When you sing in the New Year with the three top groups in Southern Gospel Music, then wake up on January 1^st at the Gaylord Opryland Resort – well, that’s pretty close to heaven if you ask me! So how do you follow that? Well, let me tell you, Scott Fowler and Legacy Five know how to do it right! On January 2^nd, you continue celebrating with Legacy Five, the Isaacs and the Mark Trammell Quartet and some “surprise” guests – let them loose with what they do best…singing about Jesus Christ!

The evening was set in motion with a special guest, drum roll please…Mitchel Jon! Mitchel sang two songs in opening for Legacy Five, and after another reminder about the “silent auction,” the night began first with our host group, Legacy Five, followed by the Isaac’s and the Mark Trammell Quartet.

Our host group - Legacy Five

Legacy Five kicked off their set with the snappy classic, Feeling Fine, and went right into I’ll Live on Up in Glory After While. “Last night,” Scott announced, “Gus celebrated his two year anniversary! (with L5) Gus Gaches!” In honor of those two years spent on the road with L5, Gus was featured on the solo, I Stand Redeemed. L5 sang this ballad with only the piano, which set a very worshipful atmosphere that flowed into the next song, There’s Something About That Name/Holy Is Thy Name. (That last one always sends chills up my spine!) “He is wonderful,” Scott began while gripping his Bible, “There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” He quoted from the book of Acts, and then continued, “The Bible says that there is something very special about the name of Jesus.” After reading a portion in Luke about the resurrection, Scott said, “Thank God, the tomb is empty – and one day we’re all gonna’ see Him, just as He is.” A soft “Ah” came over the audience as Glenn began singing the verses to We Shall See Jesus. Glenn and Scott share the verses on this ballad, and I love the contrast between their voices on this song. Just as Glenn finishes up the verse in minor with a nice smooth low note, Scott jumps in resolving the music back to its major key with his powerful lead vocals! Seeing it live as amazing as it is powerful! “What a day!” shouted Scott afterwards, then lead the audience in singing What a Day That Will Be. “I love surprises, and heaven is going to be full of them!” said Scott. “I love surprises and speaking of surprises…” he turned to welcome another on stage… “Wes Hampton is here!”

As Scott put his arm around Wes’s shoulders, he explained that Wes performed a concert the night before in Atlanta that lasted five hours! – Then he and his family drove up to Nashville to be at Celebration, so Scott welcomed Wes to the event and had him sing a few songs for us. Wes’s first song was Where Ever I Go. “This is an old song that the Vocal Band recorded, but never actually sang, so I decided to do it.” Wes offered as explanation for the following song, The Difference Is in Me. Wes then told of how Scott asked him to come to Celebration. He had fifteen minutes in the program (enough time for three songs and a little story). That little story was about growing up in love with the Vocal Band and Cathedrals, and every time he saw the Cat’s, Scott’s sweet personality always made and impact and stood out to him. His last song had more a contemporary style and was called Jesus Saves. A standing ovation! Wes thanked the audience as he walked off the stage.

Les Butler came on stage next and told a little about the Singing News Magazine as the Isaacs set up the stage with their instruments. When they were ready, Les said, “Okay, this family right here has won Grammy Awards, Dove Awards, Singing News Fan Awards, Front Porch Fellowship Awards…if they haven’t already won them, they’re getting ready to! They are special…please welcome, the Isaac’s!”

The Isaacs

A melody of old hymns, (Love Lifted Me, Sweet By And By, Power in the Blood, Just Over in the Gloryland, I’ll Fly Away) was the Isaac’s first arrangement to sing at Celebration. Towards the end of I’ll Fly Away, they all played a chorus on their instruments. Their talent never ceases to amaze me! They can play so fast! “Here’s a brand new song!” Sonya introduced their second number called, Four Men. (This is one of my favorites off of their new project!) Afterwards, Sonya explained how that song was from their new project, Why Can’t We, and went on to tell about the title song from that same Cd (which they sang next). “There’s something that we all need to remember,” Sonya gently reminded us, “forgiveness.” Then Ben and Beckie were both featured on Why Can’t We. “You know forgiveness is one of the most important ingredients of peace,” Sonya added, “and sometimes the hardest one to forgive is ourselves, if Jesus Christ Himself said that He’d cast your sins as far as the east is from the west, we can forgive ourselves too.” – and they sang another chorus accapella, and Sonya closed the song by saying, “We can with His help.” Introductions were next…even down to their newest member of the family, little baby, Aden James Yeary! When Sonya brought him out on stage “ooh’s” and “ah’s” filled the air. He was so cute! Their next song was a song about Noah and the Flood, It’s Gonna’ Rain. They really showed off on their instruments at the end of this one! Love hearing them “cut loose!” Lilly took a moment to share why making it through another year is so important to her, for 27 years, she has been a Breast Cancer survivor! The audience applauded this miraculous feat. The next song was Lily’s story put to lyrics by Sonya and her husband, I’m Gonna Love You Through It. What a song! Next, they “switched projects” and sang some songs from a record called Naturally. A song that required a washboard from Nate Fossit and Sonya playing on a “banjo-lynn” was up next – A Little Bit Of Heaven. “This next song we’re going to do is one that Bill Gaither called them and said that they just had to do! (I’ll give you a hint, it was the number one song in Pop and Country in 1959) – Little Jimmy Brown. This mellow song featured Ben. Beckie introduced the next song about a story in John 9 that impacted her life and her healing. The song was Waiting in the Water and she wanted to sing it for us. Another accapella hymn followed, I Will Praise Him. (Their harmony never ceases to amaze me!) This last one received a standing ovation also.

