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RFD-TV and RFDHD are now proudly distributed by over 625 small, independent cable operators, along with these loyal distributors
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Gaither Gospel Hour
In 1991, Bill Gaither had decided he was, at
age 55, in the twilight of his long and distinguished career
in gospel music. As the founder of one of gospel’s most successful
groups—the Gaither Vocal Band--fashioned in the best southern
gospel quartet tradition, the bass singer and songwriter, who
grew up listening to southern gospel on his radio in the small
farm town of Alexandria, Indiana, had one more dream to fulfill.
Driven by nostalgia, he wanted to bring all his
southern gospel heroes, the legends of the genre,
together, in one studio at the same time, to lay down
tracks to a song for a Gaither Vocal Band album.
They all came to the Masters Touch Studio in
Nashville that February day in 1991 for what would be an historic recording session: Eva Mae LeFevre sat at
the piano, while Vestal Goodman and her husband,
Howard, took turns at the microphone. Hovie Lister,
the dynamic frontman of the Statesmen Quartet was
there, as was the golden voice of southern gospel, Jake
Hess, himself a former Statesman. Buck Rambo was
there, as were Daryl Williams and Jim Hill. The
remaining members of the legendary Speer Family, the
first to cut a Bill Gaither-penned song, stopped by as
did James Blackwood, patriarch of the famed
Blackwood Brothers and George Younce and Glen
Payne from the Cathedrals.
J. D. Sumner provided the low notes, and joining
them were Larry and Rudy Gatlin, themselves in awe
of the gospel music royalty populating the room, who
provided their award-winning Gatlin Brothers
harmony.
They came from several states to spend a day in
fellowship and prayer, as well as in song. The song
they were cutting was an old churchhouse standard
called “Where Could I Go?”. Providentially, Bill
Gaither had arranged to have a video camera there to
capture the session for posterity. That camera was
still rolling when, after lunch, Eva Mae sat down at
the piano to play a few favorites, and the others
joined in for what would become the first
Homecoming video, unpolished as it was.
From that inauspicious beginning, a phenomenon
was born, and the spirit flowed from that recording
studio in Tennessee around the world, to venues as
diverse as New York’s famed Carnegie Hall to
Washington’s magnificent Kennedy Center, from the
majestic Red Rocks of Colorado to a campground in
Indiana, from the spires of the Sydney Opera House to the theatres of England and churches of Ireland.
The Homecoming Friends, often numbering in the
hundreds, became television fixtures and as beloved
as favorite family members. Homecoming also
sparked a revival of interest in a music that was in
danger of being lost in a world of glitz and dazzle.
The music will always be, in its simplest form, people
coming together as friends to celebrate the human
voice, says Bill Gaither.
Now, Bill Gaither is delighted to showcase a number
of his personal favorites on RFD-TV in a new series
entitled “Gaither Gospel Hour.”
Contact Information:
Gaither Gospel Hour
P.O. Box 737, Alexandria, IN 46001
800-955-8746
customerservice@gaithermusic.com
www.gaithermusic.com
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