“I have nothing to brag on if Calvary is not real – if Calvary’s not sufficient, we are wasting our time.” – Mark Trammell

Those are the words Mark Trammell unashamedly declared from stage at his Homecoming Sing Friday night, concerning their ministry.  Though the weekend was filled with many moments that will not be easily forgotten, the focus on spiritual things was just as strong.  There is no better way to spend a weekend than to couple both the things of the Lord with Southern Gospel Music!  Without further ado, let’s get this Gospel Sing started!

I was very, very excited on the nine hour drive down to Anniston, Alabama for the 6^th Annual Mark Trammell Quartet Homecoming.  Friday night, MTQ brought in the Whisnants as their special guests!  On the other hand, I was not very enthusiastic about the road construction that caused me to pull into the Hill Crest Baptist Church thirty minutes after the concert started!

Austin Whisnant was singing his solo, I Would, as my family and I slipped into a pew on the left side of the sanctuary.  At the close of the song, both of the young men bowed as Susan asked the audience if they enjoyed hearing from their sons.  Susan stepped up and shared with the fans that if they ever have a problem of any sorts, Mark Trammell is the first person they go to.  “He’s mean as a snake to me – I’ll tell you that!”  Susan joked.  (Mark doesn’t mind telling of how he tortures her too)  LOL!  Continuing, on a different note, Susan began telling the crowd that at the end of September she will be looking at having surgery.  She said that over the last three years she’s been having sinus trouble and currently couldn’t breathe out of her nose at all.  Gerald Wolfe introduced her to his doctor, and after an appointment, Susan found out that she has polyps and will be facing surgery.  Please keep Susan and her family in your prayers as that time will be at hand quickly – I know that the Whisnants will appreciate every one that is lifted before the Father’s throne!  The next song tied in with what Susan just shared, and it was obvious that the ballad touched lives, for there were many hands in the air as she sang A Greater Yes. The audience speedily stood in a standing ovation as the closing notes were held.  Their last number of the Whisnants first set was none other than New Day Dawning – they raised the roof with this one, encoring it three times!

Jay Parrack, our MC for the weekend, came on stage and made some announcements, then asked the audience, “Would ya’ll do something?  Stand to your feet and welcome your host group for the weekend – the Mark Trammell Quartet!”  Well, everyone did just that!

The Mark Trammell Quartet opened with the soothing old ballad Gentle Shepherd, then, jumped right into Old Convention Song.  Dustin was playing keyboard on these first two, and when he played the turn around, one of the guys turned to him and said, “Aw, that’s good!”  When the song ended, Mark was happy to announce what a joy it was to be home.  “Jay will tell you that I’m the worst attendee at Hill Crest – I’m never here!”  Mark quickly introduced the guys: Joel first, Dustin second, when he finished with Dustin he said, “Now this next young man,” (Pat steps right up to Mark and gives a big smile to the audience), “he’s easy going to be around, good looking and all around a nice guy – and his name is … Mark Trammell!”  The look on Pat’s face was priceless!  The audience roared with laughter, ‘cause Mark had everyone convinced that he was talking about Pat, who nodded and agreed with everything Mark was saying as if it were about him!  After the laughter died down, Mark continued, “Getting back to this guy.  People use to come to our table and ask, ‘Hey Mark, how are you doing?  I see that you lost some more hair, can I get you anything, a cane maybe?’ – Now, they come up to me and say, ‘Hey Mark, are you going to let Pat Barker sing tonight?’… I’ve come to hate him!”  Everyone laughed at the light hearted joke and Pat sang his solo, How Big Is God.  This song always gets a big response when Pat sings it, and Friday night was no exception – the audience loved it!  (Another standing O!)  In fact, MTQ even encored it and the crowd stood through that chorus as well.  Echoes From The Burning Bush followed … and the fun began!  When they get to the part where they take the dynamics down, singing it real soft, and Joel sings that really high part, Mark stops and turns to Joel, “You’ve been with us two year? – That’s the best singin’ I’ve heard from you…cute too!  Do that part again.”  Joel had a peculiar look on his face when Mark called his singing “cute,” but nevertheless, he repeated the line.  Mark stopped again and said, “They like it!  Do it again!”  On the third time, Joel stopped the singing and said, “It was good, I want to hear it again!”  Mark introduced Wedding Music by asking the audience, “See if you remember this song.”  The crowd definitely remembered and scattered across the floor were some who stood in recognition of it.  Testimony was done back to back with the peaceful arrangement of How Long Has It Been?  Succeeding those was One Drop, an upbeat number penned by MTQ’s very own Dustin Sweatman.  When that song ended Jay yelled over from where he was sitting, “You should’ve released that one!”  Mark turns to him and asks, “Who asked you?”  Teasing Jay even more, Mark added, “Just sit over there with your ‘Jay Bird’ legs and ‘shut up!’”  More seriously, Mark asked Jay, “You really think we should’ve released that one?”  Jay answers, “Um-hum,” then a little louder add’s, “Dustin!  You own me $50!”  Mark shakes his head and tries not to laugh, “Is it OK if I go back to singing now?”  Jay says, “Yeah!”  Then Mark asked, “Where was I?”  Without missing a beat Dustin answers, “Hill Crest!”  Mark laughed then turned to Pat and said, “I’ve had ‘10’s’ of people’s ask me to let you sing this song and now is a good time to do it because I don’t know what to sing next!”  (Everybody got a kick out of that)  The famed number was none other than I Want To Know.  After a standing ovation and a few encores, the crowd was really having some fun.  (I don’t know if it was because the event was MTQ’s Homecoming or not, but I do have to say, Pat had a really, really nice suit on!  I just have to wonder how he out-dresses Mark every time?)  LOL!  Once everyone was settled back in their seats Mark began sharing how he loves songs about the cross.  “I have nothing to brag on if Calvary is not real – if Calvary is not sufficient, we are wasting our time,” said Mark concerning the cross.  A medley of old hymns closed out MTQ’s set.  The crowd also stood for this song.

