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Rick, introduce us to the Rick Webb Trio. Give us a little background and history.

Deon, the Rick Webb Trio came out a music ministry that my wife Phyllis and I have had since 1984. During our time as a duet and even before we were married we sang with a group called ReGeneration. A vocal group of 10 singers that traveled the country and did 500 concerts each year and sang for the major churches in the US and even Walt Disney Worlds theme parks. During our time of television days with the “Day of Discovery” broadcast ’85-’95 we would select Southern Gospel songs to be used on the program and we would add a little more orchestra to them. We got an overwhelming response so we moved in that direction. It was in 1997 we began the Rick Webb Trio.

I have always loved Southern Gospel music growing up and even in college I wanted to sing SG and my voice teacher was pushing me to the New York City Opera. I’m glad I won. It’s the music that I feel the Lord would have us use because the message of the gospel is clear and the music is singable.

The music you sing is not traditional Southern Gospel. Describe for us the style of the Rick Webb Trio.

When we started the trio and signed with Homeland Records back in ’98 the various reviews we received, described us as a mixture between the Hoppers and Talley sound. I don’t know how to describe our sound other than we perhaps have our songs orchestrated a little more than other groups and our music may lean a little more inspirational Southern. The great part is the message is biblically based.

Your group does something very different most everytime you sing. For a lack of a better word, I call it a themed based segment of your program where you wear costumes. Tell us about that.

In our regular concert setting we attempt to sing songs that we feel will minister to the hearts of our audiences and honor the Lord. Yes, we may do a segment of songs about the “storms of life” we as believers are facing or if we know we have more of an unsaved audience then we will be a little more evangelistic. Every where we sing we seek the Lord’s leadership in what music we need to share for that special time.

The costumes you’re talking about are our Christmas Carolers outfits that we use in our Christmas concerts. This is an idea we took from our Disney World days. We would stroll through the theme park dressed as Victorian Carolers. The idea was so wonderful and so well received we have decided to continue it on some occasions. This year we have 10 Christmas dates scheduled in December.

The Rick Webb Trio has had more television exposure than most Southern Gospel artists. How has that benefited your ministry? Do you think it would be good for our genre for other artists to make the effort to get on television? What are the drawbacks if any?

Yes, we have been blessed to be on several television programs such as “In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley”,” GMTV”, ‘Gospel Music Southern Style’ on INSP, “Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah” “First Baptist Dallas, TX and several other church programs. We host our own TV program sponsored by the TCT network of stations based in Marion, IL. This program features special guests each week. We have hosted such special guests as The Hoppers, Triumpant Quartet, The Whisnants, The Hayes Family, The Rupps, Old Time Gospel Hour Quartet and many others. The network has stations all over the country as well as an outreach to over 140 countries around the world. It is unfathomable how many people we are reaching with the gospel via television. I strongly recommend other artists to take the opportunities to share their ministry on TV. The only drawback I would say would be that the TV stations rarely are able to give honorariums. But it’s well worth the personal investment however for your music ministry!

Your group seems to think “out of the box”. Who is the creative thinker in the group? What are you doing creative in the future?

Well, the girls in my group are always saying that I’m just too conservative! It sometimes feels a little more comfortable to be “in the box”, however all three of us are constantly seeking the Lord’s direction in different ways we can share the gospel through song. My wife and our third singer Lyn Westafer are very creative. They are always recommending ways we can keep what we do fresh and innovative! The use of the Victorian costumes is a good example! A friend of ours once said “ you can’t impove the product (the gospel) but you can improve the packaging”. We may sing some of the same songs over and over however, we try to apply a fresh message of what’s happening in our personal lives and what the Lord is teaching us daily.

Were you and your wife married when you first started singing together? How did you meet? Where were you when you proposed? What are the pluses of traveling with your wife: What are the hazards?

Phyllis and I met when we began singing with the professional vocal group ReGeneration. We sang with that group for 4 years. ReGeneration was directed by musical arranger and writer Derric Johnson. Pastor Derric would not allow us to date while we were with the group so we would “double date” until we left the group in 1982. We were on the road 48 weeks out of the 52 weeks in a year. With only a day or two off during a month, not much time was left for dating! During one of our week long breaks I proposed to Phyllis. I took her to a wonderful restaurant in Charlotte, NC. It overlooked the city and it was a nice place. I had it all planned to pop the question after the meal. When we got to the restaurant, we happened to be the only two people there that evening and right after dessert the waitress brought the check and said “were going to close early tonight, could you settle up” and they began cutting off the lights. I didn’t even have time to pop the question until we got to the car, where I give her the ring. The only neat thing about us being the only two in the restaurant that evening is that Phyllis thought that I had arranged the whole thing and had reserved the restaurant just for us!

Phyllis and I love to be together on the road. We are now home schooling our two younger teenagers and so we’re together all the time. We can’t imagine having it any other way!!!

What type of music are all of you listening to on the bus?

We all have different tastes from Avalon to Jazz. Of course we have plenty of Southern Gospel! We all like the Jazz sounds of Ella Fitzgerald and Manhattan Transfer!

What is your favorite environment for ministering?

We love to do our church concerts and our television program however our favorite time is when we can spend a couple of days in a conference center with a great preacher/teacher, so we can absorb the Word as well as being able to share our music.

You can visit the Rick Webb Trio at http://www.rickwebbtrio.com

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