The Isaacs

Sonya's Wedding Highlights

2010-02-08T11:09:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,
Sonya wanted to post this highlight reel from her recent wedding for all of you to enjoy.

The 'In-Laws'

2010-01-19T18:01:00.001-06:00

This past Friday night (1/15) we had a great concert at
The River Church in Nashville, Tn. There was a
packed out house and The Spirit of God was surely there.

Before the concert started, I was in the

lobby waiting for my family to come in off the bus, so we could go on the pulpit together. I looked up and saw my THREE KIDS-IN-LAW, just talking with each other. A friend of ours , Kimmie, was standing beside me and I said "Quick, take that picture"!

I am so proud of these fine individuals who are a part of our family...... Jimmy,

Mindy and John. Sonya, Ben and Becky are very blessed to have these

supportive and beautiful people as their spouses. Oh, did I mention,

"SO AM I".....Do I sound like that proud little "JEWISH MOTHER"? You

bet I am !!!! Lily Isaacs

Sonya Isaacs engagement story featured.......

2009-12-05T14:03:00.000-06:00

Updated 12-5-09

The December issue of SGNScoops magazine is now available for download! The December issue features an interview with Sonya Isaacs about her engagement and upcoming December wedding, interview with Sharron Kay King, The Glovers, Debbie (Roger) Bennett and more. Click HERE to visit SGNScoops.com.

The Isaacs in Morehead City, NC

2009-11-08T20:21:00.000-06:00

The Isaacs appeared this afternoon in Morehead City, NC at the Crystal Coast Jamboree. They took the stage at 2pm before a nearly packed house. If you were in eastern North Carolina today, you know how difficult it must have been to fill that venue because the weather was gorgeous; brilliant sunshine with a hint of a cool breeze blowing off the Atlantic. It would have been a perfect day for doing all sorts of things but the most fortunate people on the Crystal Coast were in that theatre, enjoying gospel music as only The Isaacs can deliver it.

They were gorgeous, as always, in black and white. Their performance was wonderful. We weren't in a church, but the Spirit was definitely there. They drew very positive responses to all the songs from their new CD,"The Isaacs, Naturally". If you haven't gotten a chance to hear it, you just don't know what you are missing. There are no words to describe how good this CD is! You've gotta get it!!!

The product table had some new additions. There were new hoodies, new youth t-shirts, and Songs We've Worn Out", vol. 2 and 3. These new recordings, along with "Naturally" flew off the table during intermission.

The Isaacs honored all military service members, past and present. Their genuine appreciation of the military is always very touching. They welcomed old friends, myself and Dee and Mary Hill. They met someone who was having a birthday today and wished her a "Happy Birthday" from the stage; then offered to do the same for anyone celebrating an anniversary. Their sincerity is one of the many things people love so about them.

Speaking of anniversaries, Thomas Wywrot is celebrating his first anniversary as a member of The Isaacs. Happy Anniversary, eh? Love you Thomas, keep up the good work.

If you weren't able to make it out to the show today, please take the time to look at The Isaacs' concert schedule and be sure to check it frequently so you won't miss a show near you! They would love to see you and you would surely be blessed!

Blessings to each of you and keep on praising Him!

Gina

The Isaacs, Legacy 5 & The Hoppers

2009-11-06T17:00:00.000-06:00

November 6th, 2009

This is Lily Isaacs with Scott Fowler from Legacy 5.

Scott is sporting one of the Isaacs' new hoodies. The Isaacs

along with Legacy 5 and The Hoppers appeared at the

Oakland City University in Indiana together.

The Isaacs on Facebook

2009-10-28T17:21:00.000-05:00

Visit our Facebook page. Become a Fan. Join in on discussions, share your Isaacs concert pictures. We love our fans!

The Isaacs Official Facebook page.

Sonya's Engagement Story.......

2009-10-24T09:43:00.000-05:00

To read more about Sonya & Jimmy's engagement CLICK HERE to read the interview done by Emily Sutherland this past week.

2009 Inspirational Country Music Awards

2009-10-16T19:05:00.000-05:00

THE ISAACS WIN 2009 INSPIRATIONAL BLUEGRASS ARTIST!

2009 ICM Awards took place on October 15 and was hosted by David Keith. Dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent among artists who perform Christian and Inspirational Country music, this event saw live performances from James Payne, Tommy Brandt, Del Way, Greg McDougal, Amanda Fessant, Ricky Skaggs & The Whites and The Cherryholmes.

Full winners list of 2009 ICM Awards:

Entertainer of the Year: CrossCountry the Band
Male Vocalist of the Year: Tommy Brandt
Female Vocalist of the Year: Sandra Dee
Vocal Duo of the Year: The Roys
Vocal Group of the Year: Point of Grace
Mainstream Song of the Year: Tracy Lawrence - "Up to Him"
Mainstream Country Artist of the Year: Ricky Skaggs
Christian Country Song of the Year: James Payne and Del Way - "Good Ole Boys"
Video of the Year: Craig Morgan - "God Must Really Love Me"
Songwriter of the Year: Russ Murphy
New Artist of the Year: Steve Richard
Musician of the Year: Dennnis Agajanian
Living Legend Award: Ken Holloway
Comedy Act of the Year: Barry McGee
Inspirational Bluegrass Artist: The Isaacs
Youth In Music Award: Matthew Wacaster
Music Evangelist of the Year: Russ Murphy
Radio Personality of the Year: Leon Joplin
Radio Station of the Year: WCWV
Television Network of the Year: TCT Network
Faith, Family and Country Movie: "Fireproof"

Weekend Recap..........

