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Monday, January 26, 2009

Some good news and a great opportunity for you to get involved.......

Update:
Monday January 26, 2009
OK, you guys are great! Lots of great title suggestions have been coming in. Too many in fact for me to keep up the pretty little photoshop doodad at the bottom. I'll now just make a list of all your entries. Feel free to keep them coming.

Scroll to the bottom of this post to see list of submitted titles......


PLEASE VISIT OUR GALLERY FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THE STUDIO!

Original Post:
Wednesday January 21, 2009
News from Alexandria, Indiana
by: Lily Isaacs





"We are so excited to finally be in the studio again. We are in the process of recording a MOSTLY A CAPELLA project. That means that some of the songs are without any music at all and some of the songs have just one instrument playing along."

"We are honored to have Bill Gaither and our own Ben Isaacs Co-produce this project. We are in Alexandria, Indiana today at the Gaither Studios. We have about 18 songs picked out and it is going to be hard to choose. Working with Bill is so much fun. He has a lot of creative ideas and between him and Ben we are going to have a fantastic CD. It should take us a couple of months to complete it and we will surely keep you posted about a release date as we get closer to it.".....

"We are actually looking for a really good title for the CD and that's where you come in. Will you help us come up with a catchy name for our project? We've thought of "Almost A capella" and a few others, but we just know you guys will have some great ideas."

HERE IS A VERY SHORT VIDEO BECKY SENT FROM THE STUDIO

Email your ideas for a title to LHildreth@northstate.net. I'll get them posted here and of course you can post comments on your thoughts about each one. This should be a lot of fun.

1. Isaacs Unplugged
2. The Isaacs - Music to My Ears
3. The Isaacs in the Key of God
4. The Isaacs - Just Us
5. The Isaacs - Naturally Us
6. Just Isaacs
7. Just We Isaacs, singing for I AM and You to
8. Praise In voice - The Isaacs
9. Purely: The Isaacs
10. 99 44/100% Pure A Capella
11. Only The Isaacs
12 Between the Notes
13. The Isaacs Pure Voices
14. The Isaacs - The Pure Sound
15. The Isaacs - Pure and Sweet
16. The Isaacs - Four Part Harmony
17. The Isaacs - Almost No Instruments
18. The Isaacs - Pure & Natural
19. Simply Isaacs
20. Isaac-apella
21. The Isaacs - All Natural
22. The Isaacs - Essentially A capella
23. The Isaacs - The Silence of Voices
24. The Isaacs - Musical Silence
25. The Isaacs Back To The WORD
26. The Isaacs Word Pictures Alone
27. The Isaacs Words Without Music
28. The Isaacs Harmo-Lyrical Only
29. The Isaacs Voice Instruments Only
30. The Isaacs The Instrument of Voice
31. The Isaacs Word Pictures
32. The Isaacs - Straight from the Heart
33. The Isaacs - Untouched - Straight from their Hearts
34. The Isaacs - A Family Tradition
35. The Isaacs - Harmony for the Soul
36. Here are The Isaacs - Naturally
37. The Isaacs - Doin what they do best
38. The Isaacs - Plain and Simple
39. The Isaacs - Just Us
40. The Isaacs - Family Harmony
41. The Isaacs - Just the Way you like it
42. The Isaacs - Soulful Melodies
43. The Isaacs - Back to the Basics
44. The Isaacs - With One Accord
45. The Isaacs - In One Accord
46. In Harmony with The Isaacs
47. The Isaacs - Lend an Ear
48. The Isaacs - On Wings of the Dawn
49. The Isaacs - On the Horizon
50. The Isaacs - Songs from Sacred Hearts
51. Harmony with Him
52. The Isaacs - HE is the music
53. The Isaacs - HE is our music
54. The Isaacs - Heavenly Harmonies
55. The Isaacs - Sing with the Voices of Angels
56. The Isaacs - Angelic Sounds
57. Four For One - Isaacs A capella
58. Powerful Words
59. The Isaacs - Just Words
60. The Isaacs - Entirely A capella....almost
61. The Isaacs - Our Voices
62. Angels in Disguise
63. The Grass is Bluer on the Upper Side
64. The Isaacs - Dig the Music and Pull some Grass (LOL, this one made me giggle)
65. A capella A la carte
66. Almost A capella
67. The Isaacs - Singing it Our Way
68. The Isaacs doing it Vocally
69. Vocal Grass
70. Mostly A capella
71. The Isaacs - A capella Mostly
72. The Isaacs Heavenly Harmony
73. Praise in Harmony by The Isaacs
74. The Isaacs - A capella with Style
75. The Isaacs - Our Style
76. "Voice Lift" by The Isaacs
77. Isaacly Speaking
78. Isaacapella
79. The Isaacs - Loud and Clear
80. The Isaacs - Joyful Noise
81. The Isaacs - Hummmmmmm
82. The Isaacs - The Voices
83. The Voices of The Isaacs
84. The Isaacs - Instrumentally Challenged
85. The Isaacs - Back to A capella
86. No Electricity
87. The Isaacs - Back to the Basics - No Electricity
88. The Isaacs - Vocal Sessions - Volume I
89. The Isaacs - In Tune
90. The Isaacs - Pure Heaven
91. Got Harmony? (you know, like, Got Milk?)
92. The Isaacs - a capella -n- then some.....
93. The Isaacs in every key
94. The Isaacs from A to G a capella
95. The Isaacs singin it old school
96. The Isaacs without some strings
97. The Isaacs on wings of angels
98. The Isaacs Purity of Spirit
99. Uplifiting Harmonies - a collection of Hymns from our past
100. Just Enough
101. The Isaacs - High and Lo and in between
102. Pure and Simple
103. No Strings Attached - Only the Isaacs
104. Silent Music - The Isaacs sing a capella
105. Serenading of Wings lift the Lord
106. Icapella
107. Natural
108. Simply Natural
109. Pure
110. Back to the Basics
111. Simply Sung
112. The Isaacs Capella
113. A Inspiring A capella



