Reuters Features the Crabbs
The Reuters news agency has published a feature on the
Crabb Family, which means it will likely be
picked up by newspapers around the world. Nothing especially new in the article
for SG fans:
The group is embarking on a spring tour that will give fans the option of
buying tickets for a solo date or a pair of weekend shows. "Friday nights are
always going to be Southern nights, which includes the McCraes, the Mike Bowling
Group and the Crabb Family," says Kelly, whose husband is Mike Bowling.
"Saturday night is the more contemporary night where it's Julian Drive, the
Crabb Family, the Katinas and NewSong."
The next generation of Crabb performers is warming up in the wings. Each of the
young siblings (all are under 30) is married with children, and they are getting
ready to record a children's album featuring their offspring. March 28th, 2006
Radio News
enLIGHTen radio is excited:
Praise the Lord & Rejoice!
Thanks to your prayers … at Midnight ET, the evening of April 16th … enLIGHTen!
Channel 34 will join the XM satellite radio lineup!
Since you’ve written us as a listener, we wanted you to be among the first to
know that the wait is just about over. As the new day of April 17th dawns, there
will be a LIGHT on Channel 34 of every one of XM’s six million + radios,
wherever they are across America … and you’ll be able to take enLIGHTen! with
you wherever you go.
Now, as never before … great Southern Gospel music radio for the nation 24/7 …
great Gospel radio to the power of X!
Please don’t keep this a secret! Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell
your fellow church members … in fact, why not assist them in selecting and
purchasing an XM receiver of their own....
Our commitment, more than ever, is to honor the Lord in everything we do on
enLIGHTen! And, we trust that you are feeling the same joy and excitement as we
that this action for which so many have been awaiting is now coming to pass.
Please spread the word … enLIGHTen! joins the XM satellite lineup on April 17th! March 28th, 2006
Hillbilly? The
Pensacola News Journal features a
photograph of Ernie Haase performing on stage on Friday night with what appears
to be a toothless, blind old man. It'd be fascinating to know who this old geezer
is.... March 26th, 2006
What the...?
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
reports that Jessy Dixon is being sued for
fraud, for allegedly conning a woman into giving him money to help buy a $2
million house and a luxury car. A stepson of the woman - who died late last year
- told the newspaper that his stepmother met Jessy on a gospel music cruise and
began a romantic relationship with him.
The newspaper asks: "When Johnel Moore gave away more than $700,000 shortly
before her death, was it to support God's work or to support a gospel-singing
gigolo?" March 18th, 2006
Jeff & Sheri Out Of NQC UPDATE - I've just received an email to say that the following story now
no longer applies, that Jeff and Sheri WILL sing at the NCQ. March 15th, 2006
Down here in Australia, a visit to the National Quartet Convention is just a
distant dream. I know it's meant to be great, but I don't know much else about
it. So I've no idea what to make of the following email from Sheri Easter. By
the way, I note that
David Bruce Murray also refers to this, with a
link to a
story at sglive365.com. However, that story has
been deleted.
Anyway, here's the email:
Hey Everyone,
There have been many speculations about whether we will be attending NQC this
year. Contract negotiations do take time and in October, Jeff & I began
negotiating with the NQC board about our 2006 dates. The board agrees to pay
artists a maximum amount. Jeff & I have never requested this amount or have ever
been paid this amount. We've always taken much less than the majority of the top
groups in Southern Gospel, simply because we could afford to accept less. Jeff &
I believe in giving. With fuel increases, the cost of the booth, payroll for 8
employees and taking a weekend off during September, our expenses were exceeding
our pay, so we asked for an increase, but still less than the maximum paid to
other artists, and the board declined. After 30 years of attending, we will
surely miss being with all of you at NQC, but we do have several families
counting on us for their livelihood and we have to consider them first. There
are no hard feelings, in fact, the majority of the board are very good friends
and will continue to be. Thanks for all your support and the best way for you to
get us back to NQC for 2007 is to let the board members know how much you miss
us being there.
The Problem with Christian Audiences A
lovely profile of
Chonda Pierce in the Toledo Blade
contains this gem:
Church audiences can be tough, however, according to Ms. Pierce.
“In the Christian world, they not only complain about your joke but about your
spiritual condition. I’d rather be told I’m not funny than that I’m going to
hell,” she said.
Read it all. March 13th, 2006
The Last Photo of Anthony Burger? Al
Fasoldt, an editor at The Post-Standard in Syracuse, New York, was with
his wife on the cruise that saw the collapse and death of Anthony Burger. He
writes briefly about it
here:
Even the tragic death of one of the performers on stage couldn't diminish the
experience for us. In fact, the collapse of Anthony Burger, the Gaither Vocal
Band's longtime pianist, turned out to be both immensely sad and strangely
joyful; after the initial shock and grief (he suffered what appeared to be a
heart attack while playing), the gospel group continued the week's schedule and
turned the next performance into a tribute to one of the most beloved performers
in the history of gospel.