Jay came up and continued with a congregation singing of the Old Rugged Cross.  “That’s some good stuff – give the Mark Trammell Quartet another hand!”  Jay talked about the cross and how it is everything – more than beautiful buildings or talented musicians.  Concerning Mark Trammell, Jay disclosed, “He is the worst church member we have at Hill Crest – he’s never here!  We tease him about that because when he’s not here, he is somewhere across America singing in your church.”  After the offering, during which Dustin played a solo of The Prettiest Flowers, we had a ten to fifteen minute intermission.

When intermission ended Jay skipped up on stage behind the drums and said to Mark, “Mark!  Introduce me!”  Mark walked out to the center of the stage and introduced our MC for the weekend.  Meanwhile, Jay is in the background rolling the drums as Mark says, “Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Parrack!”  Jay comes bouncing around the stage and performs a little jig before bowing and exclaiming how he always wanted to do that!

The Whisnants began their second set with a new song featuring Jeff, Weapon of Prayer.  The next song was an up-beat one called When The Sun Of My Life Goes Down.  “Have you had a good time tonight?”  Susan asked.  “I did a solo Cd four or five years ago, and during that time we took Mark on the bus with us and I played him this song, and he began to weep.”  She went on to say, that at that same time, they went into a restaurant and a lady came up to them and told Susan about how this song impacted her life.  The lady shared that she became pregnant and wasn’t married, originally she was going to have an abortion, but after hearing this song, Church Across The Street, she decided to keep the baby.  Susan continued sharing that she has had many pastors contact her and tell of how this song has made a difference in someone’s life.  When Susan sang the song, it had the whole auditorium captivated!  Everyone was still and no one was making any noise during the solo.  Susan put her all into it and had hand motions for every line of the song that really enhanced the story line.  This ballad went right into another one called I’ll Pray For You, which also featured Susan on the verses.  “How many believe that prayer really changes things?”  Susan asked.  Many in the crowd raised their hands and Susan added, “It does.”

The Mark Trammell Quartet came back on stage and kicked off their set with Bloodwashed Band.  Mark acknowledged a couple who came from Rockford, IL.  He said that they have been supporting his ministry since it started.  (Literally – a few weeks after he formed his trio).  Because of illness, they never had been able to come to their Homecomings, but God reached down and touched them and they were there this year!  This next song Mark dedicated to them, especially Nora, it was Then I Met The Master.  At the close of that old classic Mark turned to face the left side of the stage and said, “I gotta’ do this – Jay, come here.”  While Jay was making his way to the stage, Mark humored the audience with this little story, “I’ve been threatened with my life to do this … I’ll be honest with you, it’s almost worth dying for.”  Though no one knew what was coming, the audience still laughed.  “My mama taught me not to say the word ‘hate’ – so I’m not going to say it, but I’ve sung this song so many times I have a great disdain for it.”  They proceeded to sing Glory Road and let Jay and Joel duel out the high parts.  Joel was the first to take on the “I can see the lights of home” lyrics while Jay was doing this little dance in the back ground.  On Jay’s turn, Joel made sure that everyone saw him doing a thumbs down – but, Jay hit a “screaming high” note and brought the audience to their feet.  Joel made a come-back and hit a pretty high note himself.

Everyone point up!

The night ended with both groups on stage singing a few songs together, the first of which was I’m Standing On The Solid Rock.  Mark shared with the fans that he loves singing with the Whisnants because when they’re on stage, there is no spirit of competition, just genuine joy to be singing with others who are spreading the Good News!   No one wanted to pick the songs to sing, so Susan volunteered I Believe He’s Coming Back Like He Said:  Jeff sang the first verse and Mark took the second.  As you can see from the picture on the side, when Mark was singing his verse everyone was pointing up – even Mark himself!  After an encore they went straight into New Day Dawning and the crowd shot to their feet immediately.  With the crowd worked up and all, another two encores on this song was a piece of cake!

Conclusion:  WOW!  What a powerful night!  I knew that the Homecoming was going to be good, but I never expected such energy and excitement.  Both groups teased and told stories on each other – the laughter just couldn’t stop!  This night was a perfect example of how Believers have fun!  You could also tell by the atmosphere that everyone felt at home, audience, artists and all!