Once again, Bev and I had a great time working alongside the
L5 boys at their annual Celebration, held each Memorial Weekend at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.
Legacy Five, as always, sounded great. I must say that
Glen Dustin, L5 bass vocalist, has never sounded better. He's always sounded good, and it's obivous that he's a fan favorite by virute of his
Singing News Fan Award wins. But, he's been working on his craft or something. You could just tell that he's ratcheted up his game a notch. Way to go Glen. Oh, and nice hair cut.
The
Pfeifers and the
Lee University Singers were the other musical guests on the Friday night program. I just love the way John, Candy and Mary Jane come out to do more than "just sing." They are serious about their music ministry. I LOVE that!
The kids from
Lee University make me mad. So young, so talented. It just ain't right! The sang,
"He Looked Beyond My Fault," and knocked it out of the park, just as they did at Dottie's funeral just a few days prior to this event.
In addition to L5, Saturday's musical performances were provided by
Janet Paschal and
Greater Vision.
Janet is always the same. She's approachable and sincere. She simply looks like she wants to be there...wherever the "there" is. She's in good health and sounding better than ever. She told me that she's preparing to record again and she is going to re-record
"Come Morning," the song that put the
Rex Nelon Singers on the map back in 1978. I can't wait to hear it.
Greater Vision was, well...
Greater Vision. I love everything about these fellas, right down to their shoe laces. Gerald is one of the greatest lead singers of all-time. He is the best emcee in southern gospel music today.
Rodney Griffin's long list of
Songwriter of the Year Singing News Fan Awards speak for themselves. Oh, and he's a fine baritone singer as well.
Jason Waldroup, is a sincere, honest, warm talent who will be greatly missed as he prepares to leave for the ministry.
By the way, I want to mention something here. All of these artists genuinely love each other. It's evident when you see how they treat each other back stage. They are concerned about each others families, as well as their ministries. To me, this is what sets southern gospel music away from other forms of music. We really are family.
The speakers for the weekend included
Ken Davis,
Oliver North,
Dr. Charles Stanley and others. Yes, I said,
"Ollie North." Cool, huh? See what you miss when you don't come to the L5 Memorial Weekend Celebration?
I want to say a special thank you to the hundreds of
Singing News fans who stopped by to visit with Bev and I at the
Singing News table. There are no fans in the world like our fans. You are special!
Thousands of fans, great music and a wonderful venue. What's not to like about the L5 Memorial Weekend Celebration? I hope to see you next year.