NQC Day 6 Highlights - National Quartet Convention Recap

The last night of the 2014 National Quartet Convention is over. The first convention in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is in the books. I missed last night and some sections of the other nights, but overall I think this was one of the strongest nights of the convention.

Sometimes it can be easy to forget the first groups of the night by the end, but tonight was definitely an exception. Some of the strongest sets occurred early on. The night started with the Sneed Family, Gold City and the Whisnants. The Sneed Family continues to impress me more and more, and I love that they sang "Hallelujah Square!" Gold City turned in another strong set tonight with a repeat of "Power of the Cross" and bringing back "There Rose a Lamb." It was also neat to see them take the stage on "I Get Down" by Quarteto Gileade which was a highlighted showcase artist. The Whisnants started their set with "A Greater Yes," my favorite of their songs! I was also glad that they brought up Austin and Ethan to sing "On the Road to Emmaus" with Jeff.

And it was a great night for all quartets in general at the quartet convention. It's hard to single out anyone out but for me Old Paths, Triumphant Quartet and LeFevre Quartet also had really strong sets. I love that Triumphant had part of the choir from First Baptist Sevierville join them on stage for a couple of songs, "Oh Happy Day" and "We Will Remember" (And I think I spotted a few Triumphant family members in the choir!). The LeFevre Quartet was joined by the Booth Brothers on "Jesus Saves" which both groups have recorded.

The finale or bonus had several groups coming back to the stage for one of their most requested songs. The groups were the Mark Trammell Quartet, Collingsworth Family, Booth Brothers, Triumphant, Whisnants, Hoppers and Greater Vision. The night ended with them all on stage for "Bless the Lord," which is the song the Sunday night concert started with, a very fitting ending to a great night! :)

Here are highlighted songs and moments (in no particular order) -

• "Love of God" - Hoppers
• "I Bowed on My Knees" - Old Paths
• "I Rest My Case at the Cross" - Perrys
• "Arise My Love" - Soul'd Out Quartet
• "Jesus Saves" - LeFevre Quartet with Booth Brothers
• "There Rose a Lamb" - Gold City
• "A Greater Yes" - Whisnants
• "For All He's Done" - Greater Vision
• "When the Trumpet Sounds" - Triumphant Quartet
• "Homecoming Day" - Tribute Quartet

In Case You Missed It - News and Tidbits - Sept. 27

With the National Quartet Convention this week, that's really been the focus. However, here are a few other news items -

• Lily Isaacs' mother, Faye Blauschild, passed away on Friday. She was 95 and a Holocaust survivor. Lily had flown out last week to be with her mother after she had emergency surgery.
• The Jubilee Christmas Tour has announced a partnership with Socks for Seniors in an effort to collect and distribute socks for senior citizens. They are working on special appearances by the artists to deliver socks themselves.
• The Singing News fan awards were held on Thursday during an afternoon showcase at NQC. Here's my recap with a list of winners.
• The Dixie Melody Boys announced Doug Pittman as their next tenor. He took the stage with them earlier this week for a song.
• The Old Paths announced Josh Townsend as the group's piano player. He has been traveling with them for select dates, but will now be full-time. He is only 16 years old.
• If you've missed any of my highlights and recaps of NQC, check them out here. Last night was the only night that I wasn't able to watch any of the webcast. And don't forget to check out my fellow bloggers' sites as well for their thoughts as well. Some of them are actually there in person! Here are the ones who have posted so far from NQC (I hope I haven't missed anyone.) -
• Musicscribe
• Yankee Gospel Girl
• Southern Gospel Views from Back Row
• Fuson Findings

Anything I've missed?

NQC Day 4 Highlights - National Quartet Convention Recap

I actually got to watch most of the webcast in its entirety tonight. Now, I'm not going to promise that I was glued to the screen the entire night to catch every detail, but I caught almost everything! :)

Probably the moment of the night happened early on during the Booth Brothers set. They sang several and then called Paul Lancaster (who will replace Jim Brady) and the Collingsworth Family up to join them. They sang "Jesus Saves" which featured Paul. It was absolutely incredible!! I love how the Booth Brothers and Jim Brady have handled this transition. It was great to see them all so supportive of each other. Paul did an amazing job on the song, and it was great to hear them backed up by the Collingsworth Family!

A lot happened toward the beginning tonight with Karen Peck and New River and the Bowling Family being two of the first groups. KPNR had a solid set as always. I'm disappointed to see the Bowling Family with only one set this week. They had a great set and featured the Bowling girls on one song. These girls have great harmonies now, so I can't wait to hear them in a few years! Hope continues to amaze me. I love that they have brought "Jesus Pilots My Ship" back!

The Collingsworth Family also brought up additional family members tonight. They had all their children's spouses join them on stage for "We Will Serve the Lord." Another great moment!

It was a night for the younger generation of singers to stand out! Karlye Hopper was featured on a verse of "I'll Worship Only at the Feet of Jesus." The Taylors had a great night that featured not only songs from their latest project but also their brother-in-law Aaron Perkins on a few songs. It was cute to see Leslie and Aaron bring up Isaiah to the stage.

