The Anthem Quartet Blog

Happy Easter from the Anthem Quartet

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 02:47:00 GMT

Anthem Quartet is a gospel quartet from Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Easter holiday!

Gwen, Woodie, Richard and Randy
http://www.anthemqt.com

Anthem Quartet Dedicates Latest #1 Song to Military Heroes

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 05:20:35 GMT

As Memorial Day draws near we Americans should be reflecting on the sacrifices of our veterans, active duty and especially our military heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom. The families of these brave men and women should also be recognized as they have endured the loss of loved ones and are left behind when our troops deploy. The Anthem Quartet is doing more than reflecting on it. They have dedicated their latest hit song to our American military heroes and are thanking them in every one of their concerts. Richard Toms, Anthem Quartet Baritone collaborated with veteran Nashville songwriter Marty Funderburk to pen “There Stands a Hero”. This song pays tribute to our military in the first verse and then provides a unique twist in the second verse that you will have to hear to appreciate. Toms got the idea for the song as he watched his Son march into the building with his fellow soldiers during a pre-Iraq deployment ceremony. “I never dreamed that God would inspire me to write a song this powerful” quoted Toms. “I’d like to Thank Marty for his support and friendship as we molded this song into shape”. “There Stand a Hero” is best watched and heard on YouTube by searching for Anthem Quartet. This song went to the #1 ranking on radioactiveairplay.com in December, 2010 and remained at the top of the southern gospel chart well into 2011. “Our hope is that every veteran and active duty person in this country will listen to it at least once” quoted Randy Rowsey, the quartet’s leader. Anthem is a part-time southern gospel quartet based in Elizabeth City, NC. The group is comprised of Randy Rowsey (lead singer), Gwen Music (tenor), Toms (baritone), and Woodie Kitchen (bass). They travel a limited schedule and can accommodate almost any concert request if time is allowed for planning. To hear some Anthem Quartet songs visit www.anthemqt.com. For Bookings contact Woodie Kitchen at 252-312-4224. Anthem will also be at the National Quartet Convention in September, 2011 if you would like to meet the group in person and they can also be found on Facebook. Anthem is managed by MCM Universal based in Virginia Beach, VA. www.mcmuniversal.com.

Anthem Quartet Heads to New Jersey

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:08:05 GMT

Anthem will be singing at The Church of the Annunciation in Paramus, NJ on April 2, 2011 in support of their annual fundraiser. This a Catholic church and we are thrilled that they have invited us to sing and share in this special event. One may say and think that the Catholics do not believe what we Protestants believe but there is one thing that they made clear to me right up front. We both share the same wonderful God! Isn't that a great thought! We are singing at 7:30pm that night after Mass. Thank you God for opening this wonderful door for Anthem to step through! We are looking forward to an awesome worship service! Gwen, Woodie, Richard and Randy www.anthemqt.com

Anthem Quartet Signs Management Deal with MCM Universal

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:59:41 GMT

February 10, 2011 -- Anthem Quartet, based in Elizabeth City, NC recently signed an Artist Management, Consulting and Media support deal with MCM Universal, LLC. MCM Universal, headed by President Mark Carman provides management consulting services, brand building, marketing campaigns, media support and artist development to entertainment artists, companies and organizations. Anthem Quartet travels the mid-atlantic seaboard singing at churches, benefits, festivals and private parties. They sing a variety of gospel music songs quartet style. Formed in 2010 Anthem Quartet is comprised of members Randy Rowsey (lead and manager), Gwen Music (tenor), Richard Toms (baritone) and Woodie Kitchen (bass). Their new radio release "There Stands a Hero" was written by Anthem's baritone singer Richard Toms and Marty Funderburk. It was released by Homeland Entertainment Group in January 2011. To contact Anthem visit www.anthemqt.com or call 1-855-4Gospel begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-855-4Gospel.

