And We're Off - Southern Gospel Picnic 2014 at Silver Dollar City Day One

And we are off... I love getting to be here for the Southern Gospel Picnic at Silver Dollar City, but it's also a lot to take in. There are so many different groups to see so at times it can feel like a race to get everything in.  So here's how my day went -

The Browders

I started the morning at Red Gold Heritage Hall with the Browders. They sang several of their hits I was familiar with "Lift Up His Name," "He's Alive" and "I Am So Blessed." After Tommy sang "I Am So Blessed," he gave his testimony of how he was stricken with polio at age 2. Doctors didn't give much hope. His right side was paralyzed, but God had other plans. He took an interest in music, started writing and eventually was able to play guitar regaining use of his right hand. Incredible testimony!! They did an instrumental version of "Little Brown Church" and then closed the set with "Land of No Goodbyes."

Mark Trammell Quartet

Then, I tried to go see Mark Trammell Quartet next, but the theater was full! So I decided to trek down the hill to see the Down East Boys. It had been a few years since I had seen them. They sang a lot of great familiar favorites like "Little Is Much" (which had to be the highlight of the program and featured Tony Jarman), "Oh I Want to See Him," "That Little Baby" and "Shoutin' on the Hills of Glory," which they closed with. Their set also contained the first Christmas song I heard of the festival. Baritone Daryl Paschal sang "Oh Holy Night." I also got to hear new bass singer Joe Brinkley with the group. He sang "I Wanna Be Just Like My Lord." The group also sang their latest release "Beyond the Blue."

I climbed back up to the Opera House to see the Mark Trammell Quartet. They sang several from Your Walk Talks including "Don't Stop Running," "God's Been Faithful," and the title cut which people standing clapping immediately when the song started. Mark recognized the veterans and then specifically recognized those who had served in Vietnam and thanked them for their service. They closed with "Statue of Liberty."

Hoskins Family

I made it back to the Red Gold Heritage Hall to see the last half of the Hoskins Family's first show and then stayed for their second as well. I discovered them earlier this year and found what I had been missing out on. After seeing them live yesterday, I am a big fan of this group! They sang "Whenever I Hear His Name" to close the first show! Loved it! They started their second show with "Ordinary Sunday," and the song's writer was in the audience. They also sang "What About His Grace," which was definitely the highlight!!! Then Angie went into "Amazing Grace" a cappella. She had the audience join in and then sang "Praise God." They sang some of their older songs, but were new to me like "Table for 13" and "It's Over."

I went back to see the Mark Trammell Quartet. It's been great to hear them sing so many new songs recently, but this set was full of the classics, "Echoes from the Burning Bush," "Wedding Music," "Master Builder"and "I Thirst," which Randy sang. A lady from the audience shouted out "Walk talks" as Mark was talking between songs, so he decided they do that one next. They closed with "The King Is Coming."

Brian Free and Assurance was the final act with the night show in Echo Hollow Amphitheater. Of course, we have enjoyed one of the mildest summers on record, but for this weekend temperatures soared, but Brian, Bill, Mike and Jeremy braved the heat, and so did we! Brian joked during the concert that it would be a good night for an ice bucket challenge.

Brian Free & Assurance

They sang several songs from their latest project including "Tell It Like It Was," "Unashamed," "A Little Bit of Me and You," "God of Possibilities" and of course "Say Amen." As powerful as the last song is listening to on CD, it's even better live. It's incredible to see the audience response this song gets. Definitely a highlight of the night!

Another highlight was the group singing "Peace in the Valley" a cappella. Brian talked about how they had the chance to be part of the Elvis tribute through BBC. He talked about Elvis' love for gospel music. So they sang the song in the style of Elvis!

Brian also sang "I Want to Be That Man" in the second half. He said that when he listens to songs for an album, he listens to them blindly so he doesn't know who the writer of a song is. When he first listened to the song, it brought him to tears and he immediately wanted to record the song. He didn't know until the next day that his son Ricky Free had written the song with Lee Black.

They closed the night with "Jesus Will Pick You Up" which had the whole crowd into it. It was a great night and a great start to the festival!!

Ready for day two now....