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I wonder why it is the average age of people who attend Southern Gospel concerts is around 57 ½? If you take out the group members that are there singing, that average age jumps up to somewhere around 65 or thereabouts. What’s going to happen when all of these faithful supporters of the Southern Gospel industry pass off the scene? I’m so glad you asked.

I think we are seeing some of this already. Crowds are dwindling because many of these faithful seniors are either at a point in their lives where they can no longer travel and attend, or have passed on. But the real problem here is the fact that there is not a younger generation of Southern Gospel Music lovers out there ready to jump in and take their place. A few groups out there have realized this and are trying some new and innovative things to try and draw in a younger crowd. Signature Sound with their spiky hair, choreography, and “weird” looking ties; The Crabb Family with their trendy dress; The Gaither Vocal Band wearing jeans on stage and having long hair; and The Isaacs with their country music and allowing Ben to wear a cap on stage while playing and singing gospel music. What ever is this industry coming to? The next thing you know my favorite quartet is going to stop wearing their matching bright red suits and white shoes (or is it matching white suits and bright red shoes? I can never remember).

The number of negative comments and complaints over these things is just amazing. We wonder why Southern Gospel is not at the height it was in it’s heyday but we want to continue to run things the way they were run 30 or 40 years ago. It is this kind of small thinking that is pushing people away from Southern Gospel. If all people want to see is 4 guys standing in front of microphones and singing to tracks with no emotion, style, or stage presence, then that is who they need to go see. There are plenty of groups out there that will continue down that road until they are forced to change and do something else to survive. Signature Sound, The Crabb Family, The Gaither Vocal Band and The Isaacs all realize that in order for this industry to survive, a younger audience has to be reached and drawn in to our music and I, for one, applaud and support their efforts.

All of these “you can’t do that” or “we’ve never done it like that before” kinds of comments are exactly why groups are disbanding or downsizing and why so many churches are dying. People still want to run things the way they were in the 50's and wonder why people won't come. To reach new people, we MUST be ready and willing to change our methods. Not our MESSAGE ... just our METHODS.

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