Michael Roy, Jan and Diane came to Immanuel in Dec. of 2003. MR spent a year training up the choir to the level of excellence expected of a performing group that advertizes general concerts with citywide publity. In addition, the music team had a reputation already gained with the Redlands choir for presenting stellar choral concerts across a wide diversity of styles. They also had a large following who rightly anticipated that the excellence would continue at Immanuel and this is exactly what happened. The team found themselves once again collaborating with an impressive array of talent, and this 2004 Country/Bluegrass was the initial concert in the new series. In addition, Immanuel was a centrally located church, and the concerts were always attended to the last seat. It was a little fun watching the elders rolling out every last chair, including the office chairs, and worrying about the fire marshall.
Instrumentation for the following audio files:
String bass: Karen Richason; 5-string banjo: Mark Richason; percussion: Dean Vellenga;
piano: Diane Maltby ; guitar: Michael Roy; musical arrangements: MR.
Mountain Music Medley: Songs: Mountain Music (solo: MR); I Saw the Light (solos: John Flynt & Beverley Murdock; Old Time Religion (solos Jan, Sally Baron, and Beverley); I'll Fly Away finale. There is a different "Mt. Music Medley" in the 2007 concert.
Movin' Up To Heaven: This robust Southern Gospel song is sung by the Immanuel Singers vocal group: Beverley Murdock & Claudia Springer, sopranos; Jan, alto: John Flynt, tenor, and MR, bass. It has everything you need in a SG song: great solos, rhythmic vocal licks, low bass leads, and one section of showy chromaticisms.
I'll Fly Away- Dueling Banjos: The Immanuel vocal group sings. Claudia takes the first solo, followed by MR & Jan's duet, and then Beverley sings. MR desperately tries to apologize to Mark Richason (on the 5-string) for all the un-bluegrassy modern chords in the arrangement, but Mark is not to be easily mollified and a duel breaks out.
Noah Found Grace: MR learned this country gospel song from an old Tennesee Ernie Ford LP album. His fast quip to the audience: "Hah, I bet you didn't think I knew that, did you?..." refers to the fact that, according to the Bible, Noah did not shut the door of the ark;
God Himself did. The Lord doing the door-shutting is a type of salvation by God's grace alone, apart from anyone's good works and human effort. The audience laughed because most church people are well aware of this ark door fact.
Rocky Mountain High: MR wrote a John Denver medley for this, the first ever special night concert at Immanual Presbyterian. This was the lead song. Guitarists will note that MR retunes the low E string of his guitar to low D: called partial D-tuning.
John Denver Medley: This is the full nine - minute medley: Rocky Mountain High; Thank God I'm a Country Boy; Sunshine on my Shoulder; Country Roads.
Beverly Hillbillies Theme: MR introduced this as a rare, unknown folk song that was saved from extinction by the field work of musicologists: a scam he later used with the Gilligan's Island theme, which was introduced as a rare sea chantey that was barely saved
for posterity by those indefatigable musicologists. As the song starts, the audience realizes instantly that they have been had, of course. Mark Richason deftly plays the famous theme with his wife, Karen on string bass. MR plays guitar and sings the low pitched solo made famous by Lester Flatt, who with the immortal Earl Scruggs, performed the original theme song.
Amazing Grace: This 2004 fall Country/Bluegrass was the first big production concert for
the Immanuel Singers; it was advertized citywide, and the sanctuary-as-concert-hall was packed to the walls. MR had the audience sing along with the great hymn written by a
British former slave ship captain, and adopted by early America for all time. Diane Maltby had a special rousing arrangement all ready at the piano. Here are 500 concertgoers singing "Amazing Grace" to a simply spectacular piano part; it's a musical event one cannot soon forget. This concert set the stage for the next four short but enegetic years. Every citywide production concert thereafter was crammed with folk who had come to hear this fine Immanuel choir.
Goodbye, World, Goodbye (Mosie Lister, 1949): The accoustic guitar gives this Southern Gospel gem a folk flavor, but the integrity of the idiom is unvarnished. In fact, the Blackwood Bros. are generally conceded to be the first professional quartet to form in the idiom back in the late '30's, and their accompanying instrument at that time was guitar rather than piano. Guitar,
therefore, is the founding instrument of the style. Here and there, a few folksy chords leaven the traditional circle-of-fifths common to SG - listen to the funkier progression at these lyrics: "I'm gonna rise with a shout, gonna fly,/ I'm gonna ride with my Lord to the sky." That phrase, plus the ending, sounds a few rascally chords not prevalent in SG, but otherwise, it's authentic stuff. Sung by the Immanuel vocal group, with MR and Jan singing the solos. Diane is at the piano.