NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Inspirationals Quartet of Texas announced they will be traveling in a 2024 Prevost motorcoach in a couple of months. Finishing touches are being made in a Nashville shop.

Ernie Haase & Signature Sound announced their Friday Night Sing series will resume in February on YouTube. The original 16-episode series was launched in 2020 but has been dormant for the past three years.

Joyce Martin Sanders (The Martins) has recently released her first book (digital only) titled Mae & Me: My Journey From Birth Mother To Mom. Sanders describes the book as a “mourning into dancing story.”

REMEMBERING

Real Truth Revival co-founder and lead singer Phillip Hughes passed away on Wednesday, January 24th. A memorial service for Hughes is planned for Wednesday, January 31st in Asheboro, North Carolina. Hughes previously sang with the Kingsmen, Melody Masters, Anchormen, Mercy’s Well, and the Harvesters.

Singer/yodeler Margo Smith (born Betty Lou Miller) passed away on Tuesday, January 23, 2024 in Franklin, Tennessee after suffering a stroke earlier in the week. Smith began her career in mainstream Country during the 1970s before shifting to Christian Country as a duet act with her daughter Holly during the 1990s.

RELEASED THIS WEEK

January 26 – Josh Singletary – Grand (CD/streaming)

January 26 – Mark Bishop – Home (CD/streaming)

January 26 – Gaither Vocal Band – Let Me Be There (5-song EP/streaming)

January 26 – Gaither Vocal Band – Love Songs (CD/DVD) (The CD version of this release contains eleven songs including the six songs from the 2023 streaming EP by the same title plus the five songs from the 2024 streaming EP Let Me Be There released today. The DVD includes the same eleven songs plus “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”)

January 26 – James Rainey – Celebrating The American Songbook (CD)

January 26 – Lee Black – The Pen: Stories And Songs (EP: 5-songs Vol. 1 on streaming platforms only/CD: 10-songs available direct from the artist.)

 Click HERE to listen to new albums released in January 2024.

UPCOMING RELEASES
The dates listed here are distribution dates when music will officially be available through retail and online outlets. Some titles may be available sooner direct from the artists.

February 16 – The Kingsmen – Unstoppable God (CD/streaming)

February 23 – Donna Ulisse – Mountain Lily (CD/streaming)

March 15 – The Inspirations – The Legacy Continues (CD/streaming)

March 15 – Barbara Mandrell – Precious Memories: 20 Hymns & Gospel Classics (CD/streaming) (re-issue of a 1989 release by the same title)