Sunday, January 25, 2009

Saturday night in Roanoke, VA

by: Lisa Hildreth

We decided this afternoon to take a little road trip to Virginia.  The Isaacs were scheduled to appear in Roanoke at Roanoke Life Church at 7:00pm.  We left our home around 3:30 and drove the familiar drive North.  We didn't tell The Isaacs we were coming.  When we arrived right before 6:00 the parking lot was already full and the folks were filing in to the auditorium.  We went in to find some friends of The Isaacs manning the product table so we made our way to the front row where our friend Carl Bagby had saved us seats front and center.  In a few minutes Jesse and Nathan came in to turn down the Bluegrass music that was playing so the Pastor of the church could speak. They spotted us right away and we said Hello.  The rest of the group started making their way to the front.  After a great introduction The Isaacs took the stage and the rest is history. The sound was perfect (great acoustics in this place), the crowd was responsive, the mood was so sweet and their voices were right on.  They performed a lot of the regulars like Yours and Mine, I Have a Father & Heroes and they shared a very special new a capella song that they just learned last night.  They've been in the studio this week with Bill Gaither working on a new project.  Bill helped arrange the new song and told them they had to try it out on their audiences this weekend.  Let's just say, it was magic!  It brought the crowd to their feet.  I can't wait for you to hear it and all the other songs on the new project.  I wasn't quick enough to get my cell phone out to record it.  I would have loved to have a clip to post here.  Maybe someone else caught it and will send it to me.

Here they are singing the new a capella song straight from the hymnal

After this song Lily stepped up and shared her testimony and Becky played the guitar softly in the background.  I've heard her story many times and have even read the manuscript of her book she is writing about her life, but I have to tell you, everytime I hear it I am brought to tears.  It's just an amazing story that she's where she is today with her children sharing God's love from the stage.  It was such a sweet and moving service.  When she was finished she asked the pastor to come back up and he prayed a powerful prayer.  At the end he started to sing It is Well with my Soul except he changed the words and said Is it Well with your Soul?? Becky, Sonya and Ben started to sing along.  Wow!  