2009-10-11T12:52:00.000-05:00

Rocky Mount, NC - Saturday 10-10-09. An evening with The Isaacs at the Dunn Center for Performing Arts. Awesome fellowship, awesome concert! A fun night!!

Thanks to Carl Bagby for these pics from Princeton, WV on Friday 10-9.

Ben with daughter Cameron

Lily, Sonya & Becky

Sonya introducing Spigot

Sonya introducing Lily

The Isaacs on WSM radio

2009-10-06T12:44:00.000-05:00

http://wsmradio.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=507350

Lily, Ben, Sonya & Becky on WSM radio to preview the new album "Naturally"......Have a Listen!

THIS WEEK'S TOP SELLING BLUEGRASS ALBUM.......

2009-10-05T16:50:00.000-05:00

Click to Enlarge

UPDATE: 10-5-09 - The album "Naturally" charted at #1 it's first week on the Billboard chart. Week #2 Ricky Skaggs' "Songs my Dad Loved" charted at #1 and "Naturally" moved to #2. This week is "Naturally's" 3rd week on the charts and is back at #1. Congrats Isaacs!!

We're so excited to announce our new CD "The Isaacs, Naturally" is the #1 selling Bluegrass album this week on the Billboard Chart.

Thanks for purchasing our new CD. Tell your friends about it and if you haven't gotten your copy yet, visit our website now to purchase.

If you've gotten your copy, we'd love to hear what you think about it. Email us at info@theisaacs.com and let us know your thoughts, favorite song on the new album, etc. etc. We'll post some of your comments right here on the blog. Be sure to let us know if you'd like your comment to be anonymous.

http://www.billboard.com/charts/bluegrass-albums#/charts/bluegrass-albums

Greensboro, NC & Myrtle Beach, SC

2009-10-05T09:44:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs rocked the Carolinas this past weekend. The weekend began on Friday night in Greensboro, NC at the Tabernacle United Methodist Church. There was a packed house. Even the balcony was filled. The sound was awesome. The Isaacs introduced their new songs from "Naturally" to the folks and I think they enjoyed it. Sonya's fiance Jimmy was on the bus this weekend and Sonya called him up to sing. They harmonized beautifully on "Beulah Land" and the Shenandoah song "Mama Knows".

Sonya & Jimmy singing Beulah Land

Nathan is multi talented - playing the washboard

on "Little Bit of Heaven"

Early Friday morning I made my way to Myrtle Beach, SC where the annual Gaither Fest was taking place. The Myrtle Beach convention Center was all set up for the weekend event. I made it in time to hear the Isaacs sound check and to visit a little bit before it was time to check in to my room and get ready for the evening.

We had a lot of help at the product table for the weekend. Thanks to Debbie & Bill Becker, Sherry & Jennifer Thurmond, Gina and Randy Black and Shelly Jones for all your help.

It was great to see friends from Norway in attendance again. On Saturday morning after the morning concert was over the Norway group met in the lobby near The Isaacs product table and the Isaacs family stepped over to greet them personally. They even serenaded the group in Norwegian voice. They are planning a Norway trip again next year in June. The group was very excited to hear this.

Singing for the Norwegians

The Norway folks love the Isaacs

The Isaacs performed Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday evening. They did mostly new songs from the Naturally CD and some older favorites like "Walk On" and "It is Well with my Soul". The Saturday morning service was really special and touching with Gloria Gaither as the speaker. It was a great weekend. If you haven't attended the Myrtle Beach Gaither Fest you should make plans now to attend next year. Tickets are now on sale for the 2010 Gaither Fest. To be held October 8th & 9th, 2010.

by: Lisa Hildreth

Enjoy the slideshow of photos below. These photos are courtesy of Emily Sutherland. www.gaither.com

Find more photos like this on Gaither Community

Sonya Isaacs announces engagement..........

2009-10-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hello Isaacs Friends!

I am very excited to announce that I am getting MARRIED!!! Many of you have been praying for this for years, and I just want to say thank you... God is so faithful!!

Most of you know I am a writer for Disney Music Publishing in Nashville during the week... My publisher has been booking me to write with new co-writers for about 6 months now... and early this summer, he booked me to write with Jimmy Yeary... a very successful writer in Nashville (He is also the lead singer with the band Shenandoah). We quickly discovered how much we have in common and learned that as kids we knew each other 20 years ago! Jimmy sang with his family "The Yeary Family" at the same tv show my family did as kids in Beattyville, Kentucky. He, being 4 years older than me, remembers it much better than I do as a 10 year old, but it was a heart warming discovery! Needless to say, we completely hit it off and here we are planning a wedding!!!!!

I have always heard the saying "when you know, you know!".. and I definitely know, without a doubt, that God has brought Jimmy and me together.

We plan to have a small private ceremony around Christmas time. I can't wait to start my new life with the man of my dreams! Thank you, Lord!

