2006

It’s A Sure Thing With The Quicks

1. The Quicks are a great, young, up and coming group that you need to be watching for.    Tell us how the Quicks came to be a Gospel singing group?

Rebecca:   The summer of 1999, I remember auditioning for “The Quicks.”    Yes, Momma made me audition.   I was ten years old and had ridden along with the group Momma and Daddy had been singing with since I was two months old.   Needless to say, I knew all of their songs.

Sally:   The girls were so little – Rachel was thirteen and Rebecca was ten – not exactly what a group manager looks for, but they were there and willing.   When Rebecca “auditioned” (I don't remember calling it that), she could sing every part to every song in our repertoire.   She loves people and loves to sing!   Rachel was a natural on stage and so good with people.   She has such a big heart.   We spent the first three years singing everywhere they would let us – our favorite being the Lady Anderson Gospel Dinner Cruises.   The girls were a hit!   Tim and I knew we had found our group!

2. Describe the sound that the Quicks have developed. Who does the arranging and things that bring that sound out?

When we got to Nashville in 2002 after Tim retired from the Air Force, I sent emails and left messages with every listing in that year's Singing News Sourcebook looking for someone to record an album for us.   We got one response – that made the decision easy.   George Hairr called and was willing to meet with us.   After a meeting that lasted for hours, he said he knew just the man for us – Tommy Cooper.   We spoke with a couple of producers after that before deciding to go with Tommy.   He began to put together our first album, but I still wasn't real sure about working with him.   One day while we were doing vocal on that recording, Ben Speer walked in and began to ask about our group and how we came to work with Tommy.   He then nodded at Tommy and said, “You've got a good one.”   I didn't question our decision anymore and we have begun our third album with T.C.   Most producers would have tried to pull Rachel up to Soprano and Tim down to Bass, but we were essentially four altos.   Tommy is a trained musician and has a great working knowledge of classical, jazz, southern gospel, and many other types of music.   He was Engineer of the Year in 1999 as voted on by the Southern Gospel Music Association (SMGA).   Tommy wanted to take what we were and build around our close ranges by creating tight intricate harmonies.   I always think of the verse where Jesus said, “…my strength is made perfect in weakness.”   I had been so steeped in what “traditional” Southern Gospel sounded like, that it took a while for me to catch on to the idea of doing something new.   God formed the relationship between The Quicks and Tommy Cooper – and we feel very fortunate that it has developed into something special.   Rebecca has had a lot of training in written music and has begun to give some valuable input – I always have to give my two cents as well.  

Bottom line – the credit goes to Tommy Cooper – master Yoda.

3. Sally, you have become quite a song writer, tell us about some of your songs.

It seems that I don't have a specific style of writing – I have everything from convention songs to pop ballads.   The songs that come to mind first are “The Uniform” a ballad I wrote for Tim's Air Force retirement, of course “It's a Sure Thing” – our latest single – all that song amounts to is a “kicking” version of my testimony.   I'm very excited about the songs I've written for our new album – songs like “Testimony in Progress,”   “Time with the King,” and one from a sermon our pastor, Johnny Minick, preached called “He Went a Little Farther.”

4. Poor ole Tim takes a lot of grief in your articles. Can you tell us at least one good thing about Tim?

Give me minute – I'll make something up.  

Okay - okay, I'll get serious about Tim this one time.   Everybody loves Tim – he is so energetic and fun.   I fell in love with him twenty-two years ago - He's the heartbeat of this family.  

5. Rebecca, as a young person involved in Southern Gospel Music, what are your musical influences?

Obviously my main influences are Southern Gospel groups… and I don't just like this music because my parents do – I am a Southern Gospel FANATIC.   Ok, influences would be The Happy Goodmans, The Hoppers, Gaither Vocal Band, The Crabb Family, The Martins, just to name a few.   I don't know if you want that sacrilegious stuff too, but other influences are Manhattan Transfer, Billie Holiday, The Carpenters, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Stevens… yeah, he's my hero.  

What's in your CD player right now?

Gold City:   Their Best (Great CD, by the way… :D)

6. What can a promoter or Pastor expect when the Quicks come to do a concert for them?

A pastor we sang for one time said, “…their anointing is fresh, fruitful, and authentic.”   Our family is unique – we are so very close.   Maybe due to some of the tough things we have faced… and survived.   We have loads of energy in our program – mainly to camouflage Tim's ADHD!   We bring lots of fun, which gains the attention of the listener, and then we are able to go straight to their heart with the hope of Christ.   I really can't compare our sound to anyone – we do convention songs in an “un”conventional way… we have songs with horns like ragtime, guitars like blues… but EVERY song proclaims the Word of God!

How far are you prepared to travel to minister?

How far do you need us to go?

7. What is the biggest challenge to you as a young group trying to climb the ladder of success in SGM?

Exposure!   I have every confidence in our family's ability to minister; we are just waiting on God to lift the veil for people to find us.   It looks like that's beginning to happen…

8. Tim, what was it like being a part of the Honor Guard at the NQC a couple of years ago? What exactly did you do?

Deon, as you know, I'm retired USAF.   I'm very proud of my service, this country, and our flag.   To carry it was an honor, but for the NQC, it was fabulous!   I've done that twice now at the convention.   As far as what did I do, well, I climbed “snuggly” into my uniform, carried the flag to the main stage, stand and then carried it off the stage.   Being you are a veteran also, then you know the respect you must have and the honor it is to be asked by The Wilburns and the Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet to put my uniform back on and carry the American Flag on mainstage at NQC.   (See, I told you I'd make it to Main Stage!)  

9. A lot of people will read this article, so talk to us from your heart for a little bit.

You have basically seen our heart in the previous answers.   Even though Tim and I are already in our forties – I can't believe I just said that – we believe that God's biggest work for us is ahead of us.   We wasted a lot of years out of the will of God and we want to make up for lost time.   We are overcomers – and we want to let the world know how they can be too!

Visit the Quicks online at http://www.thequicksonline.com and listen for their latest single, "It's A Sure Thing Baby" on radio.