June 2002 ~ Featuring Jeremy Raines
One of Southern Gospel Music's best sounding and classiest quartets hail from the great state of Arkansas. With their rich heritage in quartet music, fans have learned to expect true Traditional Southern Gospel Music from the Melody Boys Quartet. Their current line-up of personnel creates one of the greatest groups in Gospel music today! This month, I would like to feature the baritone vocalist and youngest member of the Melody Boys, Jeremy Raines.

Jeremy joined the Melody Boys in October of 1998, the same month that I joined the Dixie Echoes. I actually first met him over the internet in a Southern Gospel music chat room. Both being around the same age with the same interest in vintage quartet singing, opened a door for conversation and the start of a great friendship. The Melody Boys can often be found on the same program as the Dixie Echoes, since both groups are represented by Rivergate Talent Agency. Recently, we have worked a few dates with the Melody Boys, including the Great Western Quartet Convention, followed the same week by a concert in Texas. They are one of my favorite groups to be around and work with. I am looking forward to seeing them again in the near future.

Jeremy Raines was born on August 17, 1975. He is the only child of Bob and Mardella Raines. His original hometown is Versailles, Missouri, but he now lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. His home church is First Baptist Church of Stover, Missouri. In 1985, at the age of ten, he accepted Christ into his life. His mom prayed with him and led him to the Lord in his bedroom. The Melody Boys Quartet is his first group to ever sing with. On the road, his job includes keeping the bus clean and setting up and breaking down the sound equipment.

Prior to joining the quartet, Jeremy was in college, where he received a degree in Vocal Performance from Central Missouri State in the spring of 1998. Jeremy had the opportunity to sing a solo with his College choir in Carnegie Hall while on tour in New York in 1998. He also attended Ben Speer's Stamps-Baxter School of Music in Nashville, Tennessee, in order to get an idea about the Southern Gospel industry. Some of his hobbies include playing the saxophone, playing basketball, and watching the television show 'Law & Order'. His collections include Baseball Cards of the mid 1980's. Some of his biggest musical influences are Billy Joel, who helped instill a passion for music in general. In Southern Gospel, he looks up to the Melody Boys' bass singer Gerald Williams, who is in his 53rd year. Gerald has helped not only pave the way for singers in Gospel music, but has helped set the standard for what being in the Melody Boys Quartet is all about. Jeremy says that he is really in awe of how smooth Glen Allred is still singing, just as solid as ever. Mark Trammell is probably his biggest influence as far as baritone singers.

It was during a Cathedrals concert in 1997 that Jeremy knew what he wanted to do, sing in a Southern Gospel Quartet. After he came home from the Stamps-Baxter school, Jeremy went to work and tried to keep up on any openings in a group. He then met a pastor in his hometown named Todd Forman, who truly loved Southern Gospel Music. Todd introduced Jeremy to Living Sacrifice, a family group out of Northeast Missouri. Jeremy sent them a resume and demo, and about a week later they mentioned to him that they had overheard from another group from Iowa that the Melody Boys were looking for a new baritone. So to sum that all up, he heard it through the grapevine!

When he called the Melody Boys, they were shocked to know how he found out about the opening since they were trying to keep the news quiet. The Melody Boys asked him if he had ever heard of them before, and he actually told them no. Jeremy has some advice to aspiring young Southern Gospel artists, which is "never tell a group that you haven't heard of them." However, they did reward his honesty with two auditions, and now he has been with the quartet about four years.

For a lot more information on Jeremy Raines and the rest of the Magnificent Melody Boys Quartet, be sure to visit their website at: www.themelodyboysquartet.com. They have remained true to their traditional quartet roots, and are respected by the Southern Gospel Music industry as one of the most solid four part harmony groups around. Jeremy along with bass vocalist Gerald Williams, tenor Mike Franklin, and lead vocalist/pianist Jonathan Sawrie are working together to keep the legacy of the Melody Boys Quartet going for many years to come. Check their personal appearances in the back of this newspaper, or on their website and make your plans to see them in concert. You are sure to be uplifted and blessed by their ministry.