January Rolls On (#385)

The third weekend of January found me at two concerts. The first, Thursday, January 17, was in Villa Rica, Ga., where Jimmy Pearson hosted his family group, the Diplomats, and the 2007 Group of the Year, the Booth Brothers. (Visit diplomatsqt.com for more information about Pearson's upcoming concerts.)

Despite icky weather on Jan. 17, the building was close to full for the Booth Brothers concert. Let's just be honest about it, folks: the Booth Brothers have got "it." Their personalities, vocal talents and song selection have firmly placed them in the upper elite of Southern Gospel music and they don't show any signs of slowing down.

And while I'm talking about the Booth Brothers, many of you know that I often refer to Michael Booth as my personal "thorn in my side." And rightly I should. He's tormented me, made me the recipient of many of his practical jokes, and that's just his better side.

Naturally, I am totally innocent in this. As are Scott Fowler, Mark Trammell, Gerald Wolfe and several others who have also been singled out for Michael's pranks. Just ask Scott about the Bible he wanted to quote from on stage. Ask Gerald about Michael's unannounced drum solo during a Greater Vision song. Ask Mark about, well, just ask him about Michael in general.

But that's OK. We will all have our day. Not that we're planning anything, Michael, you understand...

I can only pray for Ronnie Booth and Jim Brady. It must be tough.

Anyway, back to the weekend. Two nights later, I was in Gainesville, Ga., for T&T Promotions' annual Mid-Winter Gospel Jubilee. It seems as though about every four or five years, this event gets socked by bad weather and, yep, this was the year. Now, for someone who has spent many years in Boone, two inches of snow does not seem like much to get excited about. But Gainesville, Ga., is not the skiing capital of the world. As a matter of fact, a few snow flurries is enough to shut down the city, so when the accumulation gets above an inch, you might was well as plan on doing nothing.

Nonetheless, it was thrilling to see about 800 people turn out to hear the Kingsmen, Gold City and the Kingdom Heirs. Normally, this is a sell-out event, but the snow and ice took care of that. Even though the auditorium was only about 1/3 full, all three groups turned in great performances.

One thing to note about this particular concert is that, as far as I know, this is the only time each year those three groups appear on the same program (outside of NQC). That alone makes it a "must-have" ticket, so keep that in mind for next year if you're in the North Georgia area.

Between a great turn out for the Booth Brothers and a very respectable audience on a night when the weather just didn't cooperate at all, I'd say that, so far, Southern Gospel music is on the upswing for '08!

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