Southern Gospel Fast Forward

One thing I noticed when I was running the Gospel Rewind Internet radio experiment is how little the Southern Gospel Genre has changed since I began broadcasting in 1983. Imagine taking any new Southern Gospel song recorded in 2009 back with me to the original Gospel 90 in the mid 1980’s in a time machine. I could air the song without any listener noticing a difference! With the exception of some modern production values the styles have not evolved. I can’t apply that statement to any other music form. CCM sounds different. Black Gospel (Urban CCM) has changed. Mainstream Country and Rock are vastly different. Why is Southern Gospel stuck in the past constantly feeding on its heritage and not at all innovative. There have been a few artists over the years that have tried to lead the way to a more progressive sound; Rusty Goodman, Kenny Hinson, the Downings, the Lanny Wolfe Trio, and the Gaither Vocal Band have injected a more contemporary sound into the medium but many of these performers peaked years ago. What about today?

I am calling for a new direction in SG, let’s dub it progressive Southern. Actually, in 1988 I pondered a radio format that combined Christian Country (as it was known then) with southern leaning Contemporary Christian, unfortunately there simply was not enough product to support the new hybrid. Without some sort of change, I’m afraid Southern Gospel will become extinct as the target demographic ages. I will continue listening to classic Gospel from the 70’s and 80’s because I prefer it to the current imitators. I naively thought I could build an Internet radio station around such classic Gospel but made the mistake of diluting the format with new music that merely copied the style of the originals. That is not to say that there aren’t exceptions. My gosh, there are marvelous new artists that break the mold and I was very proud to present their music as an example of a new generation! My point, we need more of you. Don’t imitate, innovate. Grow.

By the way, our Internet radio station, the GRIN, off line now is still incubating in the idea machine. We envision a full service radio station built around the ideas presented in this weblog. It will be a hybrid unlimited by style. All sorts of Gospel music for the eclectic tastes of person such as myself. I invite you to browse previous posts so you can get an idea of what I am all about. Enjoy. May the Good News of the Gospel go with you.