The Isaacs closed out the night with He Ain't Never Done me Nothing but Good and Jesse tore it up on Orange Blossom Special.  The pastor could bearly stay in his seat.   A couple of funny things took place during the evening.  Somehow the pastor heard that a couple of them did pretty good imitations and Nathan performed a little "Brown" from Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns.  It was hilarious.  The other was Sonya and she does a pretty good Reba on I'm Gonna Take That Mountain.  They are just so much fun!!

Nathan doin "Brown" from Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (Hilarious!)

Afterwards everyone went over to the pastor's house where his sweet wife had prepared pasta, sauce, lasagna, salad, all kinds of desserts, sweet tea and it was all so delicious.  We were able to stay and visit with The Isaacs for a while and then we hit the road and headed back to N.Carolina.  We arrived back home about 2:00am.  It was a fun night!  We're already planning our next road trip......come and join us!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

SoGospelNews.com announces nominees for SGN Music Awards

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Deon and Susan Unthank, administrators of SoGospelNews.com, are proud to announce the nominees for the 2009 SGN Music Awards. As in year’s past, the nominees were chosen by the staff of SoGospelNews.com. Starting on February 1, 2009, the fans will get a chance to vote for their favorites in each category. 


Songwriter (Artist) - Sonya Isaacs & Rebecca Isaacs Bowman

Progressive Southern Song - "Your Cries Have Awoken the Master" by Sonya Isaacs & Rebecca Isaacs Bowman

Special Event Project - LIVE from Norway - The Isaacs

Best LIVE Performer - The Isaacs

Fan Favorite Artist of the Year - The Isaacs

**Thank you for your nomination vote for Fan Favorite Artist.  Don't forget to cast your votes in each category starting February 1st at www.sogospelnews.com**

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Reporting on The Isaacs from Tyler Texas

by Odie Boggs

January 19th2009, Green Acres Baptist Church, Tyler Texas

My Monday started out normally.  I was settled in for a day on the road traveling from Louisiana to Oklahoma.  We had not been on the road long when Mom woke me up, and told me to clean things up.  We were maybe going to stop and see friends along the way.  Well, I was moving rather slowly at the task. My parents finally told me we were going to see the Isaacs in Tyler,  Texas.  I got into hurry mode then!!

    We pulled into the Green Acres Baptist Church shortly before the Isaacs bus.  The church was an enormous complex of buildings with lots of parking lots.  After giving them a while to get things situated we went and listened to sound check.  It had been a while since I have been in on an Isaacs sound check.  There is a lot of work that goes into making everything just right!!   Just by hearing the sound check I knew we were in for a great night.

   My family was not the only ones joining in on the fun.  The Kincaid Family and two friends also were there.  They drove four hours one way just for the concert.  There were a couple other ladies who are friend of the Isaacs, I did not catch their names.  I was happy to learn Levi, Jacob, Cameron, Kyra, and Jakobi were all with the Isaacs.  It was a good, rare, visit with the kids.  They all are a blast to be with!!!!!!!!!

   Once the things were setup the church people said there was food for the group.  There was enough food for an army!  The church had the food catered in from a local restaurant.  It was so delicious!!  Thank you for feeding all of us!  I don’t know if I can name all the foods they had available: chicken, red potatoes, green beans and cheese, salad, fruit, rolls, and cookies.  Oh yea, I can't forget the sweet tea, I heard Nathan say, "that is real sweet tea”!

   By the time we all headed our separate ways to get ready for the concert the crowd was already coming in.  It was a huge church, and I wondered how the attendance would be to a Monday night event.  It was about 6:30 when got back in the church.  The main floor of the sanctuary was filling up already, and folks were now sitting in the balconies.  It was a great crowd!!  Thanks to the Kincaid family for sharing their seat with us.  We forgot to save a seat earlier.  The Isaacs came on stage around 7:00 P.M.  The music minister of the church introduced them.  They kicked it off with Great is Thy Reward.  It was HOT from the start!!!  I Have a Father Who Can, Yours and Mine The Hymn Medley, Heroes, Through the Valley, The One I’m Dying For, Stand Still, Walk On, Love is a Cross, It is Well With My Soul, and He Ain’t Never Done Me Nothing but Good are all songs they sang during the night.  I forget the proper order.  God Is So Good, Jesus, There’s Just Something About That Name, and Because He Lives are some chorus they also sang.

