I just received a phone call from someone I’ve never met, and never heard of and all he said on his message was “this is so and so from the Southern Gospel group so and so and I’d appreciate a call back at 269-204-2932. As a music pastor at a fairly decent sized church where Southern Gospel music isn’t something we do a lot of, it’s going to require more than just a phone number and out. If you are going to take the time to pick up the phone and call me, then you should take the time to give me a website, offer to send me material, or do something that would inspire me to contact you. While my church isn’t heavily into SoGo, I personally really enjoy it and might be interested in the right group in the right situation. My advise to anyone doing cold calling is to understand how many of these calls I receive, and how few I return. Sell me something, make me need it!
It wasn’t me that called, but I’d never squander the opportunity to introduce our ministry to someone new! My name is Bob Sellers and I sing lead and manage Capstone Quartet from Tuscaloosa, AL, and we’d love to come to your church sometime if it’s feasible. Our website is http://www.capstonequartet.com. There, you may learn all about our ministry and listen to our music. I would also invite you to check out some of our recent videos at http://www.youtube.com/alagizmobob for a totally un-edited and accurate representation of what you could expect from our ministry. If you are a Facebook junkie like me, you may also keep up with us there at http://www.facebook.com/capstonequartet.
Thanks for the advice as to what we should NOT do when trying to fill dates on our schedules. However, whether it is Capstone or other ministries, I would certainly encourage you and people like you to bring in as much gospel music as possible to your church that admittedly isn’t necessarily wild about it. As a supporter of this music yourself, you already know that it is unfortunately a genre that is becoming less and less popular in many churches, especially larger ones. I am always disappointed to be told by a pastor/worship leader, “well, our church just doesn’t support gospel music”. I find that typically to be because the staff does not support it! Yet, I believe we’d all be hard-pressed to find any church that even knows what “Southern Gospel” is that doesn’t contain a large contingency of people who would absolutely love to hear more of it in their own church. Thankfully, there are still a handful of worship leaders like yourself and churches that do appreciate and support the message and harmony in this music, and although it may never again be what it once was, I don’t believe gospel music will go away anytime soon, because of people like you and me. God bless!
Hey Bob, went to your site and listened to some clips and enjoyed them. If you ever need a date in Central Indiana, drop me a message on here and I’ll see what I can do.
It wasn’t our group that called either but we do have bookings in Indiana and would love for you to visit our website and contact us for any upcoming events you may have. Our family is great at ministering to the whole church. Every age group loves us because our children sing and we have been married for eighteen years. Our ministry seems to really encourage every church we go to. Check us out at http://www.englishfamilyonline.com- we would love to send you a presskit as well. Our contact info is 678-544-3163. Thanks for the post!
Phone:
888.335.3816
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Address:
308 Spring Creek Dr.
Stockbridge, GA 30281
They are looking to get back up into IN
Would you ever see a professional group use these tactics in any other genre except SG music? These groups are self promoting because a $500 or $750 flat (or even a love offering) is sufficient to scratch their itch.
Phone:
888.335.3816
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Address:
308 Spring Creek Dr.
Stockbridge, GA 30281
They are looking to get back up into IN
Amen! Except that they are better than good sounding! I very highly recommend Daybreak Quartet!
Would you ever see a professional group use these tactics in any other genre except SG music? These groups are self promoting because a $500 or $750 flat (or even a love offering) is sufficient to scratch their itch.
Exactly what point are you trying to make, “FamilyMan”?
Would you ever see a professional group use these tactics in any other genre except SG music? These groups are self promoting because a $500 or $750 flat (or even a love offering) is sufficient to scratch their itch.
Exactly what point are you trying to make, “FamilyMan”?
Just questioning “professional” practices in SG. What other genre has professional groups who cold call for themselves?
