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Your Group had a big year in 2005 both professionally and personally. Fill everyone in on what has happened with the group!
In May of 2005, we had our first top 80 song, "Heaven It Won't Be Long", with a high debut of #52 on the Singing News chart. We also regrouped a bit which is always scary but God just took care of it and sent a couple of incredible guys my way. And, we recently found out that "Old Campmeetin'" debuted at #50 on February ‘06 Singing News Top 80. We've been working hard for several years on radio and it's finally paying off.
Tell us about the new guys. How has the members affected the group's overall sound and ministry approach?
Well, Greg Gainer and Kyle Hake round out the group. Greg was a great asset from several standpoints. He's a go-getter in the way he approaches everything. He helps with a lot of things I normally did all by myself and helps with a lot of the scheduling too. He's just a great all around "trio man". Kyle is an absolute pleasure to work with. He's positive and upbeat about everything. He is great on stage. As a matter of fact, many people have commented on how comfortable he is. He acts like he's been singing with us for years. The overall sound hasn't changed a lot. I think it has a little more drive now...and everything is pitched just a little higher. The group has remained very young with Greg being 32, myself being 30 and Kyle is the youngster at 23. It's also interesting that this is the first time I've ever had all members Baptist...Ha! Not that denominations amount to a hill of beans but I just found that funny and interesting. The ministry approach hasn't wavered. We try to keep the program youthful and upbeat with a strong concentration on the message. We've found that our somewhat progressive take on Southern Gospel has allowed us to broaden the scope of people we can reach. Not only do the older people love what we do but we are getting the youth interested in Southern Gospel and that is very important to us. We also incorporate an "unplugged" segment into the program. Greg is a great pianist and we generally slow down at some point in the program and do some familiar songs that everyone loves and even play "Stump The Trio" by taking requests from the audience. It's lots of fun!
What's next up to bat for your group? In other words, what do you see in the immediate future for your ministry?
Lots of exciting things going on! We are actually right in the middle of releasing the third single from the album "Journey Of A Lifetime", called ""Oh The Blood Of Christ". This is one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard and it was written by our friend, Joel Lindsey, who knows how to write a great one! Also, we are working on a very unique hymns album. We took some very familiar songs and some maybe not so familiar and put a very interesting twist on each one. As a matter of fact, I had an arranging session with Donna Beauvais of Hope's Call and we came up with some very cool stuff! The other unique twist to the album is that it is a piano only project. Virtually everything on the record is accompanied by only acoustic piano. That album should be released by spring. We are also planning to re-record 12 of our favorite songs from the past 5 years and our first 4 projects. There were some great songs that deserve to be revived from our 5-6 year existence. We will begin working on that probably this summer and hopefully begin working on a new mainline project later this year. Lots of stuff going on!
Tell us about your worst and best concert experiences lately. Something the fan will love to know about you!
Well...hmmmm...let's start with the worst! Ha! On Kyle's very first night, we were singing with the Anchormen at a school auditorium. By the time both groups got set-up, we were running out of time for sound checks, etc. My good friend Donny Henderson with Second Mile had filled in with us a couple of dates in December and had switched some of the cables around for patching into someone else's system. I guess when he plugged them back in, he plugged them in backwards...so everything I was doing to the monitors was affecting house sound. Needless to say, I nearly lost my religion trying to fix the problem on a limited amount of time. We thought we had it fixed and began our first set. The audience could barely hear us singing but they could hear LOTS of track. We finally got it fixed for our final 3 songs of the night. What a first night for Kyle! But, Donny man...I still love you!
As far as the best...We recently sang in Ridgeway, VA at the First Baptist Church. It was just a special morning. The crowd was very reserved to begin with...I don't think they had ever had a group in for a concert on Sunday morning. It was a great morning...several people rededicated their lives to the Lord and I even received an e-mail from a gentleman that said he had been out of church for over a year. And this was his first time in church for that amount of time. He said the music that morning spoke to him in such a special way and he thanked us for reuniting him with his Savior. It was a very humbling and awesome experience. It was just one of those unforgettable mornings.
What are the long term plans for your group. What's the future hold for your group?
We're just planning to keep on keeping on. Whatever God has in store for us...whatever he wants for this ministry is what we want. I feel like I have the best bunch of guys in the world and I am so excited about it. Their talent is amazing and their hearts are in the right place. They are both on the same page as I am as far as the future of this ministry goes and that's exciting. We are planning on getting busier and going to new places...places we've never been before...and we're excited about the journey.
What is [b.creative]?
That's getting to be a common question. [b.creative] is a business that I own that specializes in graphic design and printing for groups within the industry. We do websites, graphic design, backdrops/banners, printing...virtually anything that is printed or published to the internet, we can handle. We do regular work for The Hoppers, The Talley Trio, The Whisnants, Hope's Call, Ray Flynn Promotions, Abraham Productions and of course, Mercy's Well. I have been working with Southern Gospel artists since 1995. It's fun.
More information on Mercy's Well can be found at http://www.mercyswell.com
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Written: 02/01/2006 
Author: SGN
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