It is with great sadness that The Mull Family announces that the Mull Family Matriarch, Mrs. J. Bazzel Mull passed away at 4:04 AM on Monday, January 9, 2012. She has taken her flight to the arms of Jesus and to be with her beloved husband the late great Rev. J. Bazzel Mull who passed away September 5, 2006. Arrangements are incomplete at this time and Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel on Kingston Pike will be in charge.

Listeners probably aren’t nearly as familiar with Casey Rivers or Kellan Monroe, but if this recording is any indication, they soon will be.  Producer Wayne Haun, along with Beyond The Ashes have put together an album that makes quite an effective announcement of the group in the SG world.  … If you like your music with an edge, you will DEFINITELY want to check out Beyond The Ashes.

Read the whole review here.

“I don’t ever send emails to you so you know this one is special.
I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove this new song from the Kingsmen.
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig hit on the way.
NUMBER 1.
Love you man.”

God bless. Bro Hap

See what the buzz is all about! Call your favorite radio station and request “He’s Everything I Need” today!

UPDATE: The National Quartet Convention 2010 highlights DVD is now available! Tribute Quartet appears on the showcase highlights, singing “I’ve Been Blessed.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4iUylW15EU

The Akins new CD which is self titled “The Akins”  will be available online and in your local stores in September.

L to R: Vickie Collins, Lisa Crist, Rich Crist, Jackie Crist, Jeff Collins, Breana Crist, Tom Joyce, Gail Joyce, Mickey Gamble, Tami Starkel, John Starkel

Thursday, April 23rd was a day of celebration at Crossroads as The Crist Family were promoted within the company to the Horizon Records label. Their new recording, Declaration has just released this April and Crossroads anticipates an incredible positive response to this exciting family’s new material. “Rich Crist and I wanted to continue to move the Crist family further out of the box, showcasing the Crist Family’s ever-growing talent. We’re all very pleased with the outcome and have been overwhelmed at the positive response from buyers already,” states co-producer Jeff Collins. “I also recently had the pleasure of seeing the Crist Family live in concert as they premiered much of the new material. The audience response was phenomenal!” Mickey Gamble, A&R Director for Horizon Records remarked, “several years ago, I knew there was something very special about the Crist Family when I first met them. They are a class act and represent integrity and quality for our industry.” The Crist Family’s Declaration is available through Crossroads via digital download and compact disc.

L-R: Staclynn & Jaron Faulknor, producer Jeff Collins, Shantell Faulknor, engineer Scott Barnett

Family harmony is hard to beat and that is certainly the case with this brothers trio, Voices Won from Dalton, Ga. I had the pleasure of producing this artist for a second time and really enjoy working with them. Jaron, Staclynn and Shantell Faulknor are talented singers and Jaron writes many of the group’s songs. Their progressive, southern sound will appeal to gospel fans of all ages. Look for their upcoming release this summer on Crossroads records.

What would you say are the three major reasons why a lot of Gospel songs do not get recorded? You can name more than three, if you wish, but I would like to know at least the top three.

Blessings,
Mickey Mixon

www.GospelSongwriter.com
Networking Gospel Singers & Songwriters since 1999

3rd John 1:2

Reasons
#1) There are a lot of “good” songs in the mix to be cut. They are well written and have a good message. But most artist do not go into a new recording looking for “good” songs. They want “Great” songs, even if they will just become an album filler. This becomes a bad situation for the “Great” songs that never get the chance to become the radio single they deserve, as well as the “good” songs that never get cut. Good songs are often good on stage, but may not have what it takes to be a radio single.

#2) There are songs that never get cut because they are not broad enough in either their style, or their lyrics. Let me try to explain. Some songs are written where you can make them either quartet style, solo style, or even change from southern to bluegrass or to a more Inspirational style with the music. But some songs are very specific in that musically, either chord progressions, or meter, you cannot make them anything other than what they are. This can narrow the chances of getting a cut. Also songs can be narrow in their lyrics. Artist sing to a wide range of beliefs. If a song leans too far towards one denominations beliefs than another’s, an artist will shy away because they cannot sing it in every church they perform.

#3) The third reason is rather unfortunate in our business. Some artist are “Writer driven”. If they see a package of songs from one of the top writers, they will give those songs more weight in their decision than a writer they have never heard of. We have a lot of songs in our catalogs by writers that are familiar such as Sandy Knight, Daryl Williams and Chris Binion. But I also have strong songs by writers that you may have never heard of. I have to really push artist towards those songs, where I don’t with Sandy, Daryl and Chris. This is unfortunate also because those three known writers were unknown at one time too!

I hope this is something of the direction that you were looking for. If I were to give writers one thing to think about, I would suggest to them this, “Write strong lyrics that flow from verses to chorus’, that are Biblically correct to any denomination with catchy tunes. If you can sit down and listen to a song and know what the next line is going to be, or know where the chord progression is going before it actually happens, then it stands less of a chance to get picked for a recording by a major artist.”

Greg Bentley