Bill Gaither (gospel singer)

Bill Gaither 2011

Bill Gaither (born March 28, 1936 in Alexandria , Indiana ) is an American singer of a certain type of Christian pop music , called Southern Gospel in the USA . He developed formats of concerts, music recordings, videos, DVDs, TV shows and cruises with numerous other artists under the name Gaither Homecoming .

Life

William J. "Bill" Gaither was born in Alexandria, Indiana, about 35 miles northeast of Indianapolis in 1936 to George and Lela Gaither. After graduating from Anderson College in 1959, he worked as an English teacher. In 1962 he married Gloria Sickal. After trying for several years to live their music career and their full-time teaching career at the same time, he gave up his teaching job in 1967 and devoted himself full-time to his music career. The song “ He Touched Me ” (German “He found me”), which he recorded in 1964, was his breakthrough as a musician. First he wrote songs with his wife on topics that moved them in their spiritual life. Many of the songs that have since emerged have been included in the repertoire of Christian communities around the world. Even Elvis Presley interpreted their songs. From 1956, Bill Gaither sang part-time with his brother Danny and his younger sister Mary Ann as the Bill Gaither Trio . He later founded a men's quartet called the "Gaither Vocal Band" and organized concerts and video recordings. He also founded a publishing house, recording studios, and a pension and health insurance scheme for musicians.

Gaither Homecoming (English for homecoming or meeting ) is the name of a video series. The music recordings and concerts are usually presented by Gaither. There are more than 80 DVDs of recorded music and annual concert tours, for example, reaching more than half a million followers in 2004. The first Gaither homecoming video was made in 1991 and was largely improvised. The Gaither Vocal Band had an audio recording day in a studio in Nashville , Tennessee . For the cover photo of the music recording with some older songs and also for the video clip as an advertising medium on television, some older artists of the Southern Gospel scene were invited. After the recordings, the musicians exchanged stories and sang together. Without their knowing, these stories and songs were recorded. Bill Gaither had some copies of the recording made for the participants and his friends. Unbeknownst to him, the video was broadcast on a Christian television station and was instantly popular. The recording was so popular that Gaither planned a series of meetings of musicians on video. He was then invited across the country to large gatherings with up to 200 gospel musicians on the podium. These concerts were recorded and are now sold worldwide.

The format for almost all of the DVDs in the series are very similar. A studio or concert stage is home to a group of many singers. The front rows denote artists with an "old" career in Southern Gospel . They are complemented by younger artists. The DVDs are loosened up by comments from the artists who remember stages in their careers. Humor and wit are also part of the series. In later DVDs one commemorates artists who were present in earlier recordings and who died. Most DVDs also have accompanying CDs that can be purchased in a series or separately. Almost all DVDs can also be viewed with English subtitles. This is a great help, as the lyrics are not always easy to understand and the contributions are sometimes spoken in "Southern Slang".

Since 1996, the concert series has not only taken place in the major arenas of the USA, but also in Australia , South Africa and Europe (e.g. Basel , Rotterdam , London , Dublin , Berlin ) with a format that is very similar to that of the usual series . The concert dates usually take place on Friday and Saturday in two different cities. The video series was also "repackaged" into a TV series of about half an hour. They can be seen on religiously-oriented television channels such as TBN. In Germany and Switzerland they are broadcast on Bibel TV .

The Gaither Homecoming Organization offers a cruise twice a year. The participants of the cruise experience the musicians up close and have the opportunity to attend concerts by some or all of the musicians together several times a day. One cruise is usually to Alaska in September and the other to the Caribbean in February . In 2009 a "Homecoming Cruise" was recorded for the first time. The Alaska cruise Homecoming has been available since January 2011.

Web links

• Homepage of the singer

Individual evidence

1. ↑ He Touched Me Songfacts