Still pleasing gospel fans, Gaither is keeping the faith

By John Benson

When longtime gospel and contemporary Christian singer Bill Gaither thinks back over his four-plus decades of recording and touring, he’s reminded how the Buckeye State — and specifically the Youngstown area — played a large role in his success.

“Northeast Ohio was one of our stomping grounds,” said Gaither, calling from his Indiana home.

“I think we did a live concert in Warren, Ohio. That was just called ‘Live’ and that was probably in the early ’70s. I have such a good memory. It was at Packard Music Hall. I’m really good at that kind of stuff, but I’ll forget [my wife] Gloria’s birthday.

“What I remember about that show was that it was a very lively audience. And when you do a live recording, you want to find a good audience, people who love what you do. And there was something about Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio people who love what we did. So our roots there go way back. We’ve always had a great following up there – Youngstown, Akron and Cleveland.”

Influenced as a youngster by Southern gospel acts such as the Statesman, Gaither first began performing in the ’60s in the Bill Gaither Trio before eventually forming the Gaither Vocal Band a quarter of a century ago.

Known for popular gospel songs such as “The King Is Coming,” “He Touched Me,” “There’s Something About That Name,” “Let’s Just Praise the Lord” and “Loving God, Loving Each Other,” Gaither and his wife have more than 40 albums, eight Grammy Awards and more to their credit.

While the lineup has shifted many times over the decades, earlier this year Gaither invited erstwhile members of his Gaither Vocal Band back into the fold.

“We’ve had about 15 or 16 different personnel [groups], and people leave for a lot of reasons,” Gaither said.

“The reunion of this group is interesting because in January of this year, we reorganized it and three of the ex-members came back. They’re very good singers, too. Michael English is one of the best in our field, David Phelps is back, Mark Lowry is back and Wes Hampton is still with us, so it’s a pretty outstanding group.”

That group will be returning to Youngstown for a Thursday show at Covelli Centre in support of its new album, “Reunited.”

Gaither said both the new CD and tour have been warmly received.

So after spending decades writing, recording and touring his gospel music, what is it that keeps people wanting more from Gaither and his various outfits?

“I don’t know why we have a fan base, but I’m glad they’re there,” Gaither said.

“The reasons we do what we do is, we still believe in the message, more so than ever, of what we’re singing. And I just love the art. I love the music and if I didn’t, I would stay home and play with my grandkids.”

The idea of Gaither’s grandchildren brings up the obvious question of whether he’s considering retirement anytime soon.

“I always get asked if I’ve thought about retiring, and the answer is always the same, ‘And do what?’” Gaither laughed.

“Because I love doing what I’m doing. I’ve been in the studio all morning editing a new project that we did in San Antonio, Texas. You just can’t keep doing forever something you don’t like doing, and as long as it’s fun, I’ll keep doing it.”

if you go

Who: Gaither Vocal Band “Reunited Tour 2009”

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Covelli Centre, Youngstown

Tickets: $31.50 and $41.50 at the box office and Ticketmaster outlets