| “I believe that the Lord has allowed two ministries to continue out of this. I enjoyed the days with Monument. I want people to realize that this has not been a negative thing, this has been a positive thing.” Gary continues, “Two ministries can move forward with the same goal of reaching lives and souls, and working for the Lord. There’s plenty of room for many ministries.” Tribute Quartet will begin its ministry with a relative newcomer to southern gospel. “I hired a new tenor singer, Jacob Kitson, and I’m really thrilled about him, he’s great!” Gary says. “He’s 22 years old, he’s also an evangelist and he preaches. That’s what he’s been doing for the last several years - I believe about 7 or 8 years. So I’m excited to have him on board.” Gary related how they found such a suitable group title. “It’s hard to come up with a name, and I was sitting in our Agency’s office one day with one of our record producers, Glen Bates.” Glen and Arthur Rice are both producing Tribute’s debut album. “Glen looked at me and the rest of the guys and says, ‘I’ve got a name. What about Tribute?’ It just hit all of us! It hit Becky Simmons, it hit Glen, and it hit all the guys and everybody in the Agency. They were all [saying], ‘That’s it!’ So I cannot take credit for naming the group… We went with that, and it seems to be positive, everywhere the Agency is talking about it, they love the name.” “Tribute means ‘honour’. We do want to honour our heritage in gospel music, the groups that went before us and paved the roads, per se…but at the same time, the main reason is to pay tribute to our Saviour. So we are trying to use it in both ways, but primarily our main focus is in giving tribute to our Lord and Saviour.” Already hard at work, Tribute was in the studio recording their first project at the time of this interview. The CD will be ready for release shortly, with a projected street date of the second week in December. This whole time has flown by quickly for Gary. “Somebody told me it was amazing how, less than 48 hours after the National Quartet Convention, I had a record deal AND an Agency.” Gary laughs, and says, “Someone asked me how I did it. But you know what, I attribute that all to the favour of the Lord.” Tribute is working with the Beckie Simmons Agency and has a record deal with BSA World Records for this project. Gary says Tribute is a quartet with a “new sound”. “But it is Traditional. We have some really good tracks, and I think people are going to be surprised at how good the tracks are. I would say it’s Traditional; you know me, I’m not going to go too far [away from that sound]. I’m still the quartet man!” Tribute Quartet’s debut project features twelve original songs, along with a bonus cut, which will be a Christmas release. Excited about this special song, Gary gives an impromptu solo preview of the chorus. A sweet, simple melody accompanies the words: You’re the Gift that keeps on giving The One that makes this life worth living The One that won’t wear out Or ever fall apart You’re the Reason for the season Giving something to believe in Give the gift that keeps on giving Share Jesus in your heart - lyrics from "Give the Gift"; by Glen Bates and Glen Ashworth “It’s a good Christmas song, but yet can be sung all year round, because you know what? The Gift is something we do need to share all year around. I always say this about my Mother: she loves to listen to Christmas music all year around, and my Dad used to give her such a hard time about it. But you know what? It does need to be celebrated all year round, the birth of our Saviour.” Tribute will be releasing this Christmas song to radio and debuting it when they begin their touring schedule at the beginning of December. At the time of the interview, the group had over 20 dates booked for December and into the New Year. Gary says, “Immediately after the press release came out about the group starting, dates started coming in. That was a blessing. And the promoters are all behind us; the NQC, everybody has been behind us, and that’s been a blessing.” Gary loves the Christmas season and is looking forward to December. “We are actually going to be working up until really close to Christmas. We are going to have about ten days off. Then we go back out the weekend of New Year’s Eve. Everyone will be going home and spending time with their families, and gearing up, hopefully, for a busy 2007.” “I always go home with my family. As a gospel artist and a minister in song, with my family being from another state, from West Virginia, I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like. So I always try to make sure that that’s a primary thing with me, to be able to spend it with loved ones and friends, and that’s my main goal.” He’s also hoping for a little West Virginia snow at Christmastime. Christmas and New Years cause a lot of us to pause and reflect on where we’ve been and our goals for the future. Gary comments on his vision for Tribute Quartet: “Our main focus is to reach lives. To reach the unsaved is the first important [goal]. But not only to do that, I think we [also] need to reach the people that are hurting. We live in such a hurting world right now. We live in a world where people are in pain; whether it’s a physical pain, spiritual sickness, emotional sickness, whatever it is. And we just want to be instrumental in helping to change lives.” “Elaine Wilburn used to say all the time: ‘We’re in the uplifting business’. I believe that. People need to be lifted up and helped through their times of heartache. That’s our focus.” Gary continues: “And we want to continue the great gospel music we were raised on. I am a firm believer in our business and our industry, and we want to help with that and pave roads for other groups for years to come. As long as the Lord tarries, we want to keep gospel music alive. And that’s on the second half of our ‘most important’ [list]. The most important is reaching the saved and the unsaved, both.” “You know, it’s important to get up there and minister in song and testimony, and it’s important to give altar calls and give people a chance to [get] help with their lives…But when you walk out of that building, back behind the product table, and somebody comes up to you…a lot of times we just need to be a listening ear. And I think that’s so important.” Tribute Quartet is working hard to be a worthy tribute to their Lord and to the musical artists who have gone before them. As Gary Casto strives to make this new beginning a positive experience for all involved, it’s obvious he has the right perspective. With the goal of reaching the lost as their ultimate mission, the Quartet is following directly in the steps of the One they sing about. And that is perhaps the greatest Tribute of all. For more information on Tribute Quartet, click on their website at www.tributequartet.com . |
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| Gary Casto Forms “Tribute Quartet” |
| Back in July 2005, SGM Radio introduced readers to the newly formed “Monument Quartet”, managed by long-time gospel artist, Gary Casto. Gary and Josh Singletary were members of the Wilburns, and when the group came off the road, they formed a male quartet that quickly gained in popularity. After only 15 months on the road, Monument was nominated in 2006 for the Singing News Horizon Group of the Year. However, as often happens in the world of gospel music, change was on the horizon and Gary soon found himself at the helm of a new venture. Gary Casto has a wealth of experience in the gospel music industry, so when he recognized that it was time to move in a new direction, decisive change happened quickly. Gary, along with Josh and bass singer Dennis Dugger, decided to form a new male quartet, called “Tribute”. Gary talked to SGM Radio recently about this change. |
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| by Lorraine Walker |