I was able to attend the final night of the Diplomats’ homecoming event at Heritage Baptist Church in Calhoun, Georgia. I have heard that the first two nights were very good, and I’m glad I got to attend at least one of the concerts making up this event. I love the Diplomats Quartet and The Guardians and I love to see groups that I’ve not been able to see before. The emcee for the event was Duane Garren, such a good friend of gospel music!
4Calvary is a quartet based in Missouri – just a bit out of my “normal” territory! The group consisting of members Brandon Plaster, Paul Baum, Tom Rantz, and Dave Taylor has been traveling for about 13 years, having the current members for the last 5 years. These gentlemen sound great and have a nice variety of songs in their program. If you’re like me and love a good, solid quartet sound, check out their schedule and go see them whenever you can!! Here are videos of several of their songs:
- We Will Be Going Home
- Standing Redeemed – written by featured singer Brandon Plaster
- Streets of Gold
The Guardians were at this event last year with members Dean Hickman, Neil Uhrig, John Darin Rowsey, and Pat Barker. They have released a new quartet album since then and performed several songs from the new album as well as some favorites from their trio era to which they’ve added a bass part.
The Diplomats were such gracious hosts, as always! They’ve held their homecoming event at this church for over ten years and they are really loved there! Many, many fans were so pleased to see that Bill Lawrence has joined the Dips at the bass position after being “off the road” with southern gospel groups for a while. Harold Reed at tenor, Corey Pearson at lead and keyboard, and Jimmy Pearson at baritone round out the group. This group is also one of the few that still travels with a full band with Jordan Hamby (guitar, mandolin, banjo), Drew McDowell (drums), and Timmy Stephens (bass).
0 Comments