On this Weeks Gospel Music Showcase, Guy Penrod introduces the down-home bluegrass stylings of Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. Then, The Inspirations take the stage to display their classic quartet sounds.
Gospel Music Showcase
Episode 3 – Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and The Inspirations
About Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
Website: http://doylelawson.com
Doyle Lawson (born April 20, 1944) is an American bluegrass and gospel musician. Doyle is best known as an accomplished mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 5-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.
Doyle’s perseverance and hard work style has shown through over forty albums since 1977 and through his band’s schedule, which includes over sixty concerts in one year. His hard work and high expectations for his band seem kind of humorous to some with Doyle’s recollection of one practice when he “instructed each member to go to a separate room in the house and continue singing. If the individual members were no longer in pitch when they rejoined their leader, they’d start over again. ‘Of course, they thought I was crazy,’ he told John Wooley in Tulsa World, ‘but I told ‘em that if it’d work for the banjo, it’d work for vocals. What it does is, it gets you to do things without being conscious of it, because we all were being programmed the same way.’” Doyle expects a lot from his band and it shows with numerous awards and nine nominations for this year’s International Bluegrass Music Association Awards.
Latest Discography:
2010 – Light on My Feet, Ready to Fly
About The Inspirations
Website: www.theinspirations.com
The quartet began in 1964 when Martin Cook, a teacher at Swain County High School, invited several young men to his home for evenings of singing. Later they began traveling around the area and singing at various venues. The original quartet consisted of Archie Watkins, tenor; Ronnie Hutchins, lead singer; Jack Laws, baritone, Troy Burns bass/later lead singer; and Martin Cook on piano.
Over the past four decades, The Inspirations have collected almost every major Gospel Music Award possible, including a gold plaque commemorating their selling a million records. They have been voted the #1 Gospel Music Quartet several times.
They have charted well over 60 hit songs, more than any other gospel group. The Inspirations have now recorded a combination of more than 60 projects; plus a number of studio and LIVE videos. Their recordings can be found in Canada, Europe, Australia, and Africa. Inspirations’ recordings have even been found in Taiwan and missionaries who have gone into the old Iron Curtain countries have brought stories back of finding their music.
The Inspirations were regular cast members of the historic “Gospel Singing Jubilee” television show which was aired nationally in the United States for many years and in 1970, the group then consisting of Archie, Ron, Eddie, Marlin and Martin, were the subject of a seven minute documentary on CBS Television, anchored by current History Channel host, Roger Mudd.
They have been declared Kentucky Colonels, Arkansas Travelers, and they have had many special days set aside in their honor. Each member has collected numerous awards individually.
Each July, since 1966, the quartet has hosted the Annual Singing In The Smokies at the Inspiration Park which is located between Bryson City, NC and nearby Cherokee, NC. This event draws thousands of Southern Gospel fans from around the country and brings in some of the biggest names in Southern Gospel music.
Latest Discography
2011 – God Makes No Mistakes
About Gospel Music Showcase
Daystar’s premier Gospel music program, Gospel Music Showcase, has inspired and entertained music fans with the biggest and brightest names from one of Christian music’s most beloved genres. Now, in its seventh season, Gospel Music Showcase and host Guy Penrod are bringing you more in-depth interviews and powerful performances than ever before with appearances from such renown artists and groups as The Hoppers, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, Jason Crabb, The Booth Brothers, and many more.
Gospel Music Showcase, where great music has great meaning.
