Everything Is Beautiful on Day 3 - Silver Dollar City's Southern Gospel Picnic 2016

Brothers, Blood, Browns and Beauty can sum up today at Silver Dollar City's Southern Gospel Picnic. It was another day with six different artists, one soloist, two brother groups and three family groups. Here's a recap of who I saw -


Hopper Brothers 2.0

My day started at Red Gold Hall seeing the Hopper Brothers 2.0 for the first time. And I was impressed! The group consists of Mike and Dean Hopper, Matt Griffith and Reggie Smith.

They sang several familiar songs like "I Know," "Something Within" and "You Can't Give Up on God."

They started singing "The Baptism of Jesse Taylor" and were just getting into the chorus when the track messed up. They said "Thanks," and just started walking off the stage. Then somebody shouted to put another quarter in the machine. They were getting ready to just sing it again without the track when they got it start again. Loved hearing them sing this one!

Reggie went to the piano and started the hymn, "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." It was the moment of the concert. This is my favorite hymn, and I loved hearing these guys sing it. They ended with "I Believe in a Hill Called Mt. Calvary."


Joseph Habedank

Joseph opened the concert last night in Echo Hollow, and it was good to see him again today. He sang a couple that he did with the Perrys, "He Is Good to Me," "If You  Knew Him" and "I Wish I Could've Been There," which had the audience on its feet at the end.

He told a little about his testimony and sang "The Beauty of the Blood." Love this song! He also sang another more personal song that he said challenged him to really live out what he was singing on stage, "When the Lights Go Down."

He also sang "Almost Morning" (Thanks, Joseph!), which is my favorite song he's written! I love the message of this song!


Ball Brothers

This was my first time seeing this group with new bass singer Matt Davis. He's only 21, but the guy can sing bass! He was featured on "Happy Rhythm."

They sang a few classics like "Victory in Jesus" with a Ball Brothers twist and "Gentle Shepherd." Their harmonies on the later were great!

Daniel started telling about their CDs and product and was showing the audience an a cappella project. He asked if anyone liked a cappella music. Of course, the audience clapped for it. He changed the plan and decided to sing "I Shall Know Him" a cappella. It was incredible! Daniel joked that it was probably the only time they had gotten a standing ovation in the middle of a product pitch.

They ended with "Mercy Tree," which is a more modern hymn. Love the message of the song and their rendition.


The Browns

The last show of the afternoon was the Browns. They started their set with "Soul on Fire" from their latest project. I really like their take on that song.

They had several songs where they played their fiddles including a medley of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and "Majesty" and then also "Let There Be Peace on Earth." It was beautiful!

They let Andrew loose on "What a Beautiful Day," which was a song he actually wrote. Then, they ended the set with "Everywhere I Go."


Hosea Bilyeu Family

This family opened the night. Hosea normally preaches one of the Sundays of the festival and sings with his family to start the service. They have a large family group, so they had many different combinations of people on stage singing.

Their group sang several gospel songs you would recognize including, "I Go to the Rock," "When Jesus Passes By" and "I Believe He's Coming Back."


The Hoppers

The Hoppers, Dean, Kim, Karlye and Mike, started the night with their most recent single and #1 song, "Jesus the One." I was glad I got to hear this one live!

They sang the Ray Stevens' song, "Everything is Beautiful." And Karlye and Mike pulled out the flashlights on their cell phones and started waving them. The audience then followed suite.

Kim was featured on "Grace Will Always Be Greater Than Sin." I love getting to hear her sing that one live!

Then Dean brought out Claude and Connie, and the audience was on its feet welcoming them with applause to the stage. Connie sang her signature "I've Come Too Far to Look Back." She is the classiest lady in gospel music. Later on Claude sang his "If I Can Help Somebody."

The Hopper Brothers 2.0 made another appearance and sang three songs for the crowd that night.

Of course it's not a Hoppers concert without "Jerusalem," "Yes I Am" or "Shoutin' Time," which is what they ended the night on. They did several turnarounds at the end and had everyone on stage including a few members of the Hosea Bilyeu family. The audience was on its feet clapping and singing along during the entire song!

Three days down, nine more to go!