Tell us a little bit about Forgiven. Who is in the group? What style of music do you sing? How many years have you been around?
Forgiven sings traditional southern gospel music, blending classics of the past with songs written by great songwriters of today.
Members of Forgiven are not new to the southern gospel music scene. Cloid & Debbie Baker met many years ago when Debbie was traveling with the Weatherford Quartet, a legendary name in gospel music. At the time, Earl & Lily Weatherford still maintained a quartet and traveled extensively singing at more than 300 concerts and churches each year. Cloid was working for Bill & Gloria Gaither at the time, playing bass guitar for the Bill Gaither Trio, driving their bus and working in their music company. Cloid was the first full time employee that Bill Gaither hired, outside the family. Danny Gaither was also singing in the trio at the time and during this era the Gaithers were doing a lot of concerts with Doug Oldham and Henry & Hazel Slaughter. Cloid & Debbie met while doing some concerts together on the east coast - the Weatherfords were invited to share the stage with the Gaithers and Henry & Hazel Slaughter. From the time they met, Cloid & Debbie were interested in seeing each other again - in fact, Cloid maintains that Debbie fell madly in love with him from the beginning. The first night they met,according to Cloid, Debbie caused a record rack to fall over at the Weatherfords product table, because she was so enamored at him behind the Gaithers product table. After that night in Wilmington, Delaware, they started talking via telephone (no cells phones in the early 70s) and after a little less than a year, and long driving trips between Weatherford and Gaither schedules, they married in Bill & Gloria's flower garden.
After their marriage in 1972, Cloid & Debbie had their own trio for awhile - singing any time the Gaithers had a Sunday off. In the mid-70s they left the Gaithers and were asked to go on the road again with the Weatherfords. Cloid sang lead and Debbie played piano and was also feature singer with Lily Fern. After they found out they were expecting their second child they decided to go home to Indiana, where they were invited to join Danny Gaither in his ministry after leaving the Bill Gaither Trio. They played instruments and sang with Danny for several years before making the decision to minister in churches while the children were growing up. Their love of gospel music has never grown old and no matter what stage their lives have been in, it has always been part of the history.
Brian grew up in a gospel music loving family and he is an extremely knowledgeable and talented young man. He has attended southern gospel concerts all his life and sang with his own family quartet more recently. At 31 years old, he can recite the history and recorded songs of many classic artists such as the Statesmen Quartet, Blackwood Brothers, and Stamps Quartets. He has a very versatile voice range, singing baritone, lead and tenor - all with the ease of a professional.
Debbie, I know that you used to play the piano for the Weatherfords. What was that like and how has that experience influenced how Forgiven operates?
I started playing piano at a young age, but had very few piano lessons because I always wanted to play gospel music and I liked improvising and playing behind a singer. It was a goal fulfilled when I was asked to play for the Weatherfords. I was only 18 years old and at the time was playing for a part time group from Cincinnati, OH called the Crownsmen Quartet. I was introduced to Earl & Lily at a local concert we did together and they had just lost their piano player. When Earl asked me to join them, I did not hesitate to say "yes" and I surprised my parents when they found out I was leaving in 4 days for a 6 week tour to the West Coast and Northwest. During those days, Weatherfords would go out on long tours, and it worked well for a single gal like me. I learned so much about their smooth and silky style singing and it has not only influenced the piano playing I still do for Forgiven, but my vocal style as well. One of the things that people
say a lot to Forgiven is "it's so refreshing to be able to understand the lyrics".
Do you have any songwriters in the group? How do you select the songs that you will use on recordings and in your concerts? How many recordings has Forgiven made?
As the group, Forgiven, we have just released our 9th recording called "Forward". It's our favorite to date, partially because of the material we chose and also because with our new singer, Brian, we have been able to expand our versatility with new arrangements.
Since we have not yet developed the skills to write our own songs, selecting songs is a process that is ongoing for us. We try to record every year or shortly thereafter. Because of our love for the classic songs that have withstood the test of time, we search in our collections for songs that people will be familiar with and that have a message to speak to the audience. Then, we listen to lots of demos that writers of today send us. We have had a few songs written especially for Forgiven, two by good friend of ours, Tim Lovelace. And, last year we met a group from Oklahoma, The Homesteaders Quartet, who have not just one but three extremely gifted songwriters in the group. We recorded 3 of their songs on our "Forward" project. As far as selecting what we will sing in a concert, Brian & Debbie are mostly "followers". Cloid is responsible for the planning and emcee work for all our services and he is very sensitive to the setting, the time limit and what we are trying to accomplish, depending on the venue. Of course, wherever we are the goal is to sing about the Savior and give the message of hope and assurance to those who listen.