And he has posted
here a remarkable photo of Anthony playing
intensely, just six minutes before his death. March 6th, 2006
Quick Notes
- Click here
to listen to clips from the new Brian Free album "It's So God."
- Click
here to learn about Chonda Pierce's online
birthday bash on March 7th, also celebrating the launch of a new website, a
nationwide tour and her new DVD, "A Piece of My Mind."
- Click
here for the new Singing News Southern
Gospel forums.
March 3rd, 2006
Tributes Flowing for Anthony
Burger (quick update)
SGLive365 has created
a special page dedicated to Anthony Burger, and
this is probably the best place to visit for the latest details. Funeral
arrangement information is provided, and there are tributes from people like Ann
Downing, Kirk Talley and Woody Wright.
And thank you to Gwen for alerting me to a brief tribute to Anthony from
Paul Harvey
(click on Friday noon).
And I've only just realised that
Mark Lowry's site includes a long and very
touching email from Tori Taff detailing the events and the emotions on board the
cruise ship on the night of Anthony's death. February 26th, 2006
Mark Lowry's
rambling reMarks page has become a central
point of call for many who are seeking information, to the extent that the site
was shut down for a period, due to traffic volumes. Mark has put up an email
from Ben Speer:
The rumor that Anthony was playing "We Shall Behold Him" is incorrect. He was
playing "Hear My Song, Lord" behind Bill, Gloria and Guy when he passed away.
Just for your information.
Ben Speer
As a recent addition to the Steinway Roster of Artists, both Steinway & Sons
and Mr. Burger were looking forward to a mutually inspired and musically
fulfilling professional association. He is survived by his wife LuAnn, two sons,
AJ and Austin; a daughter, Lori; his mother and father, Richard and Jean Burger;
two brothers, Randy and Clinton Burger, and countless friends and loved ones. We
wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to his wife LuAnn, their children, and
entire family.
Anthony Burger’s
death is now making the newspapers. You can read an AP dispatch in the
Chicago Tribune, at
Forbes and at many other publications.
News Channel 9 in Chattanooga
has a photo and a short article.
Billboard
Radio Monitor’s
Christian Blog has a short report and a growing number of comments from
shocked readers.
SGLive365 carries several tributes, including one from Chuck Peters:
I first met
Anthony during his Kingsmen days. He was with the hottest quartet.. and I was
with a big radio station. Then I ran into him again at the 2003 National
Quartet Convention. After all those years away from the SG limelight... most of
my friends in the industry didn't remember me. but Anthony did. He treated me
special,.. even when there was nothing for him to gain.
The page this
is written on.. was to be part of a new website design for Anthony. His office
staff and I wanted to surprise him. I never thought these words would be
written here. I just never dreamed he would be gone.
I know this
doesn't sound much like a big news story... and I am rambling.. but this is
hard to write. I miss Anthony Burger.
I've been
thinking... They tell me Anthony was playing We Shall Behold Him when he
suffered a heart attack or whatever it was that made him pass. But, can you
imagine for Anthony what that must've been like? To be playing for Gaither one
minute and God the next? To be listening to the Homecoming singers - blink - and
hear angels singing? Was Jesus standing in the crook of the piano where Anthony
finished the song?
Perhaps more than any other single figure, Anthony Burger transformed the
gospel musicians' role. There will be a lot of encomiums to Burger the
Homecoming celebrity in the coming days, no doubt. But I prefer to remember the
irrepressible force of talent that made Burger a star in the first place ...
that native ability he brought to the stage as a kid with the Kingsmen and with
which he remade the image of gospel-music accompanists, from glorified sidekicks
to legitimate performers and partners in the artistic enterprise.
He was quiet
but not silent. He was a loyal friend and never became too busy or too
successful to make time for reaching out to others. He had a way of knowing what
someone needed before they asked, and for that reason he helped people in ways
that will never be known by anyone but those people.
He was
trusting. Some might say he was too trusting in the world we live in, but he
always, always believed the best in people. Perhaps that trusting spirit stemmed
from his unwavering confidence in Almighty hands to guide, protect and provide
as he had seen evidenced in his own life countless times.
Anthony Burger Dead of Apparent Heart Attack
A Mark Lowry newsletter has just arrived with awful news:
I just received a phone call from Michael Lord, Stan Whitmire and then Scott
Davis so I called Barry Jennings to confirm it.
This evening Anthony Burger was playing, 'We Shall Behold Him' on The Gaither
Cruise, collapsed and died. A couple of people took him backstage and tried to
revive him, but couldn't. Anthony, it is believed, had a heart attack.
Please keep all of Anthony's family in your prayers.
Please check my
Rambling reMarks for funeral arrangements and
any updates I receive.
Sincerely, Mark Lowry
Anthony Burger's
own website appears to be offline. February 23rd, 2006
The
A
lovely profile of
Al
Fasoldt, an editor at The Post-Standard in Syracuse, New York, was with
his wife on the cruise that saw the collapse and death of Anthony Burger. He
writes briefly about it
Billboard
Radio Monitor’s