NQC 2016 Highlights: Day 7
Saturday was another full day at the National Quartet Convention.
The highlights of the morning showcase were Abby Paskvan and The Hoskins Family.
The Song of a Lifetime Showcase featured:
The Jim Brady Trio – “Stepping Out in Faith”
Mark Trammell Quartet – “I’ll take it to the Grave”Triumphant Quartet – I Belong to Jesus
Joseph Habedank – I’ve Never Seen the Righteous Forsaken
Tim Lovelace – Bend in the River of Life
David Sapp – There is a River
Phil Cross – When I Get Carried Away
Triumphant Quartet – Saved by Grace
This last song was in honor of Carroll McGruder who passed away last year.
The Blackwood Brothers took the stage on Saturday, and I was surprised to see Mike Helwig in a wheelchair. Billy Blackwood said that Mike has been diagnosed with ALS. This made his rendition of “The Love of God” even more powerful. People often struggle to accept God’s love during difficult circumstances but Mike made the song come alive. I’m sure there were a lot of tears as he sang.
The Sneed Family sang “Hallelujah Square.”
The Erwins were very good. This was their second year at NQC. The best song from their set was called “I Choose to be a Christian.”
Ed O’Neal honored Les Beasley with Josh Garner singing “When He Was on the Cross (I Was on His Mind).”
My brother is not a southern gospel music fan but, when Hope Bowling sang, “How Can it Be?,” he was impressed. That’s saying something. Kathy Crabb Hannah played piano for the Bowling Sisters as they sang, “At the Cross.”
Gordon Mote co-hosted the evening but he also got his own set. He played and sang, “Power in the Blood,” “Just a Closer Walk,” “Only Jesus Can Heal This Hurting World,” and “America the Beautiful” (backed up by the Voices of Lee).
The Perrys sang “The Holy Shore” and “I Wish I Could Have Been There,” two of my favorites!
The Mark Trammell Quartet sang requests they’d received. These included “The King is Coming” and “My Faith Still Holds.”
Marla Henry joined the Jim Brady Trio to sing Consider the Lilies.
Tribute sang some songs off of their new CD. My favorite was “When the Prodigal Comes Home,” featuring Riley Harrison Clark.
Triumphant Quartet’s pianist sang “Hello Mama.” I love that song more now than ever. Scotty Inman sang, “Somebody Died for Me.”
Lauren Talley sang a song she gets a lot of requests for, “Broken Ones.” “If everybody loved like He does, there’d be a lot less broken ones.”
Gerald Wolfe felt like his voice wasn’t up to par so he brought Mark Trammell on stage to sing with them. They sang, “When They Ring the Bells of Heaven,” “Wonderful Grace of Jesus,” and “My Name is Lazarus,” with Mark singing Gerald’s verse. That was cool! (Sorry Gerald.)
For the finale, the Jim Brady Trio sang, “Stepping Out in Faith” and Triumphant sang, “We’re Almost Home.”
That concludes my NQC coverage. I hope to get some of my thoughts down on a variety of subjects next week. I’ll see how it goes. Have a blessed Sunday!
Thanks for doing this for me. God bless you.
You’re welcome. 🙂