After seeing the Dixie Echoes at the Memphis Quartet Show, my appetite for their “true four-part harmony” was whetted and I was anticipating seeing them again to hear more of the songs from their “Can’t Hardly Wait” CD! I was able to see them when they appeared at Baptist Tabernacle in Covington, which is in the Atlanta area. Despite some rather bad looking clouds and some rain in the area, the church had a great crowd for the concert.
The members of the group include Hall of Fame Inductee/lead singer/keyboardist Randy Shelnut, tenor Stephen Adair, baritone and bass guitarist Randy Shelnut, Jr. (Scoot), and bass Make Cates. These guys have really mastered the more difficult harmony where more than just the 1, 3, and 5 tones of the chords are sung because there are other tones mixed in giving it a fuller, different sound than most of what we are used to in standard Southern Gospel fare. Here are a few videos from the evening:
As I am finishing writing this review, the Dixie Echoes have issued a challenge designed to promote great harmony while supporting the Southern Gospel Music Association at the same time. They have posted a video of “In The Garden” (entered 8-27-17, so you may need to scroll) on their Facebook page and have issued a harmony challenge to the Kingdom Heirs and Booth Brothers to post a video and make a donation to the SGMA. It should be interesting to see the new videos and challengers as this continues!
They have to retool from time to time….but still the best there is!! Sound…superb! Stage presence…the best! Entertaining…absolutely! Inspiring…without a doubt!