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My wife, Cece, has become addicted to the TV show American Idol. I must admit I like it myself. If you haven't seen it, it's about young people competing vocally to be the last one standing and thus become the next American Idol. It's good old-fashioned competition. One of the judges, Simon, has become infamous for being brutally honest to the singers. He tells the people who don't have the talent to be up on stage exactly that. Frankly, I kind of like the guy. He tells the truth, and this is a contest to determine who is the best. I wish there were someone like Simon that could address the Southern Gospel Music Industry. Until someone like that appears on the scene, I'd like to say some things from my own observations.
Let me give you my background so you know where I've come from.
I started in Southern Gospel Music in the spring of 1963. I was attending Bible College and a friend of mine invited me to a gospel quartet concert at Town Hall in Philadelphia. On the program were The Blackwood Brothers, The Weatherford Quartet, The Couriers, and The Eastmen. I had never heard music like this in my life, having been raised in New York City. I decided that night to make this my life's work and I've been at it ever since. I'm a gospel quartet man. Nothing thrills me more than four male voices singing Gospel Music. This is not to say that I don't enjoy mixed groups or female groups. I enjoy them very much, but in my heart I'm a quartet man. I've played for The Keystone Quartet, The Rebels, Coy Cook and the Senators, J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet and The Kingsmen. I've never been in a bad group in my entire career, for which I am grateful. I started producing in the early 70's and I'll be the first to admit that I've produced some awful singers, but I always made sure that the services I provided were the best possible, and I have always tried to be honest with the artists as to their future. After 41 years in this wonderful business, I still love it, but I am saddened by the direction Southern Gospel Music has taken.
I will not be drawn into a discussion of ministry versus entertainment. I've covered this quite extensively in my book "The Gospel Music Truth". If you're in this strictly for the ministry and choose to travel around in churches evangelizing, I applaud you and encourage you to keep on. However if you aspire to rise to the ranks of professional, then you're more likely to benefit from these articles. Everything I present in these articles will pertain to the business side of Southern Gospel Music.
One of my other passions in life is baseball. If baseball were run like Southern Gospel Music, we would have 12 year olds playing in the majors. I bet that would really fill the seats. The heart of the matter to me is that the Southern Gospel Music Industry is divided into two separate and distinct industries:
- 1. The Professionals and soon to be Professionals.
- 2. The Wannabees.
The professionals are still doing what they've always done, taking care of business. But their job is getting harder because our industry is being over run with wannabees. The blame for this lies squarely at the feet of those in our industry who have found that they can make a handsome living catering to the wannabees, specifically in the areas of recording, radio promotion, and marketing. My disappointment is with the way some record companies and radio promoters lead these groups on. Some of these groups can't carry a tune in a bucket, know little or nothing about music, and are completely ignorant regarding what it takes to succeed in music. Yet if they can come up with the money, you can bet one of these companies will take it and give the group 500 CDs and put them on a compilation and get them an ad in The Singing News. Nothing comes of it of course, and the group raises money to do it all over again. Every once in a while one of these groups will get a song on the bottom of the chart, which just fuels the fire and around we go again. I don't fault the groups for this, they don't know any better.
I blame our industry leaders. We all know who they are. They are just as guilty as the companies who perpetrate this hoax on our innocent wannabees. They know this is happening, yet not only refuse to take a stand, but actually reward some of these companies with showcases at the NQC. Is this really where we want to go with Southern Gospel Music? Why do we reward bad singing with recognition? Why do we allow our wannabees to be violated in this manner? Can't someone put a stop to this? Whatever happened to the tried and true practice of making people earn their way to the top? This business of Southern Gospel Music should be geared for the professionals. When people are exposed to our form of music it should be the best we have to offer. Am I suggesting we should kick out all the wannabees? No Way! But, if they aspire to be professionals, they should do it the same way the pros did it, by learning their craft, every aspect of it, and they should only be recognized when they can show they have the goods. We are the only music form that allows amateurs the same status as professionals. In every other music form you either have the goods or you don't. If you don't you will not be allowed in. Is that tough? You bet!
To illustrate my point further, I have seen countless articles directed to the wannabees on a broad range of topics, from how to buy a sound system to how to book dates, all well intended I'm sure, but how does Gold City, or The Hoppers, or The McKameys know what sound system to buy or how to book dates? They're professionals! They know their business and their craft, something that seems to escape the wannabees. The reason many wannabees can't find dates is that they can't sing. What person wants to leave the confines of their home to go to a church with 20 other people and endure an hour or so of a group saying "Don't listen to our singing, listen to the words" If your singing is that bad, maybe you should just stand there and recite the words to the songs. Let the tenor recite a verse and then the bass and so on. Friends this business is about singing.
S-I-N-G-I-N-G. I heard Brock Speer tell my good friend Richard Sterban, "I'll put beans on the table if I have to, but I'll make sure I always have money for vocal lessons. It's my craft". Have you ever had a vocal lesson? Do you know how to place your tone in the mask? Do you know how to use your diaphragm properly? If not, what are you doing in this business of singing!
I must conclude. The only way I can think of to begin to address this problem is to speak directly to the artists. It's obvious our leadership has no desire to kill the golden goose. Friends, artists, please listen to me. Don't fall prey to the hype that is rampant in our industry. No one can make you a star but you. You have the power to determine your level of success. Good business practices and learning your craft and hard work will catapult you through the ranks quicker than any package deals. Many artists that come to me are weary of the hype and are ready to get serious about their careers. They've done the package deal, some of them more than once, and they know the outcome is fruitless. So far I've had a 100% success rate. Some of the artists are full time, making a good living and you've probably never heard of them because they've removed themselves from the Gospel Music Hype Machine. So you see, I'm not just talking trash here. I can back it up.
I welcome your comments, good or bad. I can take it. You can reach me at nick@nickbruno.com. Next month we'll dig into radio promotion.
God Bless You,
Nick Bruno
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Written: 03/31/2004 
Author: Nick Bruno
Category:
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The Gospel Truth
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