Anthem signs with Homeland Entertainment Group

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:35:00 GMT

The Anthem Quartet recently signed a distribution contract with Homeland Records of Gallatin, TN. Homeland Records was created in 1987 and has been a home to The Cathedrals, The Florida Boys, The Speer Family, Singing Americans, The Hemphills, The Wilburns, The Bishops, Della Reese and The John Hagee Family. We are so proud to be associated with a great label like Homeland!! We are also managed by MCM Universal based out of Virginia Beach, VA.

http://www.anthemqt.com/
http://www.mcmuniversal.com/

New Year, New Name! The Anthem Quartet in Elizabeth City, NC

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 07:40:00 GMT

We are now officially The Anthem Quartet. Same singers, same city, same great sound! We are answering lots of questions about why we changed names but rest assured it was for good reasoning. This month we released our song "There Stands a Hero" to nationwide radio and we are very excited about the potential this song has to reach non-Christians and Christians alike. Thank you for your support as usual. We hope to see you at some sings this year! Gwen, Randy, Richard and Woodie http://www.anthemqt.com/ http://www.mcmuniversal.com/

Mark Carman joins The Sojourners Quartet!

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Singer, songwriter, producer Mark Carmen recently joined The Sojourners Quartet as a business consultant and part-time piano player. Mark's list of accomplishments in the music industry are astounding. The Sojourners feel blessed to have such a talented person onboard our ministry team. Welcome to the team Mark! Gwen, Woodie, Richard and Randy The Sojourners Quartet http://sojournersquartet.com/

Elizabeth City, North Carolina Southern Gospel Quartet- The Sojourners

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:47:29 GMT

The Sojourners Quartet- In my last post I mentioned a little about our new song "There Stands A Hero" written by Richard Toms and Marty Funderburk. The reviews online are coming back very positive so I am not sure but I think we may have found our next song to release to radio. The Mansion Entertainment compilation disc with "I'll Cast My Crown" on it should be out or almost out and we then need to focus on the next radio release. Our new CD is due out in Nov. 2010 so the time is drawing nearer for it's release. We are looking for new original songs if you know any southern gospel songwriters. This is in preparation for the 4th Sojourners Quartet CD that we will record in June/July 2011 in Branson, MO. Thanks for your continued support. The Sojourners Quartet

Sojourners Quartet- There Stands A Hero Youtube Video

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 06:58:50 GMT

One of the things that the Sojourners Quartet wants to focus on is promoting our music through videos. Yes we are a bit behind in this endevour but now it's time to play catch up. We just loaded our song and video for "There Stands a Hero" on Youtube for all to see. Click here for the video. The Sojourners Quartet based out of Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

The Sojourners Quartet- Southern Gospel Music at it's Purest

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:45:18 GMT

The Sojourners Quartet is based in Elizabeth City, NC. I've been reading alot of southern gospel forums lately and one thing seems to be mentioned quite a bit. It appears that southern gospel fans want southern gospel groups to stay the same forever and never change. If they've always sung traditional southern gospel style that's what the people expect them to always sing. As a member of The Sojourners Quartet I have to admit...singing the same type of song over and over get's monotonous after a while. Yes, God's message is there but is it exciting, is it fresh? Maybe it is to the listeners who want to hear the same beat in every song but to the majority of listeners I believe they want to hear a variety of song styles. Not necessarily songs that hit on every other genre of music in the world today but a few different sounding songs to freshen up the message a bit. A little bit country and a little bit rock-n-roll perhaps? We singers need to feel what we are singing to properly present God's message and to do it with excitement. It's not a show folks, it's presenting God's word through song. I hope everyone understands. It's not that we are all about change but it's necessary to mix things up a bit to keep it real. Ok, this is way too deep for me even but hopefully you can see how I feel about this subject. God is good and he always rewards those who are faithful to him. Thank you Jesus! Woodie

Edenton- Chowan County Fair Southern Gospel Singing 9-30-10

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:25:00 GMT

Well God has delivered big-time! After receiving upwards to 11" of rain in 4 days, Northeast North Carolina and Elizabeth City will be out of the "moderate drought" status that we've been in for a few years. This rain rivals a hurricane downpour in a 24 hour period but it's been applied over a longer period of time. Thank you God for bringing us out of this drought! On another note, the southern gospel concerts scheduled for tonight have been cancelled. The Sojourners Quartet was supposed to sing with The Harvesters Quartet and Curtis Hyler & Jubilation to name a few groups. I was looking forward to the fellowship but there will be other times. It's safer for all to stay home tonight! Woodie Sojourners Bass