Best wishes!!

Sonya

2009-09-26T16:46:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs share their memories of their grandparents and Lily talks about the joys of grandparenting her own grandchildren. A beautiful issue of the Gaither Homecoming magazine - get your copy while they last.

Click to enlarge

http://magazine.homecomingmagazine.com/the_magazine/default.aspx

A Whirlwind of a Weekend

2009-09-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs on stage in Black Mountain, NC

Updated at bottom of post - 9-22-09

It's Monday morning at 5:30am. The alarm clock is blaring and I'm reaching to smack it into snooze mode for just a few more minutes of shut eye. I've only been in bed about 4 hours and morning has come all too soon. But I'd do it all over again tomorrow if I had the chance. You see I travelled about 1000 miles this weekend to spend a few moments with The Isaacs, my favorite music making family in all the world.

On Friday we hurried home from work, tossed our bags into the car and high tailed it to Black Mountain, NC where The Isaacs were singing at 7:15 pm. We arrived just in time to the beautiful Ridgecrest Conference Center. We found Lily at the product table and the rest of the gang on the bus getting dressed. Comedian Aaron Wilburn was on the stage telling his funny tales and when he finished he introduced The Isaacs. The crowd, some 500 folks, was treated to some toe tapping, hair raising sounds for the next hour and a half. They performed a lot of older songs as well as many from the newly released CD. The folks loved it. Just a great concert! The Isaacs headed back to Louisville from Black Mtn. to sing the last night at the National Quartet Convention.

Singing "Little Bit of Heaven" with Nathan

playing the washboard

Ladies Isaacs

The Isaacs Family

Sonya, Lily, Becky & Ben

Ben Isaacs singing "The Three Bells"

Pretty much as soon as the concert was over and we got the table packed up we left to drive about 3 more hours to LaFollette, TN. We spent the night there (what was left of it) and rose early to drive a couple more hours to Berea, Kentucky. We enjoyed the Berea Spoonbread festival as well as a visit to the Isaacs Holler where we spent some great time with Miss Edna. On Saturday evening late we made our way to Joe Isaacs place for some down home Mountain bluegrass music. A crowd had gathered in a field on Red Lick Rd., beneath the stars, under the big sky of Kentucky to hear their friends, neighbors and even family members pick and sing. The night air was chilly but a good time was had by all.

We headed to our hotel pretty early on Saturday night as we were weary and had a full day planned on Sunday. In the wee hours of the morning, just before day break we were awakened by a strange sound.....a beeping, alarm of some sort sounding in the distance. Neither my hubby or myself could quite get our eyes opened enough to get up to see what was going on but if we had we would have seen my sweet friend Gina Black creeping from the Isaacs bus to the hotel after she had mistakenly set the bus alarm off as she left the bus to get her shower in the hotel. The Isaacs' bus was parked right outside our hotel windows.

We met up with our friend Carl Bagby from Virginia for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then we picked up Gina and made our way back to the Holler. More precious time with Aunt Edna. Time got away from us and before we knew it, it was two in the afternoon and almost time for The Isaacs to perform at their dad's bluegrass festival. We talked Edna into going with us and headed back to Joe's place. It had rained a lot during the night and the field where the folks had to park for the festival was a muddy mess. The Isaacs bus couldn't make it down to the festival so they parked it up by the highway and several people picked them up in cars and drove them down to the stage area. Around 2:30 the family gathered around 2 microphones set up on the stage and the family harmony we know so well blossomed into the overcast afternoon air and brightened everyone's day. The Isaacs did about 5 or 6 songs including Happy Birthday to their mom who was celebrating her birthday in Berea, KY on this day. Then they called their dad, Joe Isaacs onto the stage with them. They did songs together like Man on a Mule, Wandering Boy and Paul's Ministry. Joe spoke from the stage about how proud he was to have his family there and how much he loved each of them. They sounded great together. It was a great afternoon.

After the concert The Isaacs made their way up the road to sit down with more family for a great meal. We weren't able to stay and join them because we needed to hit the road and begin our 7 hour journey back to NC. We arrived home around 1:00 am. We were tired, but full and satisfied that the trip was well worth every mile.

by: Lisa Hildreth

Sonya, Joe & Ben

Sonya & Becky

Miss Edna & Carl Bagby

Miss Edna reading to us from her Bible

She's always Praising the Lord

Update: I left out something funny/interesting that happened in Berea on Sunday. I mentioned that The Isaacs couldn't get their bus down into the field where the Bluegrass festival was taking place.......they went in cars and carried their instruments in hand with them, but Nathan didn't take his cajon. A young lady made her way up to the stage and requested that The Isaacs do the Walk On song but of course the cajon is an important part of the sound of the song. Nathan grabbed up a guitar case and played it like his cajon and it really sounded awesome. Everything turned out just fine. Carl Bagby caught a great picture just at the right moment!

Click on Photo to enlarge

"I love the look on Becky's face"

Next stop: Blogging from Myrtle Beach - Gaither Fest - October 2nd and 3rd, 2009

The Isaacs: Back at NQC!