I thought your question and comment may have been an attempt to make and apples-to-apples comparison between professional SG and other music genres (which is impossible to do) with an underlying assumption that SG is inferior as a result of self-promotion. If so, I’d have to disagree with you. By the way, I am not a part of a professional group. I am a commercial loan officer by profession and a gospel singer by calling. The only “itch” I strive to scratch is that of the Holy Spirit when He spoke to my heart and told me to step through any door He opened and use the talent He gave me. If God ever wants me to become full-time, or “professional” in SG, then He will provide the means for me to do so. That doesn’t mean that I don’t take our ministry seriously - as it is - or don’t put a quality product on stage. Yet, if it weren’t for self-promotion, very few people outside of our hometown would know who Capstone Quartet was and I would miss out on a lot of opportunities to share the gospel and wouldn’t be doing a very good job of honoring God’s calling on my life.
I thought your question and comment may have been an attempt to make and apples-to-apples comparison between professional SG and other music genres (which is impossible to do) with an underlying assumption that SG is inferior as a result of self-promotion. If so, I’d have to disagree with you. By the way, I am not a part of a professional group. I am a commercial loan officer by profession and a gospel singer by calling. The only “itch” I strive to scratch is that of the Holy Spirit when He spoke to my heart and told me to step through any door He opened and use the talent He gave me. If God ever wants me to become full-time, or “professional” in SG, then He will provide the means for me to do so. That doesn’t mean that I don’t take our ministry seriously - as it is - or don’t put a quality product on stage. Yet, if it weren’t for self-promotion, very few people outside of our hometown would know who Capstone Quartet was and I would miss out on a lot of opportunities to share the gospel and wouldn’t be doing a very good job of honoring God’s calling on my life.
Southern gospel business practices are inferior to other genres.
I thought your question and comment may have been an attempt to make and apples-to-apples comparison between professional SG and other music genres (which is impossible to do) with an underlying assumption that SG is inferior as a result of self-promotion. If so, I’d have to disagree with you. By the way, I am not a part of a professional group. I am a commercial loan officer by profession and a gospel singer by calling. The only “itch” I strive to scratch is that of the Holy Spirit when He spoke to my heart and told me to step through any door He opened and use the talent He gave me. If God ever wants me to become full-time, or “professional” in SG, then He will provide the means for me to do so. That doesn’t mean that I don’t take our ministry seriously - as it is - or don’t put a quality product on stage. Yet, if it weren’t for self-promotion, very few people outside of our hometown would know who Capstone Quartet was and I would miss out on a lot of opportunities to share the gospel and wouldn’t be doing a very good job of honoring God’s calling on my life.
Southern gospel business practices are inferior to other genres.
There is no reason for business practices to be inferior. If any particular group has inferior ways of doing business, it is the fault of the group, not the genre.
I thought your question and comment may have been an attempt to make and apples-to-apples comparison between professional SG and other music genres (which is impossible to do) with an underlying assumption that SG is inferior as a result of self-promotion. If so, I’d have to disagree with you. By the way, I am not a part of a professional group. I am a commercial loan officer by profession and a gospel singer by calling. The only “itch” I strive to scratch is that of the Holy Spirit when He spoke to my heart and told me to step through any door He opened and use the talent He gave me. If God ever wants me to become full-time, or “professional” in SG, then He will provide the means for me to do so. That doesn’t mean that I don’t take our ministry seriously - as it is - or don’t put a quality product on stage. Yet, if it weren’t for self-promotion, very few people outside of our hometown would know who Capstone Quartet was and I would miss out on a lot of opportunities to share the gospel and wouldn’t be doing a very good job of honoring God’s calling on my life.
Southern gospel business practices are inferior to other genres.
Not enough breweries and others dumping millions into it for tax write-offs, makes a BIG difference in how it can be done. Methods are not always by choice but by necessity. A secular group playing to a few people in a bar or lounge will get more $$ than a SGM band playing to a good size crowd in a church ............ sad :(
For every secular group who gets corporate sponsorship money or experiences enough success to contract with a booking company, there are hundreds of lesser-known artists or groups who self-promote and rely on word of mouth and the internet for venues. Southern Gospel is no different. I can guarantee you that Signature Sound, Greater Vision, etc. don’t cold call looking for venues. While there are a lot of things wrong with this industry, to point to the fact that B or C-level groups cold call for bookings as proof that Southern Gospel’s business model is somehow inferior to other genres is just ridiculous. Scrapping for bookings is something that the majority of artists from any genre do.
