I also wanted you to be aware of a very nice article written by Karen VanderMarliere and published by the Louisville Christian Examiner.  You can access the article at http://www.examiner.com/x-9332-Louisville-Christian-Examiner~y2010m5d11-Spotlight-on-Kentuckys-Patriot-Quartet .  We appreciate Karen for writing such a nice piece and hope you like it.

Hey, it’s May already and I haven’t updated the news post for the Patriots.  Hmmmmmmm, maybe this isn’t my calling, ya thinK?

Anyway, we’ve had a good year so far, even if it’s been a little slower than usual.  I guess it’s the economy, huh.  However, what we’ve lacked in quantity has been more than offset by the quality of services we have been a part of.  For example, we recently sang in a church where a very dear friend of ours has recently accepted the full time pastorate. It was a wonderful crowd to sing to and God’s presense was felt by all. At the close of the service the minister’s son and dauther-in-law both gave their hearts to the Lord.  My what a time we had!

This weekend we will be singing in three concerts.  First, we will be part of a 4 group concert at Renfro Valley, in the big barn, beginning at 7 pm Saturday night (May 8). Sunday morning we will be worshiping with Bro. Gene Roberts and his folks at the Newlife Worship Center in Frankfort.  Sunday night we’ll move on down south a bit to the Hedgeville Baptist Church, located between Danville and Lancaster.  This service will begin at 7pm as well.  we hope to see you at one or all of these services. 

We have finally got our live DVDs available.  This was filmed at Sand Spring Baptist Church at the Patriot Homecoming Concert(s) last fall.  Those of you who would like to get one you may contact us by ordering one from this web site, attending a concert, or contacting any of the group members personally.  Along with the DVD we have the matching CD, so you can order either one or both.  I think you’ll like it.

If you follow our schdule here on the web, you’ll notice we have several “holes” in it.  We’ll be working to fill those in the next few weeks so if you would like to schedule the Patriots at your church, please contact us soon. 

We ask you to pray for us as we prepare to record a project that we will probably call “Songs of Comfort” or something close to that.  The recording will contain mostly hymns of the church such as What A Friend we Have in Jesus, The old Rugged Cross, It is Well With My Soul,  Where the Roses Never Fade, and others. I suspect it will be one of our most popular recordings yet. 

Gusss that’s enough for now.  I will try to keep you better informed.  May
God richly bless you all.

g

Well, we’ve begun a brand new year with all it’s unknown joys and troubles to be experienced.  I’m sure many of you have spent some time thinking and praying about what the Lord wants of you this year. Well, the Patriots have been doing a lot of that themselves. As we accessed last year, we found that our ministry certainly was impacted by the economy, along, of course, with everyone else. We had fewer concert opportunities, sold fewer products, and certainly offerings and gifts were down.  We are determined to do our part, both as a group and as individuals, to make 2010 the best year yet in our ministry.  We know that when we do our best, God will bless.

One of the nes and exciting opportunities we have this year is the possibility of a half-hour weekly radio show on WCGN 770 radio. Please pray that we can find the sponsors necessary and work out the logistics that will allow us to begin this new ministry outreach.  Please pray about whether God wants you to be a regular contributor to this radio ministry.

We’re looking forward to getting back on the road again.  Our next concert dates are right here at home in Lawrenceburg. Clay Lick Methodist, David’s home church, is hosting us on Feb.21 for the morning service.  We then move just a few miles down the road to Lawrenceburg Baptist Church for an evening service (and chili supper!).  The next weekend we go up around Northern Kentucky.  Saturday night at 6pm we will be worshiping with the folks at Carthage Nazarene Church.  Sunday morning will be spent visiting with our friends at Highland Avenue Baptist in Newport.

We are currently scheduling concerts for the coming year.  We encourage you to contact us and get a concert on the books while you have a better choice of dates available. 

We hope to see you soon.  Please pray for us as we go forward.  May God pour his blessings on you. 

One more time, thanks from the bottom of our heart to those who support our ministry, whether with prayers, money, labor or just encouragement.  When you give to our ministry you become a part of it.  We could never do what we do without you!

May God bless each of you in the coming year and may God bless the USA.

Since it’s been so long, I won’t even try to name all the great congregations we’ve visited and the folks we’ve made friends with over the whole summer.  You know who you are and you should know that we love all of you.  Thanks especially to all of you pastors and concert promoters who have put your trust in us. We pray that we’ve met your expectations for us and have allowed the Spirit to move through music and testimony.

There are a few news updates I want to specifically mention.