2009-09-19T11:17:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs woke up in Louisville, KY for the final day of the National Quartet Convention. They perform tonight at 8:35pm. They've been very popular here this week and their newest project, "The Isaacs, Naturally", has been very well-received thus far. So well received, in fact, that they had to have a shipment of CD's sent in overnight from the warehouse!

It has been a gorgeous week in Louisville but today is cloudy and overcast. I think we might get wet on our way to the bus tonight! But, we are thankful for all things. A little rain can't possibly mar the fantastic week we've have had here at NQC.

Last night while the group was in North Carolina, I had a chance to hear some of the other performances. The Gaither Vocal Band was fantastic. It was my first time hearing their newly formed group. Their vocals were awesome. I met a group called Crystal River earlier this week and will hear them perform in a little while. They have a very powerful song on the radio right now called, "I Stand In Awe" and all three of them are just amazing! You should check them out! I met lots of new people and was thrilled to see some of the people I met here last year. I had blast, Roxanne!

Please take the time to pray for my mother, Ruth. She had a shoulder replacement yesterday and is facing a long, difficult recovery. She is a big fan of the Isaacs family and had the pleasure of speaking to her favorite, Ben, before her surgery. I love you Mama!

I can't wait until The Isaacs perform tonight. They were flawless on Tuesday night and I can't imagine what they will do to top that performance; but knowing them like I do, I am convinced that they will. So, join us if you can and if you can't, look for the highlights on TV!

Have a blessed Saturday. Remember to keep The Isaacs' and their ministry in your prayers.

Peace,
Gina

The Isaacs at NQC 2009

2009-09-17T22:44:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!
This is Gina and I have been blessed to spend the week with The Isaacs at the 2009 NQC in beautiful Louisville, KY. I had a few computer connection problems at the hotel and have not been able to blog until now. Hopefully, I will be able to blog more often through the rest of the week.
We arrived in Louisville on Tuesday afternoon. We unloaded and set up the booth in the Exhibition Hall. For those who were here last year, we are in the same location. The Isaacs have a new back-drop that was done from the same photo as the cover of their new CD, “The Isaacs, Naturally” and it is a great photo of the Isaacs family.

The Isaacs were scheduled for sound check at 3:25pm and that went smoothly. Although they were not scheduled to perform until six hours later, there was not much time for relaxing. I learned a long time ago that these people do so much more than just show up and sing. There is an enormous amount of work that goes into it…..then they sing. The week of NQC is filled with TV, radio and magazine interviews. Fans get a chance to meet and talk to their favorite musicians. However, business must go on as usual; things like travel planning for future dates, ordering products and equipment and keeping up with family left behind at home.
I was joined at the product table by Louisville natives, Sherry and Jennifer Thurmond, long-time friends of the Isaacs family. We closed the table a little after 9pm and walked the ramp to the backstage area with The Isaacs. I was able to get some pics as they were waiting their turn to take the stage.

They were warmly welcomed on stage by the crowd, and started their four-song set with “Walk On”. Ben introduced the next song and gave the history of “The Three Bells”. The crowd was hard to read at the time, but I learned later at the product table that they absolutely loved it! Next, they did Sonya’s, “A Little Bit of Heaven”. They finished with “I Will Praise Him” and brought down the house! I was slowly making my way to the exit in an attempt to beat the crowd back to the table. I stood there to hear the song and when they did the first modulation (I just learned that word) the crowd audibly gasped! Before the second verse, the crowd was applauding and the applause did not stop. I wanted to tell everyone there to hold on to their seats because they were not finished! Of course, when they did finish, they got a huge standing ovation. I was moved to tears…..that song always does that to me.

Later at the table, the fans bombarded us to purchase the new CD! They loved the new songs. I wish I could have counted the times that I said, “Yes, this is the one” about the CD. We received great feedback from so many fans. It was wonderful.

Wednesday started with the Gaither Sing-Along. There was a good crowd and some great music as always. After the sing-along, there were interviews, autographs and a lot of catching up with old friends.

And now, The Isaacs are on their way to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina for a concert on Friday night. Then, they return here to Louisville for their performance on Saturday night. I anxiously await their return as well as the arrival of Lisa and Wade Hildreth.

Good night all. Please pray for safe travels for The Isaacs and for their ministry. And please make plans to see them real soon!

Blessings,

Gina Black

Visit The Isaacs at NQC

2009-09-14T20:57:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs would love to invite you to come by our booth at the National Quartet Convention this week. We'll be arriving on Tuesday September 15th and will be there through Saturday night September 19th. Our booth is located on Row 400 - Booth 578/479 - near the Food Court. We are performing Tuesday night at 9:25pm on the main stage and also on Saturday night. We'd love to see you there. Come by to visit and be sure to pick up our new CD - The Isaacs, Naturally.

See you there!

What are they saying?

2009-09-14T16:59:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs, Naturally Reviews

by: Bill Gaither

(9/11/09) Alexandria, IN - The Isaacs are, without question, among the most important talents ever to find their way into the music industry, with countless awards and inductions added to their credits every year. This week, the September 8 release of their brand new recording, Naturally, marks a new beginning for this long-standing force in gospel music.

