Hello Friends
 I hope 09 was a good year for you and I pray that 2010 will be even better. The Dove Brothers had a good year in 09 and next year looks like it's going to be busy. We start with a new man on the keys Mr. Adam Harman. This guy can pick and is no stranger to Gospel Music. We are also excited about our new Muscadine Grape Jelly! Drop by our product table and get a jar it's GOOD! We also have a new idea for a cd next year that will be very different so be watching out for that. There is a lot of new ideas that we are going to try next year so be ready for an exciting trip we are going to take. I want to invite you to be at our hometown sing in Feb it will be two great nights of southern Gospel Music. All I can say is that the Dove Brothers are excited and ready for 2010!


McCray

Well we will try something that we have never done before and put on a Christmas Show. Dec. 4th the Dove Brothers will try to sing some Christmas Songs along with all of our hits and fan favorites. All the info is on our website and we would love for you to be a part of this. This could be our first and last  LOL. We will see how the crowd likes it. The show includes a Dinner, Christmas Lights, and the Show. Make your plans to be with us!!!!!!!!

There has been some talk about groups going taking country songs and recording them maybe changing a word or two to make it gospel or not changing anything and singing them in Southern Gospel market. The Dove Brothers have been talked about this as well as some other artist. Well this is nothing  new!!! This has been done many times. The Thrashers come to mind. The old Cats did it as well. Just like any song you record, some will like it and some want. A great song doesn't care who sings it. Now some are talking about the song not talking about the Gospel or about Jesus or Heaven ect. Well have you ever heard the Gospel in action? You take the song "Everyday" by Triumphant. That is the Gospel in Action!!!!!!! Does it have Jesus in the song NO but it does tell how Jesus would have us to be toward others. I could sing about don't let your left hand know what the right hand does and never mention about the Lord just what it means. Would that song be Gospel or just about how to live. 

Look there are those who can't stand for us to do Get away Jordan but there are more who like it. It is Gospel but everybody don't love it. We recorded  A Little GoodNews not because it was a country song but the words were on target for what the world is going through today and we felt that if we tell the world that the Gospel is the real Goodnews that it would speak in a different way today. And trust me it has been a big song in concert today. The Dove Brothers pick songs that we feel will speak to someone in a way that the next song want. I love a song that makes me think and look at my life. But it is like everything else in Southern Gospel Music  and the Church we are the only Army that shoots its own Soldiers!!!!!! I have been Guilty of that myself So I have took the song Everyday and have tried to put it into Action and along the way spread a little goodnews!

                                                      McCray Dove

One of my favorite songs on our new cd is a song that I remember hearing the Oakridge Boys doing on a 8-track that my Momma order from a TV commercial when I was 4 years old and yes I can remember that because that is how old I was when I started singing. The song is called "He's Gonna Smile On Me". I have always loved this song even though some would say that this song doesn't line up with the Bible. But I  believe it does from a Christians point of view. Smile means to find favor. Even though the Bible doesn't really say that God smiles but it does point out that he does shine down on his children or servant more than one time. If you study the verse that talks about Noah found GRACE in the EYES of the Lord. The Lord found FAVOR in Noah.
 
But this song never saids that all you have to do to get to heaven is to do good works. The writer is just saying that if he prays and treats people right that God is gonna smile on him. What is wrong with that thought? The way I have been treated by Christian people in the pass and present I don't think God was smiling on them at that moment. And there has been times that I know God wasn't smiling on me! Because we are just SINNERS saved by GRACE!!! My twin boys love this song and I love hearing them sing with uncle Eric from the top of there lungs. I rather hear my kids singing "He's Gonna Smile On Me" than singing some of the trash that is on Radio and TV!

Now if this song was telling world that all you got to do to be saved is Pray and Treat people right than I would agree with those who have a problem with this song. But I don't get that from this song at all. We added the lines Keep Living Right because to really live right I feel that you must know the Lord to help you to live right. Because you can't live right with out the Lords help. Now my opinion may not change your mind if you don't agree with this song but it may give you something to think about. The next time you start talking about somebody or hurt there feelings or you are not praying like you should. Are you trying to get back at someone who did you wrong? Or are you praying for them at night asking God to show them the way. I want the Lord to smile on me in all that I do and I hope he is smiling on me right now because I am not writing this in anger but writing this to show you why we recorded this GREAT song.

I was listing to some songs a few days ago. Then a thought came to my mind, when have you heard a song that does two things when you hear it. When have you heard a song that if you don't know the Lord the words of the song will lead you to the Lord and if you know the Lord it will remind you of the day that you met the Lord. As I thought about this, song after song ran through my mind that would do this. The Light House, Who am I, Had it not been, He did it all for me, There is a river, Its all in the blood, Pity the man. 

Now it might be just me! But I am not  hearing songs that can speak to the lost as well to the Christian. If we do I am not hearing them and I am not writing them either. My question is why not? Have we lost something? Have we lost the desire to reach the lost through the message of the song. Maybe there are plenty of songs written today that can and will do this when you hear them for the first time or anytime. If there are new songs today that you would like to share that you feel do this share them with me. I would love to hear from you.

