Southern Gospel Picnic Day Four

Day Four of Southern Gospel Picnic is complete. We made seven shows today! The day for us started with the Dixie Echoes and ended with the Perrys. Here's a recap:

Dixie Echoes

Since seeing the Dixie Echoes last year at Silver Dollar City, three members left. The group performing on Monday consisted of Randy Shelnut, Scoot Shelnut, Jordan James (bass), Craig Thomas (tenor) and Ben Hart (piano). 

They started with "I'll Shake the Hand of the Lord" and then "Close to the Master."

Craig Thomas was featured on "I Know a Man Who Can." He and Jordan were both featured when they group sang "Just a Little Talk with Jesus." Both did a great job singing, but you can tell they are new to the group. 

Ben Hart played "Keep on the Firing Line," and provided some comic relief when Randy played his "guitar song." They finished the set with "I'll Have a New Body."

LeFevre Quartet

It had been a while since I saw the LeFevre Quartet in concert, so we saw two of their shows at Red Gold Heritage Hall. I was able to see Paul Harkey at bass who has only been with the groups a few weeks now. He was featured on their opening song of the second set, "Plan of Salvation." He has a great bass voice, very strong. Harold Reed was featured on "Never Too Far Away" and they sang the chorus again a cappella. Many bass singers hold the microphone extremely close because the low notes can come out very quiet. But he was holding it quite a distance from him during this a cappella part, and his voice was so strong and coming through loud and clear.

They sang a few Gold City songs like, "When I Get Carried Away" and "In My Robe of White." They also sang a couple of older songs like "Sing His Praises" as well.

Murray Family

We went back to see the Murray Family again today. They started out with "This Is Just What Heaven Means to Me," which features Connie. She really has a great classic sound on this song. They sang "I'm Going Where He Lives" next, which was another great vocal performance from the family.

The third generation of Murrays got their turn on the stage as they sang "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)." The girls did a great job, and it sounds like they will have more singers to add to the group one day!

They repeated a few of my favorites from yesterday, "Lazarus" and "He's Alive." Chris pulled out his banjo as they sang "Hills of Old Judea," which featured Cindy, his wife. It was a great performance and great way to end the show!

Soul'd Out Quartet

This was my first time seeing Soul'd Out Quartet with Bryan Hutson. While I was really disappointed with fellow Arkansas native Tanner Stahl left the group, Bryan is a great addition. We got to see two of their sets.

Two highlights for me were them singing "When They Had Prayed" and "Worthy the Lamb Is He." The closed their second set with the latter, and there was such a sense of worship in the theater as they sang this song!

The group sang a number of older songs including, "Unclouded Day," "Kneel at the Cross," and "Meet You in the Morning."

They ended their shows at Silver Dollar City with "We'll Soon Be Done With Troubles and Trials" and the entire audience was on its feet clapping along.

I'm presuming this was Matt Fouch's last appearance with Soul'd Out. Matt Rankin said that we would see him perform the next night with Legacy Five. I was very hopeful that since the groups were performing consecutive days at Silver Dollar City that this would happen! Look for that recap tomorrow!

The Perrys
I only saw the Perrys a few weeks ago right outside of Conway, Ark. And it really was one of the best gospel concerts I've been to. (Read its recap here.) So by that, the Perrys had set a pretty high bar for themselves!

They started the night with "Blue Skies Coming," and then went into "Come and Get Me." Tracy then let Libbi sing her bluegrass song, "Jesus, Hold My Hand." And the audience loved it! The guys on stage didn't, but she had the audience on its feet three songs into the concert!

They sang a number of new songs from their latest project not yet released. As much as I love hearing the songs that I know and my favorites, it was great hearing the new songs! After tonight, I cannot wait to hear this album!! New songs that they sang include: "Everywhere I Go," "When He Spoke," "One of These Mornings" and "The Blood and its Power." I have a few videos I will post later.

"When He Spoke" is a song that the Perrys cut in 1998. Tracy said he didn't like to recut songs, but they never felt that this song got the attention they thought it deserved. It's an incredible song, and one that I wasn't really familiar with. Their delivery of this song live was a highlight of the concert for me!

Libbi sang "The Blood and its Power" when I saw them last, and it's such a great song that reminds us all of the power of Christ and in His blood. As she was singing, a lady had to be helped from the amphitheater for presumably health issues. Tracy stopped the concert after the song to pray for the lady. It's one thing to sing about the power of Christ and the power of prayer, but it's another to stop the concert to have prayer for a person in attendance. That spoke volumes to me about the kind of people the Perrys are and the faith they live out! Such a sweet moment for them to take time to go to the Lord on her behalf.

During the introductions, Tracy had Bryan sing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," and I have to say I've never heard him sing it better! He again had the audience on its feet.

They ended the first half with "If You Knew Him." They sing this song with such conviction and power behind their vocals every single time I see them! Joseph really outdid himself on this song Monday night. And again, the crowd of more than 4,700 people went to their feet!

They sang a couple of classic songs to start the second half like "I Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now" and "I'm Living in Canaan Now."

They ended the night with "I Wish I Could Have Been There," which has become a tradition for them to end their concert with at Echo Hollow. I have to admit, this is one of my favorite songs they sing. As soon as the song started, people were clapping along and standing to their feet enjoying every word. They, of course, did several encores of the song!

It was a great night with the Perrys! They had the largest crowd of any night so far in the festival! Tracy mentioned how they always love coming to Silver Dollar City, and it was evident from the crowd tonight that the feeling is definitely mutual! The Silver Dollar City crowd loves the Perrys!