In what will undoubtedly become the consummate project of the Isaacs' 30-year history, "fun" meets "substance" and the Isaacs' undeniable talent meets exactly what the world needs to hear at this moment in time. Brimming with energy and hope that will resound with audiences of every age, Naturally boasts an irresistible mix of catchy remakes, contagious new tunes and classic favorites, including the group's much-loved arrangement of "It Is Well With My Soul" which, until now, has been performed live all over the world but has never been recorded on an Isaacs audio project.

Co-produced by Bill Gaither and Ben Isaacs (who has an impressive and growing resume as a producer), Naturally, intentionally highlights the Isaacs' vocal prowess with as little instrumentation as possible. The result is a stunning, collection of "nearly a cappella" songs that is guaranteed to stop you in your tracks.

"Jaw-dropping talent like that of the Isaacs is a rare find, and it's obvious this group is here to stay. For that reason, it has been extremely exciting to finally capture the breadth of that talent in the studio. 'Naturally' brings you The Isaacs at their very, very best. And to be honest with you, I still can't listen to the project without smiling from ear-to-ear. I believe 20 years from now, people will still be loving this recording and jaws will still be dropping at the harmonies this group can achieve."

- Bill Gaither

www.gaither.com

Brand New CD - The Isaacs, Naturally

2009-09-11T15:02:00.000-05:00

Official release date September 8th, 2009

We're so excited to offer you our latest Isaacs project. "The Isaacs, Naturally....an almost acapella collection" is now available.

Visit our online store to order your copy today.

http://theisaacs.musiccitynetworks.com/?id=9803&sid=5117

Here is a sample song from the new project!

The project has 16 songs - 6 are acapella and the rest are almost acapella with only one or two instruments. Produced by Ben Isaacs & Bill Gaither.

Visit our website to hear short clips of each song:
http://my.musiccitynetworks.com/domain/267/index.htm?id=5114

1. Little Bit of Heaven - written by Sonya Isaacs

2. Hard Times Come Again No More - beautifully sung by Becky

3. I Will Praise Him - an acapella selection

4. Mama's Teaching Angels How to Sing - written by Dottie Rambo

5. Come My Child - written by Gloria Gaither & performed by Lily Isaacs

6. Healin' Stream - written by Larry Gatlin

7. The Three Bells - made popular in the 1960's by Jim Ed Brown

8. No Shortage - written by Gary S. Paxton in the 1970's

9. He Can be Found - written by Ella Barrett & Faye Cunningham

10. Does Jesus Care - special arrangement by The Isaacs & Bill Gaither

11. Hallelujah - sung in Hebrew - as performed on the Gaither Israel video

12. Hear the Voice of My Beloved - written by Bill & Gloria Gaither

13. When God Seems so Near - written by Bill & Gloria Gaither

14. There's Something About that Name - written by Bill & Gloria Gaither

15. Peace be Still - a beautiful praise chorus performed by Lily

16. It is Well with my Soul

Remembering our Grandparents - Godfrey & Bessie Isaacs

2009-09-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

National Grandparents Day - September 13th, 2009

You’d have to be a Godly woman to give birth to 17 children in a rustic log cabin nestled in the hidden mountains of Eastern Kentucky! Even more unimaginable is doing it without electricity, running water, or a doctor! Now imagine how many years you would have to be with child to accomplish that… My Grandma Bessie was one of the sweetest, kindest, most patient women in the world, and she is my role model for maternal sanity. Dad was her youngest, the 17^th child born to this amazing woman and her hard working Pentecostal preaching, farming husband, Grandpa Godfrey.

Growing up with hundreds of first cousins and thousands of extended family members (some who you just had to pretend to know) made family reunions a blast and going home to Grandma’s more like a party than a visit. Comfortably squeezed into 3 small bedrooms, I fondly recall those occasional overnight stays up on their mountain… Ahh the smell of the wood burning in the fireplace and the oil lanterns flickering on the newspaper covered ceilings above… the sound of creaking wooden floors, and the whispers of little girls just after the lantern was blown out “Mommy, I gotta go to the bathroom!” Only instead of her walking us down the hall, Mom would simply pull the pot out from under the bed and assure us that it was much better than having to walk up the hill to the outhouse in the dark!

Breakfast was always a feast, and Grandma would wake up before the sun did to make it every morning… soft, moist, made from scratch biscuits covered in perfectly stirred gravy with skillet fried potatoes and some good ole salty country ham, which I always found a little hard to swallow after watching the pigs out in the pen just the day before! But boy could she cook! And boy could we eat... but never until after we gathered in the living room for not just a word of thanks, but a “get down on your knees and thank God” prayer! Faith was the center of their existence. God was everything to them… their Provider, their Keeper, their Helper. I don’t recall ever seeing Grandma get upset about anything, and never heard her say an unkind word to or about anyone. She was the closest thing to an Angel that I’ve ever seen and I’ll never forget how hard I cried the day God called her back to heaven.