   It was just a wonderful night!  The singing was out of this world, and the music just keeps getting better.  Lily, Ben, Sonya, Becky, Jesse, Nathan, and Thomas all did a marvelous job.  

An exciting foot note: 17 children received sponsors thru World Vision.  Over a 1,000 children have now been sponsored through the Isaacs ministry. Before we knew it was time to say our goodbyes and hit the road.  Each time I attend a concert I gain many memories that I will cherish for a long time to come.

 Odie Boggs with Sonya Isaacs  

The Isaacs will be in the studio some this week. They a working on a new project produced by Ben and Bill Gaither.  Keep them in your prayers that all goes well!

Odie Boggs

Check our photo gallery to see pictures from Tyler, Texas

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Awesome Isaacs Finale in North Carolina!

Hello Isaacs fans! This is Gina with the third and final installment from the Isaacs North Carolina weekend. It was such a wonderful time. I wish you all could have joined us at one of the shows.

We drove in from Morganton, arriving in Fayetteville at about 4:30am on Sunday morning. We went to bed and slept until about 11:00. Then it was time to shower and get dressed. Randy went on the bus to lunch with the gang, then on to the church for load-in and set-up. I made the 45minute drive to Pembroke to get my mom.

The Sunday show was at Fayetteville Community Church. For those of you who might not know it, this is the home church of Wesley Pritchard. Wes continues to be the choir director and their choir is magnificent! They performed several songs before the show, my favorite being "I Can't Even Walk Without You Holding My Hand". They were awesome.

fayetteville church signThe Isaacs took the stage looking great as usual. They did a similar show to what we had seen on Friday and Saturday with a few extras. Sonya, Becky and Wes sang the "Star Spangled Banner" while Ben looked on, waiting to see if Wes could hit the high notes. Wes did a great job. After they finished, Ben handed Wes his bass and said he was going to sit down. The crowd roared at this, but Wes begged him not to leave him holding that huge thing because he didn't know what to do with it. Wes sang a bluegrass tune while the gang played and harmonized with him. And, Ben, Sonya and Becky sang their beautiful acapella, "Blessed Assurance" for my mom.

After the show, Wes took us all out for some delicious Mexican food. Everyone was tired and silly at dinner. Those who had been away from home all weekend were ready to return.....myself included. When dinner was over, we stood in the parking lot talking, laughing, hugging and saying good-bye until the next time. Finally, it was time to go. Prayers went up for safe travels all around.

What a blessing it was to accompany this anointed family on their trek through NC. Randy and I were hesitant to miss church.....but believe me, we had church during each performance. It was so touching when Lily talked about JESUS and the fact that she was not allowed to speak His name at one point in her life. Thankfully, she is now able to not only speak His precious name but to shout it and to sing it for thousands and thousands of people everyday. Amen!

Don't forget to check the Isaacs concert schedule frequently. It can be found on their website. New shows are added from time to time so check it often and perhaps you can catch a show near you! And as always, all The Isaacs send their love and thanks to you, their fans. God bless each of you! And thanks for coming back to read these entries from this amateur blogger!

Peace,
Gina

Visit our online gallery for photos from Fayetteville, NC

Monday, January 12, 2009

Fantastic Weekend in NC!

Hi everyone!

This is Gina again, ready to recap the rest of the Isaacs North Carolina weekend. I last left you in Morganton. I was sitting in the green room provided by the church. They also provided a laptop with a password and an invitation to use it! We were all treated so well.

The show started just a few minutes late because of some technical difficulties with the sound system. Ben quickly fixed the problem and the band went to the bus to change into their black and silver attire. I believe they also got an energy boost from some goodies brought to the church by friend, Sherry.

It was cold out and hundreds of people stood in line waiting for a seat and a chance to see the greatest group of singers and musicians that gospel music has to offer. Once the door opened, it didn't take long for the seats to be filled. Church members brought in chairs and people lined the walls; it became standing room only! We had seats reserved but gave them to an elderly couple and their son who were leaning against a wall. We heard the concert from the church foyer, along with about 20 other people.

