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One of the best sounding, most enjoyable, regional groups around is Dale and Robbie Maxwell's group, New Ground. Based in Scottsboro, Alabama, the current group consists of Dale and Robbie, of course, and David Owens. They sing all over the southeast on the weekends, and are reaching out and broadening their horizons all the time.

Dale grew up in a singing family. Robbie told me that Dale's family always had a group or was somewhere, as she put it, "pickin' and sangin'. Dale and Robbie met at a revival in July of 1980. Dale's friends had been talking to him about Robbie, and Robbie's friends had been talking to her about Dale. But when they finally met at that service, Dale had his girlfriend with him. About three weeks later, they met at another revival service, and Dale told Robbie he had broken up with his girlfriend. They had their first date on August 30th, and three weeks later Dale proposed. They were married on December 12th, and will be celebrating their 22nd Anniversary this year.

So now, Robbie was a member of this singing family, but said she "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket - literally!!" Struggling with feeling left out, she began to pray. She asked God to give her some sort of talent, and she promised she would use it for Him. Then she found Psalm 37:4 ("Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."). She read it and believed it was God's confirmation to her that He had heard and would answer her prayer. And He did, but not without some skepticism from Dale.

"Robbie came to me and said that she had been called into the singing ministry," Dale remembers. "I told her that was great, but there was only one problem: Robbie couldn't sing! It wasn't that I doubted God, but I had heard her sing. Then one night, the group I was singing with needed a fill-in tenor. Robbie offered to sing. I said "No," but all the others said "Yes." That's when I found out what God had done. I spent most of the night straining around to look at her with my jaw hanging open. She was great! Since then, I wouldn't sing with anyone else!"

New Ground sang their very first concert at their home church in Scottsboro, Alabama on June 19, 1993, and they've been singing ever since. As New Ground has continued over the years, they have also been a launching pad for several artists such as Mickey Bell, Randy Matthews, Michael Camp, Kenny Allen, Ritchie Works and Josh Simpson, who have gone on to work with groups like the Steeles, Gold City, Brian Free and Assurance, and Phil Cross and Poet Voices. David Owens, who sings with them now left for a season with The Steeles, and has now returned to New Ground.

As their ministry has grown, New Ground has sung in many different areas, including The Grand Old Gospel Reunion, The Gold City Homecoming, The Perry's Homecoming, annual events at Hanceville, AL, Bonifay, FL, and Bill Bailey's Memorial Day Sing. They have also appeared at the James D. Vaughn Sing, June Gospel Jubilee, Sand Mountain Gospel Music Festival, Gold City/Southmen Reunion, New Artists Showcase at NQC, and Southern Gospel Promoters Breakfast at NQC, where they just sang again this year. They are going on the SonShine Cruise in January of 2003, and the Singing at Sea Cruise in January 2004. They will be singing at the Perry's Homecoming this October, and are already booked for the Gold City Homecoming in 2003.
It's no wonder that they have been invited to sing in all these places, and others, because they not only have a great blend and wonderful sound, but their sincere desire to be used of the Lord to bless the people comes across loud and clear. Their music selection ranges from great toe-tappin', knee-slappin' convention songs to songs that will grip your heart and touch your soul. Each voice is exciting on its own, but beyond that, their voices combine in a tight, harmonic blend that many groups would be envious of.

"Well, if you lived in the van with those two sticklers that I have to travel with," Robbie told me, "you would know what that vocal blend means." "I don't know much - well, just a little about music," Robbie continued, "David and Dale know music from top to bottom; they can hear harmony parts; they can hear a blend; they can tell when it is clashing, or in my case sometimes, CRASHING. So going up and down the highway they are trying this blend, singing that chord and telling me just where I'm missing it. But that's OK because they know what they are talking about and I just love to sing praises to the King. But I will have to tell you that Dale is a Bass Guitarist by heart. He is so at home with a Bass strapped around his neck. So, he is a stickler for the music. He has always said that the music needs to compliment the vocals not the vocals complimenting the music!!! I have to agree. But he's my husband; I'd better agree," Robbie said with a hearty laugh

More than anything else, they are rock-solid people. They enjoy what they're doing. "There is no group anywhere that has as much fun as Dale, David and myself on stage," Robbie says. "Yeah, we do cute little funny things. We have heard so many times that the Lord has a sense of humor, yeah, He made me!!! But we enjoy telling our story through song and fun and then we love to end our programs with the opportunity for someone to come to know the Lord.

But they also know very well why they do what they do. "Our most cherished moments," Robbie said, "are the times that we see that one person walk the aisle and ask for forgiveness of their sins. That's what it's all about - one more soul being saved!"

"We enjoy what we are doing and we enjoy using the talents that the Lord has given to us for our ministry. We think it wouldn't be fair to sing and preach to someone about our Awesome God and then not give them a chance to know Him. We do handle the situation a little different at concerts. Most of the time, if it is a concert setting and there are quite a few groups, we sing our set, do a little comedy, let it rip and sit down. But when we are in a church setting, unless we are told to do something different, we always, always give the people a chance to pray. That's what it's all about!!!"

The future looks incredibly bright for New Ground. Their song, "In Just A Little While" was #52 on the October Singing News chart, It is #59 on the November chart, and "Oh, What A Day" debuts at #70. And this is all off their brand new project, "It's About Time" which will be released in November.

You can find New Ground's schedule on their HeavenSound web page at
http://www.heavensound.com/artists/newground.htm. If they are coming anywhere near you, make sure you get there. You won't be disappointed. You will hear some of the best singing this side of Heaven, and you will be blessed.


Bob Whitehead

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