Doug Anderson

Doug Anderson, snatched a few songs on stage after the Isaac’s. (It certainly was the night for surprises! Three surprise guests in one night!) Smile It Through was his first, an up-beat song that talked about smiling through everything in life because of the Lord’s presence in our lives. “You’re smiling! You’re smiling!” Doug exclaimed at the songs close. Doug had the opportunity to sing on TBN Praise Network, and the next song was one of the ones they heard that night – Jesus Is Holding My Hand. “This is a song about my life, hometown family…it’s called Dreaming Wide Awake,” Doug shared as an introduction to his last song.

Scott Fowler came up on stage to introduce the final group of the night, he began, “Twenty two and a half years ago, I was asleep in my bed in Houston, TX when the phone rang and woke me up, and on the other end of the phone I heard this, “Scott Fowler? Glen Payne from the Cathedral Quartet.” I almost said, “Yeah right.” – and hung up. “I’m glad I didn’t,” said Scott. Glen told him that Mark Trammell decided to resign and Ernie mentioned his name… “And all I can say,” Scott concluded, “is that I’m really glad that Mark Trammell quit his job with the Cathedral Quartet!” Everyone responded to that with hearty laughter …

The Mark Trammell Quartet

The Mark Trammell Quartet began their set in worship with Gentle Shepherd. Speeding things

...and what a sparkling cuff link it was!

up a bit, Old Convention song, was the second song on the set. (Bass singer Pat Barker was featured on that number and I must point out, that even from where I was sitting in the back, I could see the light reflecting off of Pat’s cuff links shining into the crowd with an almost blinding sparkling glimmer…LOL) Mark introduced the group next: and began with a gentleman who’s been filling in for them during their transition in the tenor department, Jim Cox. After introducing lead and bass singers Dustin Sweatman and Pat Barker, the latter was featured on the old classic How Big Is God. (For those who read this site often, you will know that this song is always commented on for its power and emotion. This time, I can truly say that sitting on the last row didn’t diminish its effect at all -the experience is the same in the front row as it is in the very last.) Echoes from the Burning Bush followed. Of course, through half of the set Mark was playing his bass guitar and Dustin was seated at his keyboard. As a musician myself, I can’t help but admire the way Dustin takes those “plain old” chords and propels them into the audience, wrapping them in the warm embrace of the music…kind of like how Spiderman shoots out webs in his movie, eh??? LOL Jim was pretty bouncy and high on the chorus, which demanded some attention from Mark, who paused the music and had Jim sing it again! “See if you remember this great song,” Mark questioned as Wedding Music began, and the applause from the fans indicated they most certainly did remember. Mark set aside his bass guitar on this ballad and Dustin stepped out from around his keyboard to join the rest of the guys center stage.

Eric is back!

During the second verse, Eric Philips came out on stage and switched tenor positions with Jim. In the words of Smokey Mountain Santa, (my good friend from the forums who was also in attendance that weekend), “That was a real classy way to welcome Eric Philips back to the group.” And I agree, it sure was!!! Everyone clapped at his appearance. Add to that a standing ovation to the song, to both excellent tenors! The Calvary Medley came next. What power! Another Standing ovation! Dustin performed his feature, Testimony, and Mark welcomed Eric back to MTQ from on stage for everyone to see…Continuing on, “I promised that we would do this, it’s all I heard all evening…” Mark explained, “So, if I’m going to be transparent with you tonight, 30 years ago I got sick of this song, and I’m most sick of it now! Here it is!” Glory Road was that requested song. If you guessed a standing ovation – you were right! So how did MTQ respond? An encore! Mark had Eric do the high part twice because everyone liked it. And because everyone really liked it, they went for round two! (Accompanied by shouts and whistles!) After all the fun was out of the way, MTQ ended their set with a song most appropriate for the New Year – Statue of Liberty. What a better way to go into 2012 than to be reminded of the liberty we have both in the United States, symbolized by Lady Liberty in New York, and the freedom we have in the Lord Jesus, symbolized by the cross outside the gates of Jerusalem.

MTQ welcomes Eric back!

As a grand finale, Scott brought out Glenn Dustin, Mitchel Jon, Wes and Doug for a special song, Satisfied with Jesus, was sung by this impromptu quartet. But the night wasn’t over yet!!! We had one more surprise that resulted in Doug singing Mary Did You Know? When he finished, Scott came back on stage and said, “What a wonderful treat that was!” Then, yes then, the evening was officially over.

The grand finale with Doug, Mitchel, Wes and Glenn

Conclusion: The first thing that comes to mind when I think about the night was the kindness that Legacy Five shows to the other artists who come to their events. L5 cut time out of their own set and gave it to Wes Hampton so he could have time to sing. How sweet! I absolutely loved the Isaac’s! This was the first time (besides NQC) that I’ve seen them live and all I can say is that their harmony and arrangements are so, so,… well, it’s hard to describe! J The songs from their new Cd Why Can’t We are filled with messages that we need to hear every day. MTQ was excellent (as always!) They gave Eric the perfect welcome…as Santa said, it was classy! I also enjoyed hearing Doug Anderson and Mitchel Jon singing the songs that they did.

Me and Smokey Mountain Santa

Over the course of the weekend I had the privilege of meeting a friend and reader, Smokey Mountain Santa! Mr. and Mrs. Claus were in attendance and I had the opportunity to chat with them many times during Celebration. What really grab’s your attention with them is their sweet spirit and their love for Jesus! I love events like these for this very reason – You can go to places like these and meet readers and fellow forum members! It’s a small, small world out there. 😉

Over all, attendees were treated to another wonderful evening of lifting up the Lord Jesus, sweet fellowship and fantastic southern gospel singin’!!!! The atmosphere of Celebration NYE is an experience unique to itself carrying forward a “legacy of faith” as we step into another new year.