Have A Heavenly Father" is a typical example . . . just three voices harmonizing, singing the notes exactly as they are printed on the page. "I'm Longing For Beulah" gets a similar treatment. Eric Phillips is getting stronger and more confident all the time. He takes the melody for the hymn "I Love To Tell The Story." Smith gets the spotlight on "Roll Back River Jordan," and Trammell gives a classic performance of "My Heavenly Father Watches Over Me." "The Lamb Upon The Throne" is an inspirational ballad of the type that starts softly and builds to a big ending. The vocal arrangement could have stood a little more attention on this one. Thru the last couple of key changes, the melody seems to get lost. The project ends with an upbeat rendition of Mosie Lister's "Goodbye World Goodbye."
As you'd expect from any group associated with Mark Trammell, you get a good quality sound on Love To Tell The Story. The three voices have a compatible blend and the song titles are "safe" favorites of many fans. This first project is a good starting point for them. It does seem to have been rushed to production in a few spots, but you have to balance that with the demand of fans clamoring to purchase product. Trammell and Daywind probably made the right call by going ahead and making this recording available opposed to spending three or four more months fine tuning the details. They should have plenty of time to do that with the next major release. The most important characteristic of Love To Tell The Story is that it clearly shows the Mark Trammell Trio has the potential to carve out a spot at the top of the male trio market alongside Greater Vision and the Booth Brothers.