I'm in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada for the annual Canadian Gospel Music Celebration. Many of you may remember this event from it's early days as an offshoot of the National Quartet Convention 12 years ago. However, several years ago, the event was privatized and it's now owned by Canadian concert promoters Wayne Dick and Gordy Reimer.

American Southern Gospel artists who are appearing here this week include the Booth Brothers, Legacy Five, the Triumphant Quartet, the Whisnants, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, the Pfeifers, the Crist Family and Jerry Goff. I may have left someone out and if I did, I'll include them in a later post.

And now, a few random thoughts...

The thing that is obvious from the word "Go" is how much these western Canadians love and appreciate Southern Gospel music. Unlike fans in the southern states of America, they don't get a steady diet of concerts and church appearances, so when an artist comes to town, the town turns out to support it. I guess that's the "beauty" of knowing that they won't have the opportunity to hear the same group in a church down the road in two weeks. There is no such thing as "too much" Southern Gospel music here!

From what I can tell, this is a very well organized and efficient production. The program book is First Class all the way - in fact, I will go as far and say that I can remember very few program books in my many years of doing this that have looked as good or better than the one that is here.

Ernie Haase gave me a sneak preview of the Cathedrals tribute CD that will be released in October. One word to describe this: WOW! Ernie has put a lot of heart, soul, and resources in this recording and it truly shows.

The Crist Family was well-received. This is their first time on this event, but the Canadian fans fell in love with this family in much the same way American audiences did the first time they saw the group.

Another family group, the Whisnants, got a couple of "standing o's" last night with "Even In The Valley" and "New Day Dawning." Their pianist, Eric Ollis, came to Canada many times when he was the Dixie Melody Boys, so I think Eric knows everyone up here, and everyone up here knows Eric. Need to know anything about Canada - just ask Eric.

I was sitting stage-side next to Michael Booth last night as he tried to put together his "set" for the evening. He's missed his calling—based on his "chicken scratch," he would have made an excellent doctor. Whoa...banish that thought! Michael Booth? A doctor??

Anyway, what he finally came up with worked - and worked very well. The trio did a lot of songs from their new "Declaration" CD and while some people may disagree with me, I think they have what could be a BIG song in "I See Grace."

That's it for now. I'll have more soon.