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Southern Gospel Music has boasted many successful music tours and collaborations through the years including the Statesmen/Blackwood Brothers, Kingsmen/Gold City, Happy Goodman Family/Inspirations, The Gospel Caravan, Poet Voices/Bishops/Greenes/Kirk Talley and numerous others. The latest craze going right now is the CrabbJam Tour featuring the Crabb Family along with the McRaes and CrossWay . I was excited to find out that the tour was coming within driving distance, so we decided to take in the sights and sounds of CrabbJam 2005.

We arrived at the auditorium about 5pm and a few people had already started to gather, waiting for the doors to open. By the time the doors opened at 6pm, the lobby of the Paul A. Johnston Auditorium on the campus of the Johnston Community College was filled with people ready to rock the house as CrabbJam 2005 had come to Smithfield , North Carolina . With almost a completely full house, pretty much every age group was represented in equal numbers. I can't say there were more young people than older people there and I was a bit surprised at that, figuring the younger set would very much outnumber the older set. But, I was glad to see so many of the more mature crowd enjoying the progressive sounds of the Crabb Family, McRaes and CrossWay; it showed me that the younger set and older set are not as far apart from one another as some may want to think. In fact, the whole front row was filled with mostly people over the age of 50 and they jammed with the best of ‘em! It definitely was an evening to remember as the crowd and artists alike were rockin' the house!

After a brief prayer, the Crabb Family came on to the roar of an enthusiastic crowd and started things off with “Greater is He”. There was a mighty wall of sound, but by the second song, either the loudness was toned down a bit, or I got used to it. The band was on top of their game as they showcased their wares on “The Lamb, The Lion & The King”. Again I say, the place was a-rockin'! After two songs, Jason tried to calm the crowd down as he introduced the McRaes and they came on singing, “If It Had Not Been the Lord”. Annie shared her heart as she introduced their most recent hit, “There is a Remedy” and the song provided a wonderful opportunity for the audience to worship the Lord as many people seemed to have been touched by the testimony and song. After this inspiring moment, the duo broke into one of their earlier hits from a couple of years ago, “Lord, Shake These Chains”. The sisters also sang their newest single from their forthcoming album, “Perfect Love” called, “Low and Down” and the crowd seemed to really accept what these ladies were doing.

After the McRaes finished their 4 song set, Jason brings out CrossWay as they bounded on stage singing “Oh My, My” and then quickly break into “No Back Roads” , both from their current recording, “This I Know.” As the crowd begins to die down, Matt and Chris go on to explain why they were trio instead of a quartet on this particular evening. Crossway's tenor, Marty Hurt had stayed behind because his wife (Chris' sister) had given birth to triplets less than a week earlier. Matt then stopped the program and offered up a prayer on their behalf asking God to watch over them during this very crucial time. After sharing the good news of the triplets, as well Chris' recent wedded bliss, Paul had his own good news to share as he proudly proclaimed that he saved a bunch of money on his car insurance. (Old joke I know, but still funny!) As the crowd roared their approval at the banter, the group went into an acoustical version of “I'll Fly Away” , done with Matt playing the guitar. I've heard this song all my life, and have never heard it with this arrangement. Along with myself, the crowd approved of what they heard as they gave a standing ovation. As Mat sets up the song “It Looks Like Love to Me” , he shares his thoughts on the criticism of last years movie, “The Passion of the Christ” and then breaks into the chorus of the song with just him and his guitar before the band kicks in as the place comes alive with music.

During the McRae's and CrossWay's sets, the Crabb Family band played for the respective artists. The Crabb Family also stayed on stage, seated on stools behind the performers cheering them on as they sang. As each artist finished their set, they too sat down and cheered each other on and it conveyed a wonderful spirit of camaraderie.

As the Crabb Family took their place at center stage, they progressed through a montage of hits, favorites and recently recorded tunes such as “Promised Land”, “My Keeper”, “Traveling On” , “Sacrifice of Praise”, “He Came Looking for Me”, “Please Forgive Me”, an emotional performance of “Please Come Down to Me” and “The Shepherd's Call”. As they finished up “The Shepherd's Call”, Jason leads the audience in a moment of praise with “Oh How I Love Jesus” before the group closes their part of the program with the much favored, “Don't You Wanna Go”.

Before breaking for intermission, Jason had everybody sit down as he shared about the Crabb Family's involvement with World Vision and shared a video of a recent trip they took, after which Jason proceeded to solicit the audience to help World Vision in their very worthy cause. Several members of the audience decided to take part in this and it was wonderful to see so many people wanting to help those who cannot help themselves.

After intermission, Jason and the family start things off with their signature song, “Though the Fire” . One may think it odd for them to start a set with that song, but Jason mentioned before they started that it was for someone who had leave to go to work the nightshift. Afterwards, Jason shared some banter between the McRae sisters before joining them on a song he recorded with them on their “Traveling On” recording called, “Knockin' on Heaven's Door” . After Annie shared a brief testimony of how she wrote a song off their forthcoming released, they sang the worshipful “The Word of the Lord.”

As the McRae's took their respective place on the platform, Paul Smith of CrossWay shared his testimony of his father's death a couple years ago and what his dad meant to him before he sang the emotional “Looking at You” . The song was a very touching moment in the concert and it also touched Lori Sykes, bass player for the Crabb Family, who lost her father earlier this year. I dare say, there were very few dry eyes in the house when Paul was done with the song. Ending their part of the concert, CrossWay sang their powerful hit song, “Long Arm of Love”.

After CrossWay was done, Jason spent the next 10 minutes or so doing some “no holds barred” preaching and leads the audience into several choruses of “I Surrender All” before breaking out into the ever popular “Redeemer” with everyone on stage joining in on the final chorus. Jason closed the evening out with everyone singing the Gaither classic, “Because He Lives.” And just as it begun in prayer, it all ended in a prayer.

We had great seats and we had a wonderful time. It was a great evening of worship, laughter, joy and tears as the audience went through the whole palette of emotions as the night progressed on. It was more than a concert…it was an experience.

*A very special thank you goes to Mary Hamilton and Heather Herrera for the great pictures used in this article.

Reader Comments

I remember something a preacher said one time many years ago..."God didn't come to change my shirt, He came to change my life." Holiness and Godliness goes way beyond outward appearance. Do I have my preferences, YES! But, how they comb their hair, brush their teeth or what they wear on stage is immaterial to what is on the inside and their relationship with God.

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