1.     First, We have finished our new recording and have it available for purchase!  The project’s title is “Dedicated to the Cause”.  It features eleven great songs including the title song.  Most of the songs are originals written by friends of ours or our own group members.  Joe and David each wrote one and our friends Gary Polston and Bobby Lee two each.  We’re very proud of this project and believe it to be our best to date.  Also contributing two songs on the project is Dave Williford, one of which is our brand new radio release titled “American Christian”.  This great song has been resonating with folks everywhere we’ve performed it. The lyrics encourage American Christians to be unashamed of who they are and to “live out loud” before those who would rob us of the freedoms we have are completely successful. Please call your local radio station and ask for this song.  If your station doesn’t have it yet, DJs can download a copy from www.lampmusic.com  and click on “Radio Sampler”.  

2.     Second, we’ve just returned from the NQC where we had a wonderful, if tiring, time. We began the week by sharing a couple of songs on the Featured Artist Showcase on Monday afternoon where we were well received.  Our second song was American Christian.  By the first chorus almost all of the (approximately) 3,000 attendees were on their feet waving their imaginary flags.  What a thrill!

3.     Third,Ya’ll Come  to the fifth annual Patriot Quartet Homecoming, This year the event will be held at The Sand Spring Baptist Church, located on the Old Harrodsburg Rd, US 127, Lawrenceburg, Ky.  The church has just finished a brand new beautiful sanctuary seating over 750.  It’s built for sound and comfort and we’re very excited and grateful to have the privilege of using the facility for our homecoming sing.  Thank you Sand Spring congregation for your generosity and love. Our guests this year will be: The “Diggles Family” from Lexington, KY.  This full time music ministry includes father, mother and two lovely daughters. They’ll bless you with their singing and instrumentation as well as their sincere and evident love for the Lord.  They will be with us on Friday evening, and; The “Faith Harmony Boys” from Charleston West Virginia. 

1.     This male quartet has become good friends with us over the past several years and I know you are going to enjoy them.  By the way, they are the only gospel quartet that we know of that has a bigger bass singer than the Patriots.  Come and see what we mean. During the two nights we’ll be filming the program for the production of a live DVD.  We hope that the Sand Spring Baptist Church choir will be backing us up on a couple of songs.  We’ll be offering a special, one time only,  preorder price for those in attendance.  So come, be part of our video. We’ll all have a bunch of fun and hopefully get blessed doing it!

Until next time …….

Surprise!  We’re still alive and kicking.  I know many of you were wondering what had happened to us.  Sorry to keep you in the dark for so long.   I ‘m to blame, so don’t go getting on the other guys (to much anyway).  OK?   Anyway, let me bring you up to date on our latest comings and goings, as well as, our other news.

We finished last year with a couple of our favorite annual concerts plus several we enjoyed so much we hope they will become an annual event. 

The Patriot Quartet Homecoming sing went wonderfully well, at least from our perspective.  Our guests, The Northmen, One Voice and the Hilltop Trio were all in fine fiddle.  I believe we all were blessed by their Spirit led performances.  We particularly want to express our appreciation to the “home folks” who attended and gave the Patriots and our guests such a warm welcome.  We love all of you a lot.  Special thanks to those who volunteered to help out, and to the Pastor and members of the Lawrenceburg Methodist Church for again allowing us to use their fine facilities.

New Years eve found the Patriots among friends and neighbors once again at Sand Spring Baptist Church’s watch night service and gospel sing. Once again, a good time in the lord was enjoyed by all. 

We began January 2009 with a weekend in the Waco/Berea area of Ky.  On Saturday the 3^rd, we were the honored guests of the Tate’s Creek Baptist Men’s Association’s annual “Beast Feast” (wild animal meat) held at the Bethel Baptist church near Waco.  It’s hard to imagine when we’ve seen more good food or as much “variety” of meat dishes.  However, (and I certainly wouldn’t want to imply that any of those fine gentlemen would deliberately mislead us, but….) some of the labels on those dishes were very suspect.  Anyway, it was all good and we truly enjoyed the food and fellowship.  They seemed to enjoy the singing by the Patriots that followed the meal.  The following morning we worshiped just down the road with the folks at the White’s Memorial Baptist Church.  Thanks folks for a memorable service and for new friendships. 

Now for the “big” news of the Patriot Quartet and perhaps an explanation of why our web site has appeared so inactive.  To begin:

1.                  After much prayer and discussion, it was mutually agreed that Insco Rue would leave the Patriots.  We want to give “Sonny” our heartfelt thanks for the year and a half he was with us and wish him all blessings as he continues to use his fine singing voice for the Lord.  Thank you Sonny!!