The Daily Advance writes article on The Sojourners Quartet

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 08:05:00 GMT

http://www.dailyadvance.com/features/sojourners-just-fall-stuff-139487

Sojourners 'just fall into stuff'

By Robert Kelly-goss

Albemarle Life Editor

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The great Mahalia Jackson once said of gospel music that while the blues are “songs of despair, gospel songs are the songs of hope.” Hope has taken local gospel group The Sojourners from a well-loved regional act to the threshold of national success in a short span of time.

“It just takes a while. We’ve only been around for three years,” says group co-founder Randy Rowsey of the The Sojourner’s growing success.

Gospel, or Southern Gospel in this case, is the music of religious celebration. Locally, The Sojourners have been celebrating their faith at various events, and their harmonizing has not only thrilled local and regional fans of the genre, but also a recording label located in Music City, or Nashville, Tenn.

The Sojourners are taking their act national with a recording and distributing contract with Nashville-based label Mansion Entertainment, says Rowsey.

“We have a contract for multiple CDs,” he says. “They will market our current CD through their distribution, then record the next one.

“In February, they will do a DVD and series of TV productions featuring their artists and do promotions through radio and TV to get us known.”

In addition, The Sojourners have also signed with a national booking agency. That means their music will be heard well beyond the Albemarle and Tidewater areas.

“I think we just fell into stuff,” says Rowsey of the group’s recent success.

Well, not exactly fell; this group of singers has been around the musical block a time or two, and collectively they possess a great deal of experience, and faith, says Rowsey.

Rowsey is an educator and a professional singer. He sang with the Chicago Lyrical Opera for 12 years. Woody Kitchen, Richard Toms and Gwen Music — her last name really is Music — all possess strong backgrounds in song.

Rowsey and his wife Marty are Mid-Westerners. Neither of them had been exposed to the genre of music known as Southern gospel. Rowsey says when they moved to Elizabeth City, he began to listen to this music and fell in love with it.

“Southern gospel music, if you listen to it, tells a whole story,” says Rowsey. “It has a whole message involved with it. … Usually they’re quite tied in with scripture; little lessons you can learn from music and that’s why I like it.”

Rowsey met Kitchen through their local church and formed a group called New Journey. That group disbanded fairly quickly and the two men decided they wanted to put together another so they took out an ad in a

national magazine, Singing News, “looking for local people.” Richard Toms, who is the musical director at Elizabeth City Middle School, responded and since the group sought to be a quartet, he suggested a woman from his church in Chesapeake, Va.

“She sang solo at Great Bridge Baptist Church,” says Rowsey. “(Richard) noted that her voice would fit in well. Gwen just sort of fell into our lap.”

There are a great many Southern gospel groups in the region. And while many have great sound, The Sojourners are clearly bringing a level of professionalism to their music, not only from their backgrounds, but also through their dedication to the art of singing.

“One of the things that characterizes our music from others, it’s a close, smooth harmonic sound,” explains Rowsey. “We blend so you don’t have one voice sticking out. A lot of family groups are popular because of that so I think the female voice makes the blend take on a family-type sound.”

Once The Sojourners brought their sound together, they began to make the rounds, performing their music. At first it was one local church, then another before they began to expand regionally and include recording to their list of accomplishments.

The group recorded their first CD locally and while they were happy with the inaugural effort, they wanted more from the effort so they looked into Nashville recording studios. That’s when things started to change a bit for the group.

They chose a well-known gospel-recording studio, Day Wind. It was a professional label and Rowsey says the effort worked out well for the group.

He and the others took that CD to a national music conference and handed it off to a guy at Mansion Entertainment. It was a good move for the young quartet.

While Mansion is a fairly new label, they’re a big presence in the music industry both in Nashville and Branson, Mo. They own a large, high profile theater in Branson, showcasing national acts such as “Peter Pan” starring Cathy Rigby.

