Good morning, everyone! Hope you have some great plans for the weekend! Before those plans take you away, you might be interested in some news from the world of Southern Gospel Music this week. Keep reading, and enjoy! – Lynn 

Darren Lore of the Lore Family has been signed on as a songwriter at Crossroads Publishing. From the press release Crossroads released on Monday, Greg Bentley said, “As director of Publishing for Crossroads Gospel Publishing catalogs, I’m always keeping my eyes and ears open for writers in hopes of finding new ones that fit into our team. We have a wonderful family put together with a great mixture in styles that they write. Darren loves to write straight ahead Southern Gospel style, so he will be a big asset in that area. Adding him just made sense, especially since we just signed his family to our Horizon Records label. When you have writers in groups, we like to keep it all under one umbrella, and Darren will be a welcome addition to our roster of writers.”

On Tuesday, Mountain Home Music Company released a statement announcing that the Chuck Wagon Gang’s new CD, No Depression In Heaven – The Gospel Songs of the Carter Family, reached #1 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart. Shaye Smith says, “The Chuck Wagon Gang’s tribute album to the Gospel songs of the Carter Family is a project almost a year in the making. We worked exceptionally hard on this project. From the choosing of the songs to the arrangements to long hours in the studio….artists always hope that this hard work will render reward. And for us it certainly has!”

Wednesday, Blake Buffin, former tenor of the Mark Trammell Quartet, announced a new vlog, “Hymns On The Job.” This vlog (a vlog is a blog done in video form, mostly posted on YouTube) will provide weekly updates on what he’s been up to since moving back to Ohio and feature him singing hymns on his job site. To watch his introduction, watch the video below! Don’t forget to sign in to your YouTube account and subscribe if you want to keep up with Blake!

Thursday, the Southern Gospel Music Association announced the founding of a Research Library in Hendersonville, Tennessee. In the future, the library will be open to the public via appointment for the purpose of researching Southern Gospel Music. Until then, the library is accumulating sound recordings, sheet music and songbooks, to compile a comprehensive Southern Gospel Music catalog. The building is being provided through the support of Dottie Leonard Miller, CEO of Daywind/NewDay.

Gold City recently sent out an update on Danny Riley’s recovery from breaking his ankle and wrist, which has kept him off the road the last two months. As of last week, he is out of a cast and in a boot and should be starting partial weight-bearing in a few weeks. Praise the Lord for the improvement! From Gold City’s Facebook post on Thursday, Danny says, “I have lived in my recliner for nearly two months, day and night. I’m eagerly anticipating the near future when I can get back out on tour with my guys, who, by the way, have done an incredible job this entire time I’ve been on the disabled list.”