2.                  God is Good!  After interviews and tryouts with several candidates, we believe He has provided exactly the right man to fill our tenor position.  He is a professional gospel singer and evangelist with a great voice, and he even lives right here in Lawrenceburg, KY!  I know all of you are going to enjoy our newest member, Bro. Eugene Hoffman.  Although this is his first time with an all male group, Eugene shares our love for Southern Gospel music and is quickly acclimating to the blending of the four voices into the true quartet sound. I know you’re going to like it;

3.             More good news.  Our former keyboardest extrodinaire and buddy Mr. Wayne Edwards has rejoined the group!  We are simply delighted at this turn of events and look forward to having him with us immediately.  He’ll give us much more flexibility in our stage performances and is a valuable asset to the group in many ways.  Welcome back Wayne.

4.                  and finally, The Patriot Quartet is no longer with the Eddie Crook Recording Company. We love and respect the folks there at the ECC but felt it was time for a change. So, after several years and four (?) recordings we have decided to make a move. We’ve signed a one-year recording contract with the folks at Lamp Music Group, Whitesburg Georgia and are already working with Lamp’s owner and producer Mike Pillow on material for a brand new recording.  Please pray for us as we begin 2009 with a lot of exciting changes and opportunities.  We feel strongly that we are following the Lords guiding and are in his will for us. 

Until next time, may God richly bless you all, is my prayer.

September = National Quartet Convention.  Boy did we have a time!  It was great to see all you folks that came by our both during the week.  I can’t begin to name you all but be assured we love you and appreciate your friendship, prayers and support.  The Patriots began the week by singing on the Monday afternoon Featured Artist Showcase.  Many of you came to that.  By the way, a photo of our set was featured on the Louisville Courier Journal website the following day.  For all of you our-of-towners, that’s big to local Kentuckians!  We also enjoyed our radio interviews, particular our half hour program on WCGW 770 AM with our friend Bruce Edwards.  We finished the week tired but ready to get back on the road.

Following the NQC we spent a couple of weekends near home.  I think the Lord knew we needed some time to rest a little (After all, some of the guys are getting on you know).  We finished out the month by attending the Gospel Fest in Leitchfield IL. and the following day visiting with our good friends at Southside Church.  Wouldn’t you know old Darrell would get sick for the whole trip?  UGH!  Oh, well, the Lord provided strength, as usual.

October began with a very busy weekend with five concerts in three days.  All of them were within a couple of hours of home, so we had no problems.  I particularly enjoyed singing for Goshen Baptist Church’s homecoming services on Sunday morning.  Goshen has been my home church for over 45 years.  On Monday night it was our privilege to once again perform in concert following Clay Lick Methodist Church’s annual “Burgoo Supper”. Clay Lick is David and Marie’s home church and the church Joe was pastor of when the singing group began that later became the Patriot Quartet. This burgoo supper tradition, I understand, was originally begun to commemorate Methodist Men’s Day sometime in the 1920s or 30s.  Since then a lot of good men have stood out there and cooked and stirred burgoo all day long in those big black kettles over an open fire.  Even more good folks have enjoyed the “fruits” of their labor, along with the wonderful desserts the ladies always bring along.  A concert after such a day has to be “lively” just to keep those tired and tummy filled saints awake!

I do want to mention what a joy it was for us to travel over to the Danville IL area last weekend to sing at the Greer building in Fairmount on Saturday night and then visit with the folks at the Central Avenue Church of Christ on Sunday.  These folks are very special to us and our visit is always a highlight.  Thanks Bro. and Ms Raymie Gordon, John and Doris Sarver and all the rest of the folks there for your love and support.

This weekend we will be traveling to PA to attend the Streets of Gold Convention, so keep us in your prayers for safety on the road.

Don’t forget our Patriot Homecoming Friday and Saturday Oct. 24^th and 25^th at the Lawrenceburg Methodist Church located on the corner of bypass US 127 and Carlton Drive, just on the southern outskirts of Lawrenceburg.  Our guests Friday night will be the always popular and entertaining Northmen from Ft. Wayne IN.  Saturday will feature our close friends One Voice, a brother and sister duo from Crab Orchard Kentucky and a guest appearance by Lawrenceburg’s own Hilltop Trio.  Of course the Patriots will be singing each night.  Come and join us for a great time in the Lord.  We are not charging admission but would very much appreciate a minimum ten-dollar donation at the door.  However, everyone is certainly welcome and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Check our online schedule of events and come see us when we are in your area.  We look forward to seeing you.  Praise the Lord!

DG.

We’ve enjoyed seeing a lot of old friends this month, many of them not far from home. One of the great benefits of our calling is getting to be a small part of so many people’s lives. We also enjoy making new friends, as we did again this last weekend out around Potosi Missouri.  Christian brothers and sisters are just good people!

We are looking forward to a couple of upcoming special events in Sept. and Oct. that we hope you will put on your calendar.

