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New season, new singers for Gaither Homecoming
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Alana Baranick

Just when Bill Gaither's fans had grown accustomed to seeing Gaither Homecoming Concerts as a sign of springtime in Cleveland, the gospel-music legend booked a cusp-of-autumn gig.

Gaither will kick off his fall- and-winter tour with his Homecoming friends tonight at Gund Arena. Fans who miss this show will have to wait until 2006 for the next Cleveland Homecoming.

"We're moving our annuals to every 18 months now," Gaither said in a recent phone interview.

In 2003, the Homecoming gang outdid such secular artists as Billy Joel and Elton John, Brooks & Dunn and Jimmy Buffett in worldwide concert tickets sales, according to Pollstar. The calendar alteration will allow Gaither and his roster of gospel music hall-of-famers and up-and-comers to carry his brand of traditional Southern gospel music, now called country gospel, to more cities.

The concerts are but one phase of Gaither's multimillion- dollar musical empire, which also includes videos and CDs; cruises; and books, such as Gaither's "It's More Than the Music: Life Lessons on Friends, Faith, and What Matters Most."

It all started 14 years ago, when Gaither asked several gospel greats to join him and his quartet, the Gaither Vocal Band, for a recording session. The event was captured on videotape.

"It started by honoring our pioneers," Gaither said. "It began to take on a life of its own in the 1990s."

Many of those old-timers, such as Vestal and Howard Goodman, Jake Hess and J. D. Sumner, have died. Others have become too frail to participate. Yet the Homecoming house of Gaither stands tall as its founder replaces old bricks with new ones.

"It was a chance to introduce some new artists, such as Signature Sound that Ernie Hasse started out of the Cathedral Quartet, the Isaacs, the Easters and a number of new acts," Gaither said. "Also, it helped include some from the black music tradition: Lynda Randle, Jessy Dixon for example."

Randle, Dixon, the Isaacs and Jeff and Sheri Easter are slated for the Cleveland concert. Hasse, who lives in Summit County, has a prior commitment that day. His father-in- law and former bandmate, George Younce, has health problems and is not on the schedule. But the legendary Cathedrals bass singer has been known to make surprise appearances with Gaither. And vice versa.

Last month, Gaither showed up at a benefit concert in Akron to play piano for Younce, who lives in Stow. Gaither calls Younce "a legend in our field" and one of the "last remaining strong alumni" of the Southern gospel quartet tradition.

"There was a level of performance that happened in the '50s that was an extension of the old Stamps Baxter Music out of Dallas, Texas," Gaither said. "Four guys and a piano. You had to be awfully good to do something like that."

The Gaither Vocal Band sets the standard for today's quartets. Gaither, the only original member, sings bass. Lead singer Guy Penrod, whose wife is from Greater Cleveland, and David Phelps, who routinely knocks socks off with his soaring tenor vocals, provide some of the vocal band's and Homecoming's best musical moments. New Gaither Vocal Band baritone Marshall Hall fills the vacancy created by the departure of Russ Taff, who has returned to his solo career.

Taff might not be part of the vocal band anymore, but he's scheduled to perform at the Cleveland show, along with such Homecoming regulars as Ivan Dixon and Anthony Burger. Old-schoolers Ben Speer and Eva Mae LeFevre, matriarch of the LeFevres family singing group, also are on the list.

Gaither has been coming to Cleveland for 50 years, first with the Gaither Trio, then the Gaither Vocal Band and now with his Homecoming friends.

"The people have been very kind and very receptive to us for a long time," Gaither said. "To have any kind of viability at all after all these years is pretty special. A lot of it is thanks to the folks in Cleveland, who stayed with us through good times and bad times. These are some of the good times."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
abaranick@plaind.com, 216-999-4828