Fun Clip Friday - Silver Dollar City 2015 Recap

Well, if you've read this blog at all in the last two weeks, you know I've spent most of that time at Silver Dollar City for its Southern Gospel Picnic. You can catch highlights of each day I was there here.

I love this event. When you stop to think about it, it's amazing that a theme park for 12 days solid promotes the gospel. When you first step on the park, gospel music is what you hear. Whether you came for the festival or to ride a few roller coasters, you'll hear gospel music walking around the park. People could easily wonder into a show escaping the heat and hear the gospel through song and testimonies. So many times we were in line for a show, and people walked by asking what the line was for. They wouldn't know anything about the artist but figured it must be good if people were waiting in line for it! It's really incredible for a public theme park to do this.

I posted recaps of each day, but here are some overall highlights/ comments about the festival -

• It was really neat to me to see how the artists supported each other. Artists could be seen backstage or in the audience supporting their fellow singers while they were not singing themselves. A couple I saw stayed over days after they sang, I'm sure for the theme park too, but they were also in shows supporting this genre, the artists and the festival.
• I have to say that the new group I was most impressed with was the Craguns. Check them out if you get a chance!
• Of course, it had to rain one night of the festival, but Triumphant Quartet didn't let the rain or part of the crowd leaving slow them down! Clayton even joined the audience in the rain (clip below).
• The reunion shows were great this year! Of course, I love everything Chosen Few gets together, but it was good to see the lineup of Jay, Jonathan, Mark and Tim of Gold City in person. Check out this clip Mark Trammell Quartet post!
• For many artists this is the only chance I get to see them each year. I don't mind admitting that I am tired after the festival but I try to see as many as I can. Silver Dollar City crams in so many shows and artists each day, it's really impossible to see everyone you want to see.
• The women of gospel music are troopers. Sonya Isaacs Yeary and Amanda Crabb both sang outside in the heat several months along in their pregnancies. Sheri Easter was two weeks out of hernia surgery singing on stage in the heat. Big kudos to these women!!
• I got to see a number of groups with new members or at least new in that I hadn't seen them in person yet - Mark Trammell Qt., Booth Brothers, Gold City and LeFevre Qt. There were a few other groups with recent member changes but it was also my first time seeing them live like Signature Sound. I was pretty impressed with all the new guys and how well they were meshing with their groups now.

D.A. Callaway is the entertainment manager at Silver Dollar City and posted several videos during the week. I'm still going through photos and videos I took, so for now I'll just share his. Here are a couple for today's Fun Clip Friday!

Talk about a sing-a-long! Duane Garren leads 4,000 in preparation for Booth Brothers concert at Silver Dollar City.
Posted by DA Callaway on Sunday, August 30, 2015

Crazy man in the rain, Clayton Inman of Triumphant Quartet at Echo Hollow concert, Silver Dollar City.
Posted by DA Callaway on Saturday, August 29, 2015