Hope everyone had a great Easter last Sunday…it was good to all the guys here at Called Out Quartet….|We love being out and singing…no question about it. We feel God’s will in our lives as he opens doors for us to go hither and yon…but…it’s awfully nice to have a weekend here and there to recharge those batteries and grab some much needed family time. We enjoy hearing all the great preachers when we travel, but it’s also nice when we can sit under our own pastors. Last weekend was just one of those weekends where it all came together…work around the house, spending time with family, spending time at church…oh and spending time in front of the TV watching the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament! Nothing like some March Madness to brighten your day. I’m one of those guys who, for the most part, ignores about 90% of the rest of the basketball world outside of the Southeastern Conference until the tourney rolls around..then I love to watch the Cinderella stories unfold. A few of those stories came out of our immediate areas…which was cool. Western Kentucky University up in Bowling Green (close to Jess’ house) was a definite Cinderella. They surprised favorite Drake in the first round then beat another underdog San Diego to make the Sweet 16. They dropped their game to UCLA last night, but bless their hearts for making it that far! Another almost donning the glass slipper was Nashville’s own Belmont University who came within an eyelash of beating Duke (one point loss). Also got some baseball on the near horizon. Okay…for those out there who are saying “the season already started Von!”…wait a minute. I’m one of those who doesn’t much enjoy the season “starting” with games in Tokyo at 3:00am…I kind of like teams playing here on the North American continent (you guys like that…I found a way to include the Canadian teams!!). I know D will be closely following the Yankees and the Reds while I’ll be going to bat for my Braves. Scott and Jess are fans…but to be honest, I don’t think I know their teams. I know one thing…we can all cheer for our local Nashville Sounds no matter who we like in the Major League… “buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, I don’t care if never get back!”

Anyone else out there having a tough week? Oh, the quartet is fine…everyone is healthy…it’s just one of those weeks where I seem to be in the doldrums . You know…kind of in a “blah” mood and it seems everything I do is wrong. Don’t really have an excuse though…the Lord has been VERY good to me and continues to do so. Guess it’s just one of those times where we find ourselves in the valley spiritually. I sometimes wonder why we go through this stuff, but Darrell made a good point a couple of weeks back when we were in a service in Murfreesboro, TN… if we didn’t go through the valleys every now and then the mountain tops would not be nearly as sweet when we got there (he was referring to the song Scott sings “He Chose This Valley”). True words Brother D…just wanted to thank you for reminding me and thank the Lord for always being there. As Little Orphan Annie put it so succinctly “the sun will come out tomorrow” :)…

I think last week I might have mentioned that we had signed a booking agreement with our good friend Barbara Roach and her new company. Also think I found myself not knowing anything else about it to share with everyone…will alas we have that problem no more! Jess and Scott hooked me up with the info. We are now a part of the Jubilee Music Artists family! Check out their site and see what you think. What does having a booking agent mean to Called Out Quartet? Lots of really good things! Mainly we can focus more on singing and less on filling in those “holes” in our schedule where we sing on a Sunday morning, but would like to sing on Saturday night and Sunday night while we are in an area. If you look at our schedule, it’s already working. The holes are plugging up fast. As time goes on I’ll share more about our relationship…but as for right now…we are just proud to be a part!

Check out our schedule for this weekend and come out and see us if you get a chance. Got the privilege of singing in my home church this Sunday morning! Gonna be at McFerrin in the morning, then we head to Sulfur Fork, and end up Sunday night at Mt. Pleasant Baptist. Hope to see you all there…

Von and all the guys at CO4

Well Good Friday to you…literally. Hope everyone has had a great week and is looking forward to an even better Easter weekend. We have the weekend off from singing, but had a great one this past weekend, and make up for being off this weekend next weekend…have I confused everyone yet??|Before I go on an talk about regular stuff, I opened my web browser this morning and got caught up on the news on my home page (which is www.foxnews.com). The headline story caught my eye….”Swamped”. It was talking about the rising flood waters in Missouri mainly, but also in southern Illinois and Indiana. All spots we have recently traveled to by the way. The picture that caught my eye though was one from Poplar Bluff, MO….which if you guys have been reading my updates lately…you know we recently spent the night in Poplar Bluff after hitting an owl coming over the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. I opened the story and quickly recognized most all the photos…particularly the one of Highway 60 out of Paducah, KY on it’s way to Springfield, MO. Devastating shots of a flood ravaged area. Please keep those folks in your prayers. It’s easy to look at that stuff on the news and say “wow” and then go on…but when you’ve visited those areas and, I’m sure, have met some of those people who are now displaced or perhaps even mourning the loss of family…it touches home. But for the grace of God, there go I…

