Tell us some history of the Dotsons. How did you get involved in Southern Gospel Music?
We are a family southern gospel group based out of Silver Lake, IN. John, Yavonna, Christopher, Seth and Emily make up The Dotsons. We (John & Yavonna) started singing together in our home church in 1986. We have sang at funerals, weddings, and revivals. When other groups would come to our church to sing, they would always tell us what a talent we had to sing for the Lord and that we should be out on the road. It wasn’t until years later that we felt God calling us to go. We did our very first recording titled “GENESIS – IN THE BEGINNING” in Oct. 1998 just as a favor to friends and family who kept asking us to do a recording. John only wrote 2 of the 10 songs on our first recording, but soon realized that God had given him the gift to write songs. We had no intentions on that recording taking us down the path that it has thus far. God started opening doors and the phone started ringing, so we went and here we are 7+ years and 5 recordings later doing an interview with you fine people. God is so good and He will direct our paths if we will only step out of the way and let Him be in control!
What is the most difficult problem traveling as a family? What's the biggest blessing?
The difficult problem would be working around school schedules and our (John & Yavonna) 40 hour work week schedules.
The biggest blessing is we get to travel together as a family and see our children develop in their singing and playing……………nothing makes a parent more proud than to see their child sing and play for the Lord AND love doing it !!!!
Who are the songwriters in the group? If you could be remembered for only one song that you have written, what song would you want to be remembered for?
We both have the ability to write, but John writes most of our material. He is becoming very well-known for his song-writing abilites.
John’s song titled, “GARDENS OF STONE” (song about the resurrection) is a song some SGM fans might know; Heirline recorded and singled this song a few years back and it is on their Heirline Hits CD. Another song I wrote called “THE MAN I USE TO BE” is the song that we are most known for, especially in our area (and it has just recently been recorded by Heirline on their new CD to be out soon). It talks about a changed life, changed by the Lord Jesus Christ; what I was, what I am now. We never tire of singing it. Two powerful messages in these songs so it’s hard to pick between them.
I see that you do a big benefit concert each year for the Diabetes Association. Tell us why you started doing them and about their success.
Yes, we do host an annual concert; THE AGGIE DOTSON MEMORIAL BENEFIT CONCERT FOR THE AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOC. John’s mom, Aggie, suffered through most of the effects of having diabetes for some 30+ years. Even before she died we decided that one day we would do our part, in her memory, to help others who suffer from this disease. With the help of John’s dad, Ralph Dotson, and many friends and family we host this event on the 1st Saturday in November each year at The Ramada Wagon Wheel Theater in Warsaw, IN. This year will be out 7th year for this event and over the past 6 years we have raised right at $50,000.00 that we have donated to ADA in memory of Aggie Dotson. This has been a very successful event for us, each year the house has been packed !! This year’s event will be on November 4th at 6:00 p.m. at The Ramada Wagon Wheel Theater and we are very excited about the group selection for this year; we are having THE GABBARDS, THE MIKE BOWLING GROUP and WESTON HINSON (son of the late Kenny Hinson) And of course the host group, THE DOTSONS !!!! For more information about this event please log onto our website at http://www.dotsons.com
What is the Southern Gospel climate like in Indiana? Do you promote SG in your area?
Indiana is a mixed bag. We don’t have a lot of radio up here. The closest station to us is over an hour away in South Bend, IN and it’s only part-time (10 hrs a week). So it’s hard to promote concerts. We only promote our annual benefit concert and from time to time we have a national group come into our home church.
There are less groups up here in Indiana but I would trade that for the coverage y’all have in the south because down in the southern gospel market they know the music, it’s part of their life.
When you're not performing, what does each group member listen to? What's in the CD player right now?
We all listen to a variety of southern gospel, but our oldest son, Christopher, is a fan of The Original Hinsons and a HUGE fan of Kenny Hinson (when you walk into his room he has an entire wall of Kenny Hinson pictures). Our youngest son, Seth, likes The Paynes. As for our little daughter, Emily, she likes anything with a good, fast beat that she can dance to. We all like these groups and you can hear their influence in our music. Instead of being a fan of a certain group, we have become more of a fan of good songs no matter who sings them.
Currently in our player is Heirline, but Mike Bowling’s new CD “Tribute to Kenny Hinson” has been in our player a lot lately.
If you could change one thing in SGM, what would it be?
Less showmanship and more sincere ministry.
If you could have any artist be a guest on your next CD, who would you ask? What song would you have them sing with the Dotsons?
If Kenny Hinson were still alive, I’d ask him and we would sing “Call Me Gone” or any hit song of his. But that not being the case, I would ask Mike Payne of The Paynes. We would sing “He broke the chains”. We love that song and we love Mike; he is as good a person (and writer) as they get !!!
Where's the oddest place the Dotsons have performed?
The only thing that comes to mind is last summer in Bristol, Indiana. We were singing outdoors in the pouring-down-rain with the speakers covered over with a tarp ! Hard to be heard when the speakers are covered with a tarp!
Is there anything that we haven't asked that your heart is burning to say?
We truly feel that God has called us to this ministry of singing. We are very ministry oriented, but like to have fun as well. We take this calling that God has put upon us very seriously and we know that one day we will stand before an almighty, awesome God and give account for the things that we have done in this life so we want to be able to say that we have done our very best for the Lord when that day comes.
When we first started The Dotsons ministry, we had no idea what to expect or how hard it would be to get our music played on some of the bigger stations. We just want a chance to be heard by the masses and we are just trusting in God to take care of this for us. For we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has His hand upon us and has called us to do this and He can overcome any obstacles that stand in our way. PRAISE THE LORD !!!!
If you would like to book The Dotsons, please call our office at 260-982-7714. If you would like to hear a sample of our music, please visit us on the web at http://www.dotsons.com
We would love to hear from you !
Author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Written: 04/15/2006
| 
Category: Special Feature
Comments: 4
RSS Feed
| (What's an RSS feed?)
Ads Sponsored by Southern Spin
The Dotsons are such a sweet and anointed family. God bless you all!
Betty
the dotsons have such beautiful voices,.. they are so blessed,.. keep up the good work guys we love ya all,.. the hughes family
Great group and sweet spirit...
GREAT FAMILY!!!!!! jOHN IS ONE OF THE GREATEST SONGwriteRS YOU WILL EVER MEET......
Page 1 of 1 Comment Pages
