Review of The Southern Gospel Players Volume Two

SOUTHERNGOSPELNEWS.COM
by James Hales


Produced by: Stewart Varnado

Coming off the success of Stewart’s first Southern Gospel Players recording, it begged the question of when there would be another one. With a resounding YES, here is his latest offering. If you loved the first one, then you will love this one. Featuring some new faces, and bringing back some old ones, Stewart very successfully showcases each and every performer on this recording. If one hasn’t realized the awesome talent in the musicianship of the Southern Gospel industry, they need only to listen to this and realize just how blessed we really are!

Driving renditions of “JUST OVER IN THE GLORYLAND” and “DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE” get things well underway before Steve Mauldin’s orchestrations give the John W. Peterson classic, “HEAVEN CAME DOWN” a nice, airy feel with just right amount of piano and guitar work to really accent the song.

The uptempo country feel of “I FEEL LIKE TRAVELING ON” kicks things right back into high gear before a nice guitar into starts the Dottie Rambo classic, “THE HOLY HILLS”, which features some nice steel guitar and fiddle features. Another Rambo tune, “IF THAT ISN’T LOVE”, is highlighted with excellent harmonica and dobro skills by brothers Jeff and Steve Easter.

Using a similar arrangement to Bob Cain’s rendition of yet another Rambo tune, “ONE MORE VALLEY”, Stewart and the band lays out a splendid performance (killer organ playing by Gordon Mote) before moving to another gospel classic, “THE LIGHTHOUSE”, which strays just enough from the tried and true to be different.

Starting off slow, “WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED UP YONDER” is accented by a jazzy brass section and features some cool solo parts by Stewart along with Jason Webb and Roger Fortner. (Lawrence Welk would be so proud!)

The bouncy, “HE KEEPS ME SINGING” brings back memories of growing up; having sung this song in church all my life, I just can’t help but sing along. Things really pick up for a rollicking rendition of “JUST A LITTLE WHILE” before things round out with a jazz infused rendition of “THE UNCLOUDED DAY”, complete with an interesting surprise at the end, so keep listening!

Though Stewart is the common denominator in all these songs, he’s no stage hog and he gives everyone ample time to shine as this recording, demonstrating the super talent that is in the Southern Gospel industry. People like Roger Bennett, Jeremy Brown, Jeff Easter, Steve “Rabbit” Easter, Roger Fortner, Ricky Free, Gordon Mote, Randy Miller, Lewis Phillips, Brandon Reese, Mike Riddle, Scoot Shelnut and several others all lend their extraordinary talents on this recording, making it a true masterpiece. As a side note, Stewart, most appropriately dedicated this recording to the memory of Anthony Burger and Doug Riley, which makes it all the more special.