Before she left us we had the opportunity to record Grandma Bessie singing some of the songs we loved to hear her sing growing up. I always smile when I think about it because she had no idea how the recording process works. She didn’t understand that you have to be very quiet when you finish a song, and almost every time she would say something that we would later have to erase. Finally Dad stood just behind the recording glass and at the end of the song held his finger to his lips to remind her to be quiet. Unaware that even the quietest noise would make it to tape, she softly whispered “ok” to his request, and we all just smiled at each other knowing that we were blessed to inherit the gift of her love and her heart for God, family and music.

by: Sonya Isaacs

Click the arrow to start video - be sure to

have your sound turned up

Alaska Cruise Photos

2009-09-07T19:02:00.000-05:00

These photos are from the camera of Emily Sutherland - Gaither.com

Find more photos like this on Gaither Community

Find more photos like this on Gaither Community

At Home in the Red Lick Mountains with Joe Isaacs

2009-09-01T16:15:00.000-05:00

Come to the Red Lick Mountains of Kentucky September 19th and 20th

for some great Bluegrass and Gospel Music.

Saturday September 19th features Joe Isaacs and Mountain Bluegrass along with many other groups. The music starts at 12:00 noon.

Sunday September 20th the music starts at 1:00pm and features The Isaacs with Joe Isaacs for one concert at 2:30pm.

500 Red Lick Rd.

Berea, Kentucky

Bring lawn chairs & blankets.

2 day pass only $20.00

1 day event $12.00

Kids 12 and under Free

For more information call: 859-986-5687 or 859-985-1189

Click on poster to enlarge

Alaska Cruise Photos

2009-08-29T08:52:00.000-05:00

Click on photos to enlarge

Ben and Gordon Mote at the salmon bake

Sonya & Becky hittin the streets of Juneau, Alaska

for some shopping!

The Gaither gang sing along at the salmon bake

Our ship the Ms Zaandam at port in Juneau

The Isaacs Family - Juneau, Alaska

Lily Isaacs interviews with Janet Paschal - Walking the Good Road

2009-08-12T16:08:00.000-05:00

Click HERE to hear the amazing interview between Janet Paschal and Lily Isaacs. Lily tells the story of overcoming breast cancer. The interview aired LIVE this morning on JOYFM. Janet and Friends...Walking the Good Road airs weekly on JOYFM. Visit JOYFM.org for more of Walking the Good Road with Janet Paschal.

Gaither Alaska Cruise - coming right up

2009-08-09T08:27:00.000-05:00

Holland America's Ms Zaandam

August 14th through August 21st, 2009

The Isaacs will be cruising the Alaskan waters along with other Gaither Homecoming artists. Come along with us.....follow us on Twitter. We'll be tweeting along the way and when we return we promise a blog post with lots of photos from the trip. Go to twitter.com and register.

Follow Becky on Twitter RebeccaIBowman

Follow Sonya on Twitter SonyaI

Follow Lisa on Twitter LisaLou08 (will be doing most of the twittering and I've added my Twitter updates to the right side bar of the blog )

This is a special cruise that will be filmed and Alaska DVDs will be available in the near future. You know Bill Gaither puts together great DVDs for our viewing pleasure!!

Other Artists on this cruise include......

The Hoppers

Russ Taff

Lynda Randle

Janet Paschal

Buddy Greene

Woody Wright

Gordon Mote

Kevin Williams

Gene McDonald

David Pendleton (comedian)

Larnelle Harris

Stephen Hill

Joy Gardner

Jeff & Sheri Easter

Reggie & Ladye Love Smith

Charlotte Ritchie

Greg Ritchie

LIVE taping tonight July 21st, 2009

2009-07-21T20:20:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs are in San Antonio, TX tonight participating in a LIVE video taping with the Gaither Vocal Band. Check in here throughout the evening for updates and photos from the taping. Gaither's own Emily Sutherland is in attendance with her camera and will be sharing with us as the evening progresses. Who knows, we might hear from Sonya or Becky via Twitter.

You can follow Becky on Twitter at "RebeccaIBowman"

You can follow Sonya on Twitter at "SonyaI"

You can follow Lisa on Twitter at "LisaLou08"

Keep in mind these photos are cell phone photos. You can click on photos to enlarge them.

11:05pm - update from Becky Isaacs Bowman - The isaacs just finished and it was so much fun. They were so energetic and loving. PRAISE GOD.

9:55pm - update from Jason Crabb - I need thee, Every hour I need thee

9:50pm - update from Becky Isaacs Bowman - You got to get the new GVB CD. THE NEW SONGS ARE WONDERFUL. Features them perfect.

9:25pm - update from Becky Isaacs Bowman - Jason Crabb and the isaacs r up soon. You all pray for Gods anointing. Amen.

9:05pm - update from Sonya Isaacs via Twitter.com - Hey! Comin to you live from the Gaither taping in San Antonio! Its a great night. The GVB is on now tearin it up! We go on in about an hour

8:55pm - from Emily Sutherland - The Gvb is knocking it out of the stinkin park.

8:47pm from Jason Crabb - Michael English just knocked it out with Love of God!

8:45pm - Latest message from Becky Isaacs Bowman via Twitter - What a night. David Wes Bill Michael and Mark are sounding the best ever. Wow!

8:40pm - Latest message from Jason Crabb via Facebook

Wow Wow!!!! they sound so good!! Three songs in and the GVB has them on their feet go guys.

8:30pm Latest message and photo from Jason Crabb via Facebook -

Gaither vocal band just took stage for new video so cool they sound great!!!!

8:15pm - latest Twitter from Becky Isaacs Bowman - Well we r backstage getting ready for this exciting Gaither vocal band video. Going to be so much fun!