The first is, of course, the “Big Show” or the National Quartet Convention, September 8 –13, at the Fairgrounds in Louisville, KY.  It’ll be a great week of singing, visiting and general fun for all.  Come by and see us in booth(s) 912 and 914. Also plan to catch us Monday afternoon as we perform on the Featured Artist Showcase beginning at 12:00 noon.  We believe we’ll be on around 1:30, or so, but aren’t sure so come and catch it all.  You’ll like it.

Secondly, you may want to catch us at Gospel Music Fall Festival in Renfro Valley on Saturday, Oct. 4.  We’ve been a part of this annual event for several years and look forward to it each fall.  Many people like to come, camp out, catch the old tractor show, watch sorghum being made and other interesting crafts, as well as, hearing good gospel music.

Finally, we sincerely hope you’re planning to attend the annual Patriot Quartet Homecoming, Oct. 24-25 at the Lawrenceburg United Methodist Church on the corner of US 127 and Carlton Drive.  Our musical guests on Friday night will be our friends the Northmen from Ft Wayne, IN.  You’ll absolutely enjoy their singing and on- stage antics.  We love these guys and know you will to.  Saturday night the 25^th we’ll be welcoming One Voice a brother/sister duo from around Crab Orchard, KY.  They’re no strangers to this area, having already visited several churches here.  Many of you may also have enjoyed their music on WCGM-770 AM and other local radio stations over the past several years. Come join in the fun. We will not be selling tickets, but we are asking for a minimum $10.00 donation at the door.  However, no one will be turned away or embarrassed for lack of funds.  We want everyone to attend and enjoy this special time we set aside each year to see and thank our closest friends and supporters.

Until next time, may God bless you and may God bless America! 

My, where has the summer gone.  If it’s true that the older you get the faster time flies by, then maybe my friends are right about how old I am cause this summer surely is moving fast. Anyway, it’s been about two months since my last update and so I thought I’d better let you know what’s going on with the Patriots.

Like you, we’ve felt the pain when we go to bye fuel.  It’s been hard on everyone and those of us who travel long distances have certainly had to do some adjusting.  Our primary adjustments have been to (1) park the 4-5 mpg bus in favor of a small trailer, and (2) to concentrate harder on booking engagements closer to home.  This certainly doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to do any overnight or multi-day trips, just that we may be doing fewer of them.  This decision has its blessings and it’s drawbacks.  The number one blessing is the fuel savings.  Even though we’re traveling in two separate vehicles, our combined miles-per-gallon is still triple that of the bus alone while the price per gallon of gasoline is quite a bit less than diesel.  Also, the smaller footprint of our vehicles, even with the trailer in tow, gives us more flexibility in congested areas, parking, etc.  However, I truly do miss my “home away from home” with its closets, dressing room (air conditioned), storage for “whatever”, electricity for appliances and electronic gadgets, and all the other “home” comforts you just don’t get with a van.  I mean there’s just no telling how many personal items this old forgetful man will be leaving in various Sunday school rooms, pastor’s offices, men’s rooms, or wherever we find a place to change before and after concerts this year. OK, that’s enough whining, even in jest, cause we actually feel blessed and very fortunate to have the means to go and do the work God has called us to do.  We love Him and love singing for and about Him. We will do whatever it takes to make that possible.

All in all we’ve had a great summer.  We’ve visited with many old friends and made new ones, as well.  The Holy Spirit has been faithful in making his presence felt whether in a church, auditorium, outdoors event or whatever setting we might have been in.  Although each concert was memorable and we love and appreciate the people who made them possible, for brevities sake I want to mention just a couple events that we were part of. 

First, we were able to participate in a concert to benefit the “Meals on Wheels” charitable program in Danville, KY.  This organization provides hot meals to the indigent and elderly in the community and is funded with thru donations and state assistance.  Since the state aid was drastically reduced this year the folks chose to have an all day gospel singing event to raise money.  The Patriot Quartet was privileged to be a part of the evening concert along with Allison Durham Speer, who grew up around Danville.  Everyone had a great time and, hopefully we helped raise some of the needed funds. The other event I want to mention is the Cogers Singing Convention in Canton, Ohio.  This was Wanda and Lawrence Coger’s 25th year to hold their three-day convention and it was their last year as sponsors.  For the past several years the Patriot Quartet has been honored to be a part of this great event and have become very good friends with this hardworking and dedicated couple.  We just want to add our congratulations to this wonderful couple and express our heartfelt love and appreciation to them for their kindness to the Patriot Quartet. May our Father richly bless you.

Well, that’s about all for this time.  We look forward to seeing YOU down the road some time.  We just can’t wait to see what the Lord has waiting for us this month! 

dg.