What do you love most about singing and playing Southern Gospel Music?
First of all, we love doing what the Lord has called us to do, and we all in in one accord regarding that calling. We love to share the blessings that the Lord has given us and to present the message of hope in the Lord Jesus. It's a joy to watch the response to our singing and the words of our music. Then we feel that they are getting the message of hope and love.
I know that Forgiven is a mixed trio with two guys and a gal. Do you guys make Debbie carry in all that heavy equipment?
Forgiven has only had to replace one singer since our formal beginning in 1988 and that was earlier this year. Cloid always says when we were getting ready to replace Doug Sharp that he prayed for three things; that our new man would be a fine, young Christian man, that he could sing all three parts so we would not have to teach him and that he would be big and strong so he could carry in all that equipment. Sure enough, God gave us all those qualities and more. Brian is 6' 6" tall and he does a fine job of carrying in all that equipment. Of course, we have to feed him well so that he has the energy to do all that work!! Debbie is very happy about that and she
does not have to carry in anything at all, just set up the product table once it's in there.
Do you feel more comfortable singing in church or in the concert setting?
Forgiven likes to be known as a church ministry because it is such an intimate setting where we believe we can reach a lot of people. We started out ministering in our local church and expanded from that to where we are today, a full time group which will finish this year doing about 180 sates and next year at least 200. We enjoy the variety of concert settings that we have added to our schedule and plan to do more in the near future. We sing at the Breakfast Clubs in both Florida and Shipshewana, IN, Gospel Barns in PA, IN and MI, Blue Gate Theater in IN, Phipps Gospel Sing concerts and other concert events throughout the Mid-West. We have also gone to new states each year and will make our first trip to the New England states in 2006. So, although we love singing in churches and that's our first love, we welcome the opportunity to present the gospel in any setting that opens up to us.
What effect has the internet had on your group?
The internet has had a tremendous effect in several areas of our ministry. We have had a home page for a few years now ( http://www.forgiventrio.com ) and we have more and more comments and interactions from people who follow our ministry. We just expanded it recently to include new features, including an online store, web blogs, e-newsletter and several other capabilities. It gives us instant contact with those we meet in our concerts and a way to keep people informed of our activities and accomplishments. The internet also is used more and more for presenting our music and background to pastors and promoters. Debbie uses e-mail now to book a portion of our dates and to provide the promotional material and confirmations. It saves a lot of time and postage. In addition, our music is now played on many internet radio stations.
If you could snap your fingers and sing any place you wanted in the world, where would it be?
It's hard to choose where we would like to sing the most because we are always happy singing no matter where we are. However, it would be a great honor to sing to the President of the United States or to any group in the military serving our country.
What's the most embarressing situation that Forgiven has been through while singing?
Forgiven has had several embarrassing moments during our lifetime but the most recent was this summer at a country church in Alabama. The church was full and they had a really good choir and southern gospel style piano player. We were singing and after hearing Brian sing "Hide Thou Me' someone in the audience asked if he could sing "Oh, What A Savior". Brian had never sung that song with Forgiven although he used to do it with his family group, but he did not know what key he sings it in because his Mom always played it. Well, we asked the accomplished piano player if he would play it and when he asked "what key" Brian did not know, so we let the piano player choose the key. What a mistake. He started it out WAY too high and even though Brian can sing high tenor he is not a high soprano singer. The key was at least 3 or 4 steps higher than it should have been. We knew we were in trouble, so when it got to the highest part, Cloid took over the lead an octive lower. After the first chorus ended, we stopped and asked the piano player if he would lower it, thinking that he would know how much to lower it. Wrong. The key was still 2 steps to high, and Brian nearly passed out because he got so hot and red in the face, but after the song we got a "sympathetic" standing ovation, with an invitation to come back next year and sing it in the right key. By the way, it was the piano player's Mother who requested the song.
Is there anything that we haven't asked you that you would like our readers to know?
Forgiven will be joining Andrew & Shirlean Phipps (Phipps Gospel Tours) on our first motor coach tour in just a few weeks, leaving on November 29 for Lancaster, PA and New York City. We're excited about this new opportunity in our ministry.
Forgiven is currently promoting their single, "Same Old Story", which was released on DJ Man Hit Singles, Volume 16, Cut 1. We will be visiting radio stations over the next few weeks, thanking them for playing our music. We will also be working on a video to be released sometime during irst
quarter, 2006.
Author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Written: 11/15/2005
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Category: Special Feature
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