NQC LIVE Vol. 18 continues colorful tradition of Southern Gospel

Arden, NC. (February 22, 2019) — Each year, Southern Gospel fans, artists, and industry personnel gather at the National Quartet Convention to celebrate the long and colorful history of Southern Gospel music. The series of concerts and events is captured each year on NQC LIVE, a DVD/CD package featuring the week’s highlights.
After almost 20 years of working together, Crossroads and NQC have partnered again for the release of NQC LIVE Vol. 18, which will now serve as a benefit album for the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall Of Fame. The album is available now everywhere Christian music is streamed or sold.

Proceeds from purchasing this album go to support the Hall of Fame, operated by SGMA, and its mission of recognizing distinguished individuals in the field and permanently enshrining them with a plaque bearing their picture and list of accomplishments. The museum located just inside the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, welcomes more than one million visitors annually to read and observe displays and memorabilia from a century of Gospel music.

Southern Gospel music is built on the talent and dedication of many individuals who helped create a unique sound of harmonious melodies and uplifting words. Originally, Southern Gospel music was sung only by quartets, utilizing a style known as four-part harmony from books where musical notes were identified by their shape. Many singing schools sprung up around the country teaching this “shape note” method, later training more serious students for performance careers.

James D. Vaughan of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, is credited with establishing the first Southern Gospel music quartet in 1910. Then, quartets were hired by music publishing companies to travel, entertaining, teaching, and selling songbooks. By the 1930s and early ’40s, most quartets were independent and Southern Gospel music became as we know it today.

NQC LIVE Vol. 18 features recordings from some of today’s top Southern Gospel groups, such as Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, The Mark Trammell Quartet, The Whisnants, The Kingsmen, The McKameys, 2nd Half Quartet, Jeff & Sheri Easter, Down East Boys, The Erwins, Triumphant Quartet, The Ball Brothers, 11th Hour, Kingdom Heirs, Three Bridges, Gold City, The Guardians, The Talleys, The Perrys, The Jordan Family Band, The Wisecarvers, and Endless Highway.

“This transition of NQC LIVE to a benefit piece of product for the Hall of Fame took a lot of cooperation between companies and artists alike,” says Greg Bentley, Director of Artist Relations for Crossroads Music. “We all came together with one focus to provide a first-class product for the fans while at the same time letting them be a part of supporting and sustaining our Gospel music history through the SGMA with each purchase.”

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