7:50pm -latest Twitter from Wes Hampton of the GVB - Start in ten minutes. Clothes on, makeup on, hair on, er, done. Nervous, excited, etc. Here we go...

Wes Hampton, David Phelps, Michael English

b-roll by the river

Bill Gaither dressed and ready to roll........

Sonya in catering - she's eating a deep fried Slim Jim - Yum

GAITHER VOCAL BAND

Live Concert & Video Taping

July 21, 2009 at 7:00 PM
The Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, TX

The fabulous five-man line-up that is the Gaither Vocal Band will appear before a live audience in San Antonio, Texas, on July 21 for their first video-taping together! This concert and video-taping will feature the all-star Gaither Vocal Band, including Bill Gaither, Michael English, Wes Hampton, Mark Lowry & David Phelps, plus this exciting night includes special guest performances by The Isaacs, and Jason Crabb!

Tickets go on sale Monday, June 8, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time for this historic event! For Gaither.com members, we have even better news… we are holding 500 premium seats just for Premium Gaither.com Members!

GET TICKETS STARTING MONDAY, JUNE 8, AT 10 A.M. EDT!

The One I'm Dying For

2009-06-28T12:35:00.000-05:00

The Fauscett Wedding

2009-06-27T18:58:00.000-05:00

A few months ago we posted a blog about The Isaacs' drummer Nathan Fauscett proposing to Kelly Williams on stage at The Isaacs concert in Hawkinsville, GA. If you missed it you can read all about it HERE. Kelly and Nathan have started their very own blog to document the wedding plans as they are taking place. Visit their blog HERE. Be sure to leave a comment and wish them well on their journey to marital bliss.

The wedding is planned for November 28th, 2009.

The Opry

2009-06-16T06:41:00.000-05:00

Listen to The Isaacs LIVE on the Grand Ole Opry Tuesday night June 16th, 2009

http://www.wsmonline.com/

Becky, Rhonda Vincent, Sonya & Laura Keel

Kentucky Bluegrass

2009-06-08T19:39:00.000-05:00

This past weekend my husband and I took a trip that turned into one of our most memorable trips. Early Saturday morning around 3:00 am we hit the road and headed West on 40 to the bluegrass state of Kentucky. After a few stops here and there we found ourselves in Berea. We called Ben and got directions to the church where the Isaacs bus had just arrived and the guys were busy unloading their gear.

I guess I should start my story by telling you that on Tuesday April 28th of this year, Charles Isaacs, brother to Joe Isaacs passed away at his home in Big Hill, KY. Some of you may know the story and the history of Joe Isaacs who is the youngest child of 17 born to Godfrey and Bessie Isaacs. Joe and his siblings were raised way back in the hills in a cabin that is still standing and is occupied by his sister Edna. Charles and his wife Callie lived on the mountain too. Even farther up than the old homeplace. They live a very simple life and Charles' wife Callie needed some help paying for the funeral expenses. The Isaacs along with other family members and other groups got together and held a benefit concert on Saturday night in a church in Berea and raised quite a bit of money to help Callie with the expenses. The concert was great but let me tell you a little bit about our day on the mountain.

When we got to the church we talked to Ben for a bit and I asked how far it was to the old homeplace. Ben said we could be there in about 30 minutes and he gave us the directions and I hurriedly scrawled them down on a slip of paper. He couldn't remember the exact road names but he told us landmarks where to turn and what to look for. We headed out and about 30 minutes later we turned off a main road and travelled for miles on a narrow, one lane road that leads to the holler. We did miss the last turn that leads to the homeplace and we were stopped by a burley lookin mountain man that probably thought we were messin around on his property where we shouldn't be. We asked him if he knew where Joe Isaacs' homeplace was and then he grinned a big toothless grin and pointed us in the right direction. We made a right and the road got even more narrow and we wound around until we came into a clearing, passed a barn on the right with a rolling stream running by it and then we spotted the cabin. It's nestled in the side of a hill, between two hills really and it's the most calm, peaceful setting that I've ever seen in my life.

We climbed out of our truck and started walking toward the house and then we spotted the lady out in the yard. She was bent over an old plow of some kind with paint brush in hand and was painting it bright red and yellow, it's original colors. The colors really popped in their surroundings of old barn wood and the gray of old metal wash pots. She straightened up and squinted in the bright sun looking us over and I was thinking Oh My! She probably thinks we've come to rob her or something. As soon as we told her who we were and that Ben had sent us she grinned and the rest is history. She took us on a tour of every inch of the old home place. Her name is Edna and she is 81 years old. She gets around better than I do and she was the sweetest, most gracious being. She moved down to the homeplace after Godfrey and Bessie passed away. She still lives there with no electricity and no running water, except that from a spring. She makes her own soap...pretty peppermint scented soap and she helps birth babies when she's needed. She makes her own brown dresses and head scarves. She chips away wood from a Sassafras tree and boils it into this fantastic, refreshing tea, sweetened with just a bit of brown sugar. She cans her own vegetables and meats and lard that she says makes the biggest, fluffiest biscuits you've ever seen.

