Southern Gospel Music fans travel from all over the country to attend the Brumley Sing.  What a blessing then, to have it so close to home!  Lebanon, Missouri is only a hop, skip and a jump for great Gospel Music!  A new venture that Brumley has been including in addition to their evening concerts, are afternoon matinee’s.  Thursday afternoon the Whisnants and the Inspirations were on, and with grandparents who are die hard Inspiration fans, there was absolutely no excuse not to go!

Well, as with all large events, sometimes Brumley isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be!  I went to pick up my tickets at the will call booth and found that they never reserved my seats!  – They booked my tickets for the matinee on the NEXT day!  So, you can guess where we ended up sitting…yep, in the nosebleed section.  (Second row from the back to be precise!)  I understand that seating a couple hundred people can be hectic for those in charge of it, but after having this sing for forty something years, I would think they could get the tickets reserved for right day!  Having a mix up with seats is one thing….but the wrong day?  Sorry Grandpa, we really did have better seats purchased for your “birthday surprise!”

Anyway, getting the whole ticket thing straightened out (or rather not) ran into concert time, so when we walked in the Whisnants were already well into their set.  At that time Susan was sharing with the audience about their sons, and how she never wanted to leave them home while she and Jeff travel.  This little introduction set up for Austin to sing I Would, with Susan and Jeff completing the trio.  At the songs close, Austin and Ethan bowed while the audience applauded.  “Aren’t you glad that there are still young people who are not ashamed to say I love Jesus?” Susan asked.  She went on to illustrate the idea of the next song using her relationship with her boys as an example.  “When my boys want something, who do you think they go to?” Susan said, “they come to Mama.”  Continuing on, she spoke of how she’s guilty of wanting to give them what they ask for, but if there ever comes a time when she has to say no, it’s because she loves them and knows that is what’s best.  This lead into A Greater Yes, which is the Whisnants most requested song.  The Whisnants just released a new Cd this July entitled, More Than Enough, and the next song, He’s Living Today, is one that can be found on there.  This up beat number features Jeff, he mixed up when the song was supposed to start and sang the first line twice.  He had a perfect recovery though, and I wouldn’t even have mentioned it, but when the song ended he stepped forward and said so himself!  Jeff may have been a little nervous still, but he stepped up and was transparent with the crowd and said that he was struggling with what to sing next because he missed that first line on the last song.  They ended up doing another new song, this one about prayer.  I was very impressed with the way Jeff handled the situation.  He could have just continued the set like nothing ever happened (which would have been perfectly acceptable), but he chose to stand up and say he missed a line, then continue on and introduce the next song.  Weapon of Prayer also featured Jeff, this a slow song that talks about prayer being the Christian’s greatest weapon.  By the end of the second verse everyone clapped and the meaningful ballad received a standing ovation!  Susan’s solo, I’ll Pray For You, was done back to back with the former.  Towards the end of the song Susan shared that she is looking forward to having sinus surgery this month (August 2011) and asked for prayer for her and the Whisnants ministry during that time.  While the track for the next number began, Jeff exclaimed, “We can’t leave without singing a little of New Day Dawning!”  The same song closed out their set.  The whole auditorium stood on the first verse and remained standing and clapping throughout the song.  It was encored at least three times and Mike Holcomb came out and sang bass on the encores.

The Inspirations were the second group on the line up for the matinee and opened their set with Jesus Is Coming Soon, featuring lead singer, David Ragan.  Now might be a good time to mention that the sound in the theater was just plain awful!  It wasn’t the artist’s fault – they were up there singing their hearts out – but the sound just wasn’t being set right!  For example, on the next song Dealing With Gold, the tenor’s mic was turned down so low that we missed the first few words of the song.  Jodi was singing – you just couldn’t hear him!  If You Only Knew, the song that is quickly becoming one of the Inspirations signature songs, followed.  When Mike (bass singer) began his solo, the audience began clapping in recognition of the tune.  The line that says, “You wouldn’t be grieving, if you only knew,” spurred the audience to applaud once again.  “Thank God for the hope we have in Jesus,” said Mike during the turn around.  Martin had the band stop for an accapella number called My Father Lives There That’s Why I Call It Home.  David had the lead on the first verse and the second verse featured their baritone singer, John Epley.  The audience loved this song and stood in ovation, so they encored it from the second verse.  Martin then stepped forward and gave a little background of the group and some thoughts of how Gospel Music has impacted our nation.  Everyone giggled when Martin said, “Well, we began recording when gas was 40 cents a gallon – now it’s $4.00 a gallon!”  He continued, “I want you to know that Gospel Music is a treasure.  If you take a dozen of the right Gospel songs out of America, there would be a big difference in how this nation has turned out.”  After some more thoughts (which I missed because I was taking notes), Martin said, “I’m proud that are forefathers put God first and founded this nation on God’s Word.”  He introduced the next song by saying, “This one we recorded when gas was 40 cents a gallon…Luke kick off Touring That City!”  So Luke (the guitarist) picked the intro and the old classic was sung.  Baritone singer John Epley was featured next on The Rose.  The crowd clapped through this one and the guys encored it.  Another classic, I’ll Have A New Life, followed.  “That’s one of those good ole ones, isn’t it?” Martin asked.  He said that they were going to cut David loose on a song that refers to the greatest event that can happen in a person’s life – when someone is born into the family of God.  That song was none other than, I Have Not Forgotten.  When that song was finished Jodi Hosterman shared a personal trial that he and his wife went through when their daughter was born.  He said, “I’m so thankful I can say I have not forgotten…it ties together with this next song.”  He went on to tell that his daughter was born nine weeks premature – she weighed 2 lbs and 12 ounces.  In an incubator with tape and tubes, she didn’t even look human.  He said that really tested his faith, but he could stand there today and say that God is still in the miracle working business!  “If you are going through something,” Jodi encouraged, “don’t dare give up hope!”  The next song, On The Sunrise Side, featured Jodi and was a slow ballad about being a witness for the Lord.  “They can only hear you while you are on the sunrise side,” were the challenging words from the group.  From that song the set went right into I’m Not Ashamed, which closed the concert.

Before we were dismissed Duane had the guys from the Inspirations give a product pitch that won’t be easily forgotten!  Right in the middle of John telling about the Singing At Sea cruise, someway, somehow, SOMEONE hit the lights and the auditorium went black!  The only thing you could see were the little red “exit” signs.  We were left in the dark for several moments before the lights shot back on.  Everyone began laughing.  Then John said, “That was the Lord telling you that you need to go on the Singing at Sea cruise!” – Everyone laughed even more!  When John was done with his part of the pitch, Jodi came up and asked, “What am I going to do to follow that?  The Singing in the Sun pitch is boring compared to that!”

Conclusion:

Sound:  If you’ve never been to the Brumley sing, I’ll let you in on a well-known fact – the sound will ALWAYS be bad.  It’s just hard to get good sound at sings where multiple groups sing.  This year was no exception – the sound was awful.  There is no other way to say it!  LOL!  I’m not sure what the problem was, but both groups were plagued with sound issues throughout their sets.  Half the time it sounded like the singers were doing an accapella concert because you couldn’t hear the music or, the music was so loud, you couldn’t hear the vocals.

Artists: in the artist defense – the singers did a great job.  I learned at the Steve Hurst School of Music that the definition of a professional is “to do your best when the circumstances aren’t perfect.”  The Whisnants and Inspirations did just that.

Brumley:  My thoughts on the Brumley Sing altogether?  If you decided to attend next year – make sure you get tickets for the correct night!  Trust me, you don’t want to sit in the back!  LOL!