Rowsey says the label liked what they heard from The Sojourners and signed them on as a new act. This move will take them well beyond their comfortable weekend gigs, and potentially put them on a national map.

“It’s interesting,” says Rowsey of the recording contract. “It’s all new to us. It can get us out of just northeast North Carolina. It will make it an opportunity for us to reach people in California, Nevada, places we can’t go just on weekends.”

Pretty nice turn of events for a group of singers who “just fell into stuff.”

New Found respect for Traveling Southern Gospel Groups

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 03:37:12 GMT

You know the old saying that "you don't really understand what another man is going through until you step in his shoes"? Well it applies again! Go figure. So because of this new found observation I have a confession to make. I used to think that the life of a traveling southern gospel quartet singer was peaches and cream but not anymore. Now that The Sojourners Quartet based in Elizabeth City, NC is traveling more and more I am seeing that the life I once thought was luxurious is not necessarily so. To be honest, I knew it was God's work and I have never thought God's work was easy...so why did I think this work was any different?? The human side of us always thinks that everyone else has it made, that the grass is always greener on the other side. Not! I now know that these workers are sacrificing alot to serve their God. Driving through the night has never been one of my favorite things to do but it is a necessary evil when you sing in a traveling southern gospel group. It is broken sleep at best and if you do get decent sleep it's normally because you are dead tired before you shut your eyes. The tendancy is to just stay up and talk to everyone anyway. Not good when you have a fulltime job to go to the next morning. Setting up and tearing down sound equipment 4-5 times a week will certainly wreak havoc on your lower back if you are not careful. We had a 3 gig weekend not too long ago and it was tough to pull off. There are some groups who do this all the time. I salute them! It takes a ton of dedication to live the life of a southern gospel artist and I want to personally thank them all for eagerly serving the same loving God that I know and love! They work very hard and are away from their families alot. They don't always eat what I would call balanced diets either because it's so easy to pull into fast food places. But in spite of their daily sacrifices they continue to march along week after week serving God faithfully and singing while they work! May God Bless his traveling southern gospel groups and keep them safe from all harm! Woodie Kitchen Sojourners Quartet

The Sojourners Quartet from Elizabeth City, NC release their very first song to radio!

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:51:37 GMT

What an exciting time for The Sojourners Quartet based out of Elizabeth City, North Carolina! Now that we are affiliated with Manor House Music- Nashville we are planning the release of our first single coming out on the Mansion Radio Hits Volume 2 scheduled to arrive at radio stations early this fall. "I Cast My Crown" is a beautiful song written by our dear friend Matt Rankin with beautiful instrumentals throughout. The Sojourners are offering this song as a free download for a limited time. If interested all you need to do is visit our website music page and download it for free as many times as you would like to. Put it on all your friends and familys i-pods. No problems here. We appreciate those of you who have come to hear us sing and have purchased CDs to help us financially so we want to give back just a little in return for your support. Thank you and God Bless! Gwen, Woodie, Randy and Richard The Sojourners Quartet

NQC, This and That

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:39:54 GMT

The Sojourners Quartet from Elizabeth City, North Carolina really enjoyed going to the National Quartet Convention (NQC) this year. We met tons of people such as singing stars, promoters, radio personalities, record label owners and you name it. We feel like, after seeing over 40,000 people converge on Louisville, KY that southern gospel music is alive and well across the United States and world. The Sojourners Quartet plans to keep it going as long as we possibly can!

2010 National Quartet Convention

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:23:59 GMT

Randy and I are at the 2010 National Quartet Convention this week for a few days. I wish Gwen and Richard were here with us. It's been great getting to know some of our Brothers and Sisters in the other groups that share our Manor House record label with us. It was also good to meet one of the members of The Sojourner Quartet based out of Ohio. He was real nice and we laughed while telling the stories of how The Sojourners(with a "S") Quartet and The Sojourner (without a "S") Quartet are always getting mixed up by folks. We met Evie Hawkins of EHA- Nashville. She is our booking agent and publicity generator. She is a sweet lady who works so hard on our behalf. We appreciate what Evie does for us! So many nice people here who love and serve the Lord on a daily basis. Can't wait for 2011 when The Sojourners will have our own booth and will be able to meet many many people from around the country. We will also be singing at this great event, details coming at a later date! Woodie Sojourners Bass http://www.sojournersquartet.com/home.cfm