Brian Free and Assurance also brought up Lauren Talley Alvey to sing "Where There's a Will" with them live. She was a guest vocalist on their album, so it was neat to see them sing it live together!

Lauren and Gerald Wolfe co-hosted the evening and did a fantastic job!

Here are the highlights from the night (in no particular order) -

• "Jesus Saves" - Booth Brothers (with Paul Lancaster) and Collingsworth Family
• "Jesus Pilots My Ship" - Bowling Family
• "We Will Serve the Lord" - Collingsworth Family
• "Where There's a Will" - Brian Free and Assurance with Lauren Alvey
• "Until You Know the Love of God" - Greater Vision
• "Broken Ones" - The Talleys
• "I'll Worship Only at the Feet of Jesus" - The Hoppers
• "Up Above My Head" - The Taylors 
• "The Living Years" - Isaacs
• "Little Is Much" - Dixie Melody Boys

2014 Singing News Fan Awards

The 2014 Singing News Fan Awards returned to the National Quartet Convention. This afternoon, the winners of the 2014 awards were announced on the main stage.

I was able to watch the first part during my lunch and listen to the rest. However, I did catch the opening number of "I've Got a Song" that featured Lauren Talley Alvey, Jason Crabb, Brooklyn Collingsworth Blair and Joseph Habedank and a choir of Karen Peck and New River, Tribute Quartet, the Whisnants and Triumphant Quartet. It was great, and lots of fun seeing all of them on stage trying to add a little bit of choreography to the number! :)

For the most part, there were no surprises this year. I loved hearing Michael Booth's speech after the Booth Brothers won for Favorite Trio. He said that regardless of the awards, all the artists are going to keep traveling and singing and lifting up the name of Jesus and do what they are called to do.

I was so glad to see Joseph Habedank win favorite new soloist. Definitely one of the most heart-felt speeches of the afternoon! Great to hear how God has worked in his life in the past year and a half!

It was so good seeing Amber Nelon Thompson receive her second award this year. Without a doubt, she's one of the best and so glad to see her recognized!

I was surprised and excited to see Greater Vision take home two of the biggest awards of the night with favorite song and album! Very deserving wins!

Here's a complete list of the winners -

Musician - Kim Collingsworth
Young Artist - Amber Nelon Thompson
Soloist - Ivan Parker
Small Market DJ - John Whisnant
Medium Market DJ - Lottie Squires
Large Market DJ - Daniel Britt
New Soloist - Joseph Habedank
New Traditional Quartet - Canton Junction
Male Singer - Ronnie Booth
Band - Kingdom Heirs Band
Lead Singer - Ronnie Booth
Tenor - Michael Booth
Non-performing Songwriter - Dianne Wilkinson
Baritone - Jim Brady
New Trio - Hyssongs
Bass - Eric Bennett
New Mixed Group - Mylon Hayes Family
Soprano - Kim Hopper
Mixed Group - Collingsworth Family
Trio - Booth Brothers
Alto - Libbi Stuffle
Female Singer - Kim Hopper
Songwriter (performing) - Rodney Griffin
Traditional Quartet - Triumphant Quartet
Album - For All He's Done by Greater Vision
Song - "Preacher Tell Me Like It Is" by Greater Vision
Artist - Booth Brothers

Congratulations to all the winners!!

NQC Day 3 Highlights - National Quartet Convention Recap

Tonight was one of those off again and on again watching the webcast. I caught some performances after I got home from work and then a good bit of the later sets after I got home from church.

The past few years there has been an all-quartet night on Wednesday. While this was not the case tonight, quartets had a strong showing tonight! I feel like that was the majority of what I saw. The first group I saw tonight was the Kingsmen. They sang several from their newest release. Tribute Quartet closed the night out. While they are still considered a relatively young group, they carried the responsibility of ending the night well. They are also the last group another night this week. Another relatively young quartet that sang tonight was Old Paths. This group gets better each time I see them, and they had one of the standout performances of the night with "Love Live the King."

There were a few family groups in the mix. The Mylon Hayes Family got to sing one song on main stage, "Little Is Much." In this case, little was not much, this family definitely needed more time on stage! They are fantastic!!

Guy Penrod sang a set primarily of worship songs and hymns. He had the audience join in with the words on the screen or at least they were on the webcast. I applaud the efforts to make it more interactive and like a worship service, but it seemed a little out of place to me with the mix of a contemporary worship service feel.

From pictures on Facebook, it looks like I missed Connie Hopper joining her family on stage for the first time since her surgery. That's a moment I'll definitely have to watch on demand!

Again, I'm not sure there was one moment of the night , but here are standout performances/ highlights for me (in no particular order) -

• "Yes, I Am" - Kingsmen
• "Little Is Much" - Mylon Hayes Family
• "King Is Coming" - Mark Trammell Quartet
• "It's Still the Cross" - Gold City
• "He Made a Change" - Legacy Five (joined on stage by Ernie Haase)
• "Long Live the King" - Old Paths Quartet
• "New Day Dawning" - The Whisnants
• "In the Valley I Can Hear His Voice" - Tribute Quartet