The performance was wonderful. Again, our Lord reached the crowd through the words and the music of The Isaacs. Their voices seem to get better all the time. Sonya's vocal abilities are unequaled. Becky is a genius when it comes to harmonizing with her siblings and when she sings, I, for one, am mesmerized. Ben's voice is one of the most under-rated male voices out there. And Lily sings like an angel. (These are my opinions, of course, and I am happy to share them with you!)

One church official estimated the crowd was about 700 in number. Another church member who was working in the parking lot said that about 125 more left after finding out that it was standing room only. They missed a terrific performance.

It was dinner at Sage Brush afterwards. It was very casual......everyone let their hair down a little. Then, on to Fayetteville for their final show of the weekend at Fayetteville Community Church.

Again, I wish you all could have joined us. It has been a very special couple of days. I will tell you all about Sunday's show a little later. And for those of you who don't already know, Lily is the one with a new hairdo. She had a little color change and is now a stunningly beautiful redhead!


Please keep checking out The Isaacs calendar on their website. Maybe they'll be in your area soon. You wouldn't want to miss them! Take care and God's blessings to each of you. Until next time.....

Gina

Check our website gallery for photos from Morganton, NC

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Fan Favorite Artist voting........

SGN is now taking nominations for the Fan Favorite Artist of the Year category in the 2009 SGN Music Awards.

You can vote for your favorite artist of 2008 by clicking on the following link and placing a nomination:

http://sogospelnews.com/index/site/fanfavorite

Nominations will be accepted through January 20, 2009.

Nominees in all 24 categories will be announced on January 21, 2009.  Voting in all the categories will run from February 1-February 14, 2009.

The SGN Music Awards Celebration will take place on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 in Smyrna, TN at River of Life Church.  Make plans now to attend!


Hello From North Carolina!

Hi everyone!
This is Gina blogging from Morganton, NC. The Isaacs are blessing us with three North Carolina shows this weekend. My husband Randy and I are ticking off the miles with hopes of enjoying all three shows.

Last night, we were in New Bern, NC at Believers' Fellowship which is a beautiful church built inside a old retail space. The church was packed almost immediately. Staff members brought in chairs and placed them in doorways so as many people as possible could watch as The Isaacs brought them to the Lord with their wonderful voices and music. There were a lot of "first timers" who had never experienced The Isaacs live. There was so much excitement and anticipation in the room.....I knew it would be a great show! The holy spirit covered the room through the moving words sung and spoken, as well as the wonderful music. Just when you don't think they can get any better, they do.

Everyone looked great in purple and black. One of the girls has a great new hairdo......you'll have to wait for the pictures to find out which one. Each member of the group reported having a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Lily says she is happy to be back at work.

After the concert, we enjoyed a delicious, although late, dinner at Applebee's. It is always fun to see everyone relax after the performance. We ate, talked, laughed and ate some more.

The Isaacs have a friend on the bus this weekend. His name is Josh and he lives in TN. I understand he is a great golfer. Nice meeting you, Josh!

We arrived in Morganton around 1pm today, actually beating the Isaacs' bus to the church. We met up with Dave and Sherry Carmack and their children Josh and Jennifer. They live near Kingsport,TN and are long-time Isaacs fans. We had met them last month at an Isaacs show in Virginia and were thrilled to see them again.

The Isaacs are doing sound check right now. Of course, they sound great. I am guessing we might see them in black tonight. The show starts at 6pm and we are expecting a full house. I wish each of you could be here. We are waiting for our Lisa to arrive now. She is so much better at this blogging than I am.

I have a few words from some of the Isaacs band members:
Becky says, "Hello to all. Come and see us!"
Nathan says "Hi."
Thomas says "Hello, Happy New Year, eh?"
Ben says, "Hi."
Lily says, "Hi, God bless you all!"

Tomorrow we will be in Fayetteville at Fayetteville Community Church at 6pm. Come on down to beautiful NC and join us. And don't forget, Jesus loves YOU!!!! More from Morganton tomorrow.

Blessings to you all,
Gina B.

Check our website gallery for photos from New Bern, NC