I don't really know why I have been thinking about this. But lately my mind has been thinking about all of the artist that turn me on to singing. I find myself picking up the phone going to call up Jim Hamill or George Younce and I have done that with many heros of mine. But then I remember that they are gone. I miss being on there bus or back stage and just talking with them. If I had an idea I would call them and ask them if they thought it would work. Many times when I thought I had come up with something new it didn't take long to realize in our conversation that they had already done that and had a T-shirt.
 
They would always let me know that it would or wouldn't work. I learn so much from them and to tell you the truth I am still learning from them. I thank the Lord that I can still pick up the phone and talk to my Best BUDDY Ed Oneal. I know that he has more days now behind him than ahead of him and I cherrish every moment that we spin together talking or playing a round of Golf. I am still taking courses at Ed Oneal Universty you know!

To me when you went to a concert and you had the Dixie Melody Boys, Kingsmen, Cathedrals, and the Rex Nelon Singers every group had there own sound and there own way of doing it. Now there are many other great groups from the past but I don't have the time to list them all.  Even when the Dove Brothers would sing on the program with those groups it would amaze me how each group could tear up the crowd. I miss those days! I know that this is a new day and we have some great singers and pickers out there and we must pave our own road with Gods help but I can't help it. I Sure Do Miss Them !!!!!!

In Southern Gospel Music we have always had changes in the industry. Usually, the first thing that comes to mind is MONEY! Why is that? In the years that I have spent in Gospel Music I have found out that money is not always the reason for the changes. There are those that you could pay a million a year and it still wouldn't be enough simply because they don't know how to manage their money. Life changes all the time. And when it does you have to change with it. I have seen many different reasons for change. The Dove Brothers have been through changes. I could be wrong but I don't think Money was the major reason. My reason for leaving the Dixie Melody Boys had nothing to do with money.
 
I had a dream and I knew the only way I could go after the dream was to start the Dove Brothers! You know, I was offered  more money from time to time during my years with DMB but I stayed with my buddy, Ed Oneal. Some of those groups that offered me more money are now out of business. Money was not the reason I started singing in the first place. If you can't make enough money in Southern Gospel Music, then sing a different kind of music. Go where you think you can make the money you are worth! Now I am all for making more money, and if you can make more by changing to a different group, then by all means, do it! If that change is something better for you and your family, then you probaly have made the right decision. If a group can't  make it because they don't make enough money, well ,that happens all the time in this industry. It will always be that way.

 You know, George Younce once told me that when you really love what you do, you will make a way to do it when times are tough. George said, it was not about the money. Its because we love what we do and we love the people that we sing to everyday! Now, am I making a fortune out here? The answer is NO! Do I love what I do? Yes!!!!! Do I need the money? What do you think? Am I going to travel and sing for nothing? I can't. Do you think I'm CRAZY? Don't answer that! But remember, all the money in the world will not make you HAPPY! Now, I do believe it helps. LOL! My oringinal question was, why do people usually think it's about the money? Now, something to think about, Many people think of the Cathedrals as the greatest quartet ever. I say, ask Mark, Gerald, or Danny, was money the main reason they chose to leave a group of legends in our industry? I could be wrong, but I believe the answer will be NO!

Hello everybody
 Hope you are taking the time to listen to our new release Hold On. If you haven't, maybe you can take a listen and  vote. Hey I want to write about a subject or really a question I get a lot. Do you feel that there are to many groups in Southern Gospel Music?I don't think so but we do have to many on the radio.  I feel we need Part-Time groups for the industry to survive. But I do feel that we all have our place. I feel that recording today has hurt the industry and I will tell you why. Today you can tune and phrase vocals untill you have it  perfect. So any group or soloist can be played on the radio and sound just as good as the pros. But when you go to hear them live the singing doesn't match up unless you have heavy stacks and even then they don't have the stage talent to match up with the pros. But do you take them out of the industry all together? My answer is NO ! That would be like taking out the middle class out of the economy you have to have them to make the world go around. So I feel we need the part-time group. Now there are some part-time groups that have what it takes to be full-time but don't want to sing full-time. There has been a many great singers and back in the day a many great pickers in part-time groups that have been some of the biggest names in Gospel Music. The part-time group is needed and has always been needed to keep our music going. 

                                                 McCray

Well you can hear our new cd on the Sonlite label on our website for 30 days. You can also vote for your favorite song so check it out. I really like this cd because I feel we have something for everyone on this one. If you love the traditional quartet way of singing you will like Gonna rise Gonna fly and When I wake up one of these Mornings. If you love the Country Gospel quartet sound you will like Hold on and Jesus he's everything to me and He's gonna smile on me. Now if you love the big band and strings arrangement we don't have one for you sorry, so I guess we don't have something for everyone when I think about it. So I guess I should say that we almost have something for everyone so Check It Out!

                                                        McCray Dove











 

Well it want be long you will soon find out some exciting news from the Dove Brothers. We have had some bumps this past month but the Lord has been good to us and has sent friends along to help us out. Jerry Kelso is doing fine and is playing the keys like never before and Jerry Martin first week back has been great in fact I think next time we have some time off I going to see if he will have another operation! Just kidding...........!  But just hang in there and you will hear about this new journey we are going to take.

                                               McCray