What a week for The Sojourners- Elizabeth City, NC based Southern Gospel Quartet

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:40:19 GMT

The Sojourners Quartet based in Elizabeth City, NC God has surely blessed us this week. First off, we did sign a recording contract with Manor House Music back in July but it was just announced this week on The Mansion Records Facebook page and also on their Mansion Entertainment website. See our Sojourners "News" website page for more details. We also announced this week that we signed a booking contract with The Evie Hawkins Agency- Nashville. Evie is going to help us with bookings in unfamiliar territory that lies in what we call the 3-5 hour band around NE NC and SE VA. She has extensive contacts in cities outside our normal singing region. So we plan to travel a little more but we are all still employed fulltime so we can't go but so far, driving that is. We have 2 new songs we just recorded going out to 850 radio stations and promoters nationwide so The Sojourners are going to be out there far and wide real soon. We appreciate all the support each of you have given us and we look forward to continuing our journey with you by our side! God Bless! Randy, Richard, Gwen and Woodie

The Sojourners sign with the Evie Hawkins Agency- Nashville

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:29:41 GMT

The Sojourners are excited to announce that we've signed a booking and promotional contract with the Evie Hawkins Agency- Nashville. Evie has a wonderful reputation in the southern gospel music business and we are thrilled to be affiliated with her agency.

http://www.eha-nashville.com
http://www.sojournersquartet.com

Heading to the National Quartet Convention

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:33:10 GMT

Randy and I are going to the NQC for a few days to hang out with the Mansion Entertainment folks. They are supposed to have an artist meet and greet at their booth on 9/16 and 9/17 for all the artists that they have recently signed with Manor House as well as the Mansion artists that have been with them for a while. I wish Richard and Gwen could go but we could not sing in the artist showcase this year anyway so maybe next year. It will be an exciting time to meet all the other groups that just came onboard at Manor House Music. Since this is a new record label it's going to take some work to get it going good. I think the executives in charge Mr. Bill Traylor and Mr. Bill Dykes are doing a wonderful job so far getting the label moving. The Sojourners Quartet plans to do their part to keep the word of Christ moving throughout the world. We will be singing to lots of folks at the Chowan County Fair on Sept. 30, 2010 if you can come out to support us. We also have some very good concerts with The Soul'd Out Quartet and The Hoppers coming before the end of the year. See our schedule page for more info. Many exciting things happening to The Sojourners in 2010 and we are thrilled that God has called us to be his deliverers of the good news! Until next time, God Bless!

Woodie Kitchen
Sojourners Bass Singer
252-312-4224
http://www.sojournersquartet.com

Latest Happenings- The Sojourners Quartet- NC

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:51:09 GMT

The Sojourners Quartet are staying busy these days. The regional churches are really supporting our ministry and we love all of them. We have concerts almost every weekend now and it feels so good to be serving the Lord and doing something that we all love doing- singing! We all have different backgrounds but the Lord brought us together for his purpose and we are so blessed to be a part of this ministry. Randy and Woodie will attend the National Quartet Convention for a few days to say hello to old friends and hopefully make some new contacts. The NQC is the week of Sept. 13th in Louisville, KY and it runs thru Sept. 18th. If you love southern gospel music and have never been you owe it to yourself to go hear the wonderful groups who sing there. The Sojourners sang at The Lighthouse Concention Center in Raleigh a month ago and we were offered membership in their organization which we gladly accepted. It's so good to see Dr. Jim Layton, his wife and staff supporting southern gospel music in our state capital. We will sing there at least once a year or so from now on. We are also going to be singing at the Chowan County Fair on Sept. 30th during the gospel night celebration. This is a chance for us to sing to the hearts of people who don't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We are really looking forward to that evening so please come join us!

May God continue to bless each of you!

The Sojourners
http://sojournersquartet.com