"There Is a Fountain" - There's no doubt that Kim Hopper is one of the best vocals in the industry, but so is her sister-in-law TaRanda Greene. When you add those two dynamite vocals with the contrasting alto voice of Kim Collingsworth, you get a dynamite combination. I did not expect to see TaRanda there this week, so I might have let out a little girl-type yelp of joy when Kim called her on stage. In my opinion, TaRanda is the best power vocalist in southern gospel. It was a great return for TaRanda to the main stage and especially for her to sing with Kim. Not only was it a touching, emotional moment, but it was one of the best vocal performances of the night!
Mark Trammell Quartet - They sang three songs from their new project Lifetime: "I Sing the Mighty Power of God," "Tis So Sweet" and "A Wonderful Time Up There." Pat Barker, bass, was featured on the latter, and he just gets better each time I see him! They closed with "Statue of Liberty," which received one of the best audience responses of the night. Vocally, it was one of the strongest sets of the night. Dustin Sweatman played piano, while Nick Trammell sang lead. We haven't seen Nick featured much, but maybe that will change later in the week. Mark had the "Awww" moment of the night when he brought his granddaughter, Tessa, up on the stage. Mark also talked about Clarke Beasley's accident and asked for the people to pray for his recovery and had the audience wish him well since he was watching the webcast.
Bowling Family - They sang "I'll Be Alright" and "Sailing on Home" to start their set. Then Kelly talked a little bit about their wreck and all that God had done for them. This set up "Your Cries Have Awoken the Master." Mike led an encore of the chorus that Kelly and Terah then joined him on. You could tell how much they felt every word of what they were singing. They closed their set with another strong song, "I Still Glory in the Cross." They pulled out all the stops vocally on this song, and they did an incredible job!
Greater Vision - They sang a few favorites "Champion of Love," "He'd Still Been God" and "He Didn't When He Could Have Passed By." Chris Allman sang "I Know a Man Who Can," and Gerald told the story of how they started singing this song. Chris delivers on this song every time, and it's become of my absolute favorite songs to hear them sing. It was one of the top vocals of the night for me! Gerald talked a little bit about Compassion and how blessed and fortunate we are to be Americans before their last song. They closed their set with "Jesus Is Coming Again Medley." Their song selection for their set was strong from beginning to end, great choices!
Jeff and Sheri Easter - I barely made it in from work in time to catch all of Jeff and Sheri's set, since they were running ahead of schedule, I thought I had a few more minutes to spare than I did. I caught most of "Anything But Happy," which is from Eyes Wide Open. Morgan was featured on "Like My Mother Does" which fits her so well. Jeff sang another one from their latest project, "Good Ole Gospel Song." Sheri set up "Hear My Heart" with an excerpt from her book. This song never gets old, and Sheri gives a stirring, heart-felt performance each time. They closed with "I Get To." I love the message of this song! It really speaks to families and how we get to spend time with our loved ones, and the Easters are one of the most precious families in gospel music. There was a discussion in the chat about Jeff and Sheri being the cutest couple in southern gospel. :) Jeff and Sheri had a strong set and got the night off to a great start!
I have never heard anything more beautiful than TaRanda Greene, Kim Hopper with Kim Collingsworth playing and singing "There is a Fountain". I would love to have that to show my family and friends.
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