I agree Protose.  However, get ready for lots of attacks on your opinion.

Ok. So guess it’s my time to pop in. I am 23 years old. I first heard the Inspirations when I was eight years old. Right after I got saved. I was immediatley attached to Mike Holcomb, the bass singer. I have told hundreds of ppl that he was my second dad. He has played a major role in my life. I am also very close to Matt Dibler (Yes, I know he’s no longer with them, and yes I know why but that’s beside the pt. ) and Melton Campbell. In my opinion there is no group in SG better than the Inspirations, but the main reason is because of the personal relationship I have with the group. My parents have griped repeatedly that I go to concerts more to talk than to listen to the singing. I love the fellowship with the boys. They have become some of my best friends. The point I am trying to make is that if SG groups wanta younger crowd they need to reach out to them. Melton and Matt are both in their late thirties, but still young compared to the older members of the group. I think that shows you don’t have to be an old foggie to serve God in the best type of music ever - SG! Mike especially draws the attention of the young ones because he acts like one of them. If you go to a I’s concert you will notice that the Inspirations do draw a young audience as well. Maybe it’s because they have young members , but I think it’s because they are willing to reach out to younger ppl. Maybe other groups should be more like the inspirations and their relationship with their fans

I am a young person and my 3 top groups are The Inspirations, Brian Free and Assurance, and Gold City. Gold City has always been my favorite ever since Jay was in the group. My mom has always loved Brian Free so i started listening to them and liked them alot. Then came the Inspirations. My oldest brother likes them and i used to always joke with him about him liking an old group! But about 2 yrs ago i went to see The Inspirations in concert and I met Matt. I just fell in love with him. So i started listening to there music and loved it!! My family and i are very close to Matt and i know Melton very well too. But the Inspirations arent really at the top of my list now that Matt is gone. I know why he is not with the group anymore but my family and i still love him and will be there for him. Oh just a side note, Matt is 42 not late 30s.

Protose - 04 September 2008 11:02 AM

I have been in the recording industry as an engineer and studio musician for 12 years. I was raised in Southern Gospel and love what it was. I do not care for what it has become. It has been about eight years or so since I paid to see a SG concert. The main reason is the lack of musicians on stage. Some people call it canned music I call It Karaoke.

Some people say it doesn’t matter, as long as the VOCALS are great, which for the most part, they are. Karaoke and canned are terms that disgruntled musicians like to use. That’s not an attack, just my opinion.

Eddie Estes - 26 November 2007 06:02 PM

You are trying to swim up Niagara Falls here!!!

It would be equally hard to swim down (or over) Niagara Falls.

FamilyMan - 27 November 2007 09:01 AM

It’s just a thought.  We’ve got to try something different and we have several stations who have already tried the quartet only or conventional style music without much affect.

Isn’t that how we got CCM? Wasn’t CCM started by SGM groups like the Imperials and others?

Tim-He’s Alive - 27 November 2007 12:14 PM

subace914 - 27 November 2007 11:31 AM

I agree 100% with the part that I put in bold. That is the key to drawing a bigger audience. I would ad that any music is dangerous for radio if it contributes to the idea that SG is nothing but “crossing chilly Jordan” and “getting saved at an old-fashioned altar”. (I don’t mean to mock or speak derisively about any form of SG). Not that it’s bad to sing about heaven and salvation, but the lyrical content must be original and creative, and diverse.

Don’t forget any song that has “Momma” in the title….   (nothing against momma but…...)

That reminds me of the David Allen Coe song “You Never Even Call Me By My Name”. 

Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song
And he told me it was the perfect country-western song

I wrote him back a letter and told him it was NOT the perfect country-western song because he hadn’t said anything at all about mama, or trains, or trucks, or prison, or gettin’ drunk.

Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to the song and he sent it to me
And after reading it, I realized that my friend had written the perfect country-western song.  And I felt obliged to include it on this album. The last verse goes like this here:

Well, I was drunk the day my Mom got outta prison.
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But, before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got runned over by a damned old train.

pdozment - 03 June 2008 04:36 PM

Makes perfect sense.  But, a station can play only the best southern gospel—and I mean good songs, good vocals, good music, no bad notes, no twang,—and people who don’t like southern gospel still aren’t going to listen to it.

Let’s define twang.  Twang is a sharp vibrating sound like the sound a guitar string makes when plucked; a type of human speech or accent with a nasal quality characteristic of certain dialects of English; to produce a sharp vibrating sound.

What you’re really objecting to is the “nasal sound.”  What J.D. Sumner used to kid George Younce of singing through his nose.  Well, some of us out here like that “nasal” sound.  It’s the sound that is characteristic of string instruments like the guitar and banjo.  FYI southern dialect doesn’t bother some of us who are not city slickers.

Ask yourselves this.  What are you going to say when you see Jesus and he says, “How r y’all doin?” Oh, and by the way, I have a nice country gospel internet radio station called Gospel Twang.  Twang is a good word.  It’s the Texas country sound.

Cheers,
Tony