2010 Grand Ole Gospel Reunion to Celebrate 100 Years of Gospel Music History

About this time every year, I put in some old videos and start thinking about seeing my friends at the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion. This year, the reunion will be a celebration of 100 years of gospel music history. Charlie Waller always puts on a very entertaining weekend filled with fun, music, and memories. The reunion will be

held in the lovely Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Greenville, South Carolina August 19-21, 2010.

There will be several new performers on the program this year along with some old favorites. Archie Watkins and Smoky Mountain Reunion will make their first appearance at the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion this year. Consisting of five former members of the famous Inspirations Quartet, Smoky Mountain Reunion will thrill the reunion audience with an “Up Close and Personal Concert” featuring classic songs in the old Inspiration style. You’re sure to enjoy Archie Watkins, Jack Laws, Troy Burns, Eddie Dietz, and Marlin Shubert together in one of their limited concert appearances.

Another brand-new group will be on the program at the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion. Freedom consisting of reunion regulars John Rulapaugh, Josh Garner, and newcomer Josh Trimble will be making their first major concert appearance at the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion.

Several top quartets have made their first major concert appearance at the reunion. One such group was the famous Dove Brothers. This year, the original Dove Brothers will appear together for the first time in more than a decade. McCray Dove, John Rulapaugh, Eric Dove, Burman Porter, and Richard Simmons took the quartet world by storm in 1998 and have continued to be trendsetters in the gospel singing field. You’ll not want to miss the opportunity to once again enjoy the original version of this famous quartet.

The Songfellows Quartet will be making their first appearance at the 2010 reunion. This quartet, first formed in the mid 1940s, sings classic quartet music. Bob Jones, Jr., son of the founder of the quartet, recently moved the quartet from the west coast to Nashville. Jones assembled four quartet veterans to join him in this historical quartet. Lead singer Bob Jones, Jr. is joined by tenor Gary Shepard, baritone Ed Hill, bass Butch Owens and pianist Nick Bruno.

All of the regular reunion cast you’ve come to expect will be there. You can enjoy Les Beasley, Glen Allred, Derrell Stewart, Tommy Atwood, Ed Wallace, and Bill Shaw among other legends. After an absence of a few years, Willie Wynn and Sue Dodge are also scheduled to appear on the program. Several other legends are scheduled to be at the reunion, but their schedules have not been confirmed at press time.

I hope to see a lot of you at the reunion this year. For more information, check out the GOGR web site: www.grandolegospelreunion.com/

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John Crenshaw hosts the “Remembering Gospel Music History” forum on the SGM Radio Message Board where he asks daily gospel music history questions about people and events in gospel music of the past. He also hosts a monthly segment, “Remembering Gospel Music History with John Crenshaw” on the “Southern Styles Show”, a nationally syndicated weekly radio show featuring southern gospel music hosted by Rob Patz .

John is a staff writer for the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion and historian for the SGMA Hall of Fame. John has been a contributing writer to several gospel music magazines. He is currently writing two books about the history of gospel music.

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