To say last weekend was awesome would be a HUGE understatement. As you all know, my daughter Savannah was saved a week ago this past Wednesday…and was subsequently baptized this past Sunday morning after joining the church. After I found out when she was going to be baptized I was stressed…we were booked to sing at Temple Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, TN on Sunday morning at 10:30 and her baptism service (along with the 6 others being baptized that day) was going to start at 10:00. Each church was about 45 minutes apart….so it didn’t take a rocket scientist to see the problem. Something had to give. The guys encouraged me to a man to just stay home and let them sing without me (though they wanted to be there to see Savannah get baptized, we all knew the importance of fulfilling our obligations). I felt the need to be with the guys taking care of my responsibilities…but my heart was tugging to be with Savannah and the rest of my family. Jess called the young pastor of Temple, John Hill, last week and asked what the plan was. Turned out that the choir was going to sing…and he was going to preach! We wouldn’t sing until 11:30 at the earliest…maybe even later. My pastor had already expressed his desire to start the baptizing early as this was going to be a Lord’s Supper service and he wanted all the new members to be able to participate. Worked wonderfully for me! By 10:15 I had seen Savannah baptized and was on the road to Murfreesboro. I got there around 11:00 and was blessed to get to hear most of Bro. Hill’s sermon…which was incredible. Temple is very fortunate to have such a spiritual pastor and one that is wise FAR beyond his years. We got to sing after that then enjoyed a Homecoming meal fit for a king. Great day only the Lord could pull together!

Got to share something with you guys out there. Every week a good friend sends me (and a bunch of other folks) a wonderful email…his “Words of Encouragement”. His name is Brian Johnson and he is the pastor of Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Goodlettsville, TN. His weekly email always brings a smile to my face and usually gives me a unique perspective on things I have heard all my life. Don’t know why I have never shared this with you guys, but I encourage you to visit his weekly
blog or maybe send him an email requesting you get on his mailing list. It never takes me over 5 minutes to read it, but it always blesses me all day. He might kill me for this one (sorry Brian!) but his email is bgjohnson_7@comcast.net. All kidding aside…Brian would be honored I know to add you guys…and you will be blessed I promise.

While on the subject of blogs…there is another I encourage you to visit this week. Our website guru Dave Culbreath is currently on a mission trip to Jamaica…a passion which he delivers on 2 to 3 times a year. When he goes he usually updates a blog every day and it is encouraging to me to hear God’s hand in that work daily. If you get a minute or two, head over here and read about their week. Awesome stuff by a group of super dedicated Christians.

I think I already mentioned we were off this weekend…which is good actually. I think we all have a few spring “honey’do’s” to lean on for a day or two. Also cool that we will all be at home for Easter…sharing time with our families (who are infinitely patient with us throughout the year) and spending time rejoicing in the fact that the tomb is indeed still empty. What a glorious gift He has given us through His sacrifice here on earth. Go to church this weekend…even if you don’t usually attend…and thank the good Lord for salvation. If you aren’t saved….what a magnificent time to seek repentance for your sins. Like we say all the time…God’s good, and He is good ALL the time…

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Gatlinburg November 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of this year. Should be a huge blast…and we will be sharing it this year with Total Praise Quartet from South Carolina and Heather Rice from Illinois. Make plans to attend!!

Should be coming out with a brand new website soon….once Dave returns from Jamaica and we get a few days to organize our thoughts…things should hopefully look totally different here. Be on the look out for that soon.Also should be starting vocals on our next project soon…got the tracks wrapped up a couple weeks back. We’ve been going over vocal arrangements with our manager (and producer for this and all our projects) Eddie Crook and should be getting close to some studio time very soon. Hoping to have the new CD done and in your hands by the end of May…but who knows!!

One more thing…and we will advertise this more on our new website. We have recently signed a deal with Barbara Roach to represent Called Out Quartet as our booking agent. As we get busier, it has become more challenging to keep things straight week in and week out with where to go and what to do. Barbara Roach will be bringing years and years of Southern Gospel experience to the table and a passion for spreading the good news far and wide. She has already opened many doors for us in areas we have dreamed about going. Pray for us while we work all this out..it’s new to us and it will take time to get used to I’m sure. We will try and dedicate an area of the site to Barbara soon so we can introduce her to you guys.

Have a great weekend!!!

Von and all the guys at CO4