Southern gospel music is a type of Christian music. Its name comes from where it started—in the southeastern United States. It is called southern gospel because it developed from the musical traditions of white musicians in the American South. This name helps to tell it apart from black gospel music, which has different roots.
The lyrics of southern gospel music are written to show either personal or shared faith based on the Bible and Christian life. They also provide a Christian alternative to popular non-religious music. Sometimes called quartet music because of its traditional setup with four men and a piano, southern gospel has changed over time. Today, it is a widely enjoyed type of music in the United States and other countries, especially among baby boomers and people living in the Southern United States.
Like other types of music, the way southern gospel is created, performed, and understood can change based on the culture and society around it. It is written and played for many reasons, such as for enjoyment, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as a product sold to people for entertainment.
Origins
Southern gospel music is generally believed to have started as a separate genre in 1910, when the first professional quartet was formed to sell songbooks for the James D. Vaughan Music Publishing Company in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. However, the style of this music had already been present for at least 35 years before that. The idea that southern gospel was "invented" in the 1870s by circuit preacher Everett Beverly is not true.
Evidence of southern gospel music before 1910 can be found in the work of Charles Davis Tillman (1861–1943), who popularized songs like "The Old Time Religion" and "Life's Railway to Heaven" and published 22 songbooks. The genre also has roots in the work of Aldine S. Kieffer and Ephraim Ruebush, who helped create singing schools and published music. Southern gospel was promoted by traveling singing school teachers, quartets, and companies like the A. J. Showalter Company (1879) and the Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Company.
Over time, southern gospel became a diverse musical style, with groups performing traditional hymns, a cappella (singing without instruments) songs, country music, bluegrass, spirituals, and "convention songs." The name "Southern gospel" was used to describe music from white musicians in the American South, to distinguish it from the black gospel tradition.
Convention songs have two main parts: homophonic sections, where all four singers sing the same words and rhythms, and contrapuntal sections, where each singer has a unique lyric and rhythm. These songs are called "convention songs" because people gathered at conventions across the United States to sing together in this style. Training centers like the Stamps-Baxter School Of Music used convention songs to teach quartet members to focus on their own parts. Examples of convention songs include "Heavenly Parade," "I'm Living In Canaan Now," "Give the World a Smile," and "Heaven's Jubilee."
Early performers
Southern gospel music is sometimes called "quartet music" because early groups were made up of four men with different singing parts: tenor, lead, baritone, and bass. Early quartets usually sang without instruments or with just piano or guitar. In some places, like Appalachia, they also used a banjo along with the piano because of bluegrass music influences. Over time, more musicians joined these groups, and later, they used recorded music tracks to go along with their singing.
In the early 1900s, southern gospel music got many of its ideas from holiness movement churches in the southern United States. Groups like The Speer Family, The Stamps Quartet, The Blackwood Family, and The Lefevre Trio became very popular in the 1920s through the 1950s because of their recordings and radio shows. On October 20, 1927, The Stamps Quartet recorded their famous song "Give The World A Smile" for RCA Victor. This song became their theme song and was played on the radio in Texas and the South.
A few groups were considered pioneers in southern gospel music for doing things for the first time. The Blackwood Brothers, with James Blackwood and J.D. Sumner, were the first group to travel in a bus. This bus is now on display at the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. J.D. Sumner also helped create the National Quartet Convention, an annual music festival where many groups perform for a week. The Speer Family was known for bringing groups with both men and women to mainstream popularity. The best-known group of the 1950s and 1960s was the Statesmen Quartet, which set the trend for all-male quartets that became popular later. The Statesmen were known for their showmanship and for adding jazz, ragtime, and early rock and roll elements to their music. They wore trendy suits, had wide audience appeal, and performed their signature song, "Happy Rhythm" (Rockin and a'Rollin).
Modern Southern gospel
By the 1990s, the "old-timey" quartet-style music started to include more solo performers and duets. Even though it is still mostly popular in the Southeast and Southwest, it has a large audience across the United States and around the world. The music remains "more country than city, more down-home than pretentious." The Gaither Homecoming tours and videos began as a way to bring together many well-known people in the industry, first organized by Bill and Gloria Gaither in 1991.
In 2005, The Radio Book, a broadcast yearbook published by M Street Publications, reported that 285 radio stations in the U.S. had "southern gospel" as their main format, including 175 AM stations and 110 FM stations. Southern gospel was the 9th most popular format for AM stations and the 21st most popular for FM. Southern gospel radio promoters regularly work with more than 1,000 radio stations that play southern gospel music at least some weeks each year. Internet-only southern gospel radio stations have also grown in number.
Two popular satellite radio stations that feature southern gospel are channel 34 on XM Satellite Radio and channel 65 (previously 67) on Sirius Satellite Radio. Both stations play the same program called "enLighten on SiriusXM." Enlighten plays southern gospel and includes weekly shows such as Paul Heil's Gospel Greats and Bill Gaither's Homecoming Radio.
Progressive southern gospel combines traditional southern gospel with elements of bluegrass, modern country, contemporary Christian, and pop music. This style usually features artists who use strong vocal techniques to create a bold sound. The lyrics of progressive southern gospel songs are similar to traditional southern gospel, as they often focus on clear messages about faith or personal experiences. People who prefer traditional southern gospel believe that the lyrics and musical style are the main factors in deciding if a song is labeled as southern gospel.
Although there are some exceptions, most southern gospel songs are not classified as Praise and Worship. Few southern gospel songs are directed "to" God, instead focusing on describing experiences "about" God. In contrast, southern gospel lyrics are usually clear in their Christian message, unlike Contemporary Christian music (CCM), which sometimes uses lyrics that can be interpreted in two different ways—either about loving God or loving someone else.
Media
Southern gospel music has used recordings, radio, and television from the beginning to help promote the genre. This type of music became popular through songbooks, such as those published by R. E. Winsett of Dayton, Tennessee.
One of the longest-running print magazines for southern gospel music is Singing News. It began in the early 1970s and provided radio airplay charts and annual awards based on fan votes. The magazine also created forums where fans could meet and discuss southern gospel music. As the internet grew, companies like SoGospelNews.com started offering online services. This website became a well-known online magazine forum for southern gospel music and has supported the genre for 12 years. It also includes music charts and provides forums and chat rooms for fans.
Internet radio has helped southern gospel music reach more people by using computer technology and streaming music continuously. One example is Sunlite Radio, which plays many southern gospel programs that are also heard on traditional radio. These include The Gospel Greats with Paul Heil, which recently celebrated 30 years on the air; Southern Gospel USA, a weekly half-hour countdown show hosted by Gary Wilson; and classic radio programs like The Old Gospel Ship and Heaven's Jubilee with Jim Loudermilk. Another online station is The Gospel Station.