We enjoyed our time there so much. It was hard to leave that peaceful place and return to the busy lives we live. It took us just a little closer to God and made us thankful for each and every blessing that we have. She wanted us to stay for Supper, but we needed to get to the church for the concert that started at 6:00. She wanted us to come back and stay the night but we had a room at the Marriot. We told her we'd be back though and we will. Just as soon as we can. As soon as my husband opened his eyes on Sunday morning at the Marriot he said "let's go back to the holler!"

I have a great love and respect for The Isaacs. I have for many years. I had never met Ben, Sonya and Becky's dad until this weekend and hearing the history of this family gives me an even greater love and respect for them. Joe and Lily have raised some great kids!

That night at 6:00 there were more Isaacs in one place than probably I'll ever witness again. Do you know how many children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and more that Godfrey and Bessie started with 17? There was only a small hand full of them there Saturday night and it was still a lot. It was great to see and hear Joe perform with the family and to meet many of the family members. It was an experience I won't forget for a long time.

Edna made this clock from a saw blade

and she put each of the 17 children's

names on it in the order they were born

Edna's kitchen

beautiful gourds hanging on the side porch

Edna with her peppermint soap

walking down the hill toward the cabin

Joe Isaacs with his sisters

China and Madeline

Edna's dog Lucy was never far

from her side

Joe Isaacs performing with his family

by: Lisa Hildreth

Acapella Project named

2009-06-08T09:33:00.000-05:00

We are so excited to tell you about our upcoming CD. It's completely finished and will be in production in the next couple of weeks. The Isaacs would like to thank everyone that participated in the "name the acapella project" contest that we ran a few months ago. There were some great, very creative entries. The final decision was made by Bill Gaither (who's he and what does he know?!?! LOL) A lot of your entries included the words Simple and Natural and that's the theme we've decided on. The name of the new project will be:

The Isaacs, Naturally

an almost acapella collection

The Isaacs are currently on the Gaither Music label and Bill Gaither loves that sweet family harmony. They got their heads together and came up with an amazing collection of songs that we think you will love.

The project is scheduled for release this fall, but we may have a few copies by the end of July. Watch for an announcement here and on the website at www.theisaacs.com and we will announce when pre-orders can be taken.

National Quartet Convention

2009-06-03T22:35:00.000-05:00

Got your tickets to National Quartet Convention this year? There is still time. The Isaacs will be performing on the main stage on Tuesday night and Saturday night. We hope to see you there!

September 13th - 19th in Louisville, KY

www.natqc.com

The Isaacs' visit to Africa in pictures cont.......

2009-05-31T15:19:00.000-05:00

Click on photos to enlarge

More Pictures from Africa

2009-05-28T19:46:00.000-05:00

Pictures of Africa

2009-05-26T09:15:00.000-05:00

Becky shared over 1400 photos and videos she took in Africa. Of course I can't post them all here but I will be adding a few each day this week so keep checking in. The story of their adventure is amazing and soul touching. I hope each of you get a chance to hear them tell the story.

Welcoming The Isaacs

Click on photos to enlarge

Family Fest in the Smokies

2009-05-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

by Lisa Hildreth

I just returned from spending a fun filled weekend in Gatlinburg, TN. The annual Gaither Family Fest was the event. We had a great time. It was wonderful to spend some time with The Isaacs and to hear some uplifting music and testimony. If you've never attended this event make your plans now for 2010.

The Isaacs had just returned from a 10 day trip to Africa on Wednesday. Becky said she did not even get to sleep in her own bed for even one night before they had to leave out again for the weekend. I can't imagine! But you know what, they didn't even seem tired. They were still top notch all weekend! They had performed in Nashville on Friday night at the Legacy Five

Homecoming and then made their way to Gatlinburg arriving in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday morning.

I left my home in NC around 3:30 and drove to Spartanburg, SC to meet up with my good friend Shelly. She then drove the rest of the way to Gatlinburg. When we got there Lily called and said the guys had taken in all the product and she needed us to set up the booth when we got to the convention center. It was kind of difficult since the doors had already opened for the morning show and while we were trying to set up, folks were already trying to buy stuff. We got it done though. The morning service started at 10:00am. On the morning sets Bill usually had each person/group do one song and then had the morning speaker to come up. All of the services

were so good. On Saturday morning Bill Young, author of "The Shack" was the special guest. That was really great! Zig Ziglar made a brief visit to the stage. Sunday morning's speaker was Steve Brown, well known Christian author and founder of KeyLife Network. The messages were great, the music was fantastic and the Blessings were in abundance.

The Isaacs performed a variety of music this weekend. Bill called them up to do several songs from their upcoming Acapella album which is due to be released sometime this summer. They still don't have a definite title for it, but we'll be announcing that soon. The songs are awesome. One very special one they did this weekend was "Mama's Teaching Angels How to Sing" by the late Dottie Rambo. This month marked a year since Dottie's passing. Sonya mentioned Eva Mae Lefevre as they began this song. Miss Eva Mae was always a favorite at Family Fest. She passed away this past week and she was greatly missed.

It was a fun filled weekend. It's always especially great because most of the artists have their spouses and children with them for the weekend. On the final night Bill has all the children come onto the stage. It's a wonderful site to behold.

Sonya did not wear a raincoat on stage

see! there's proof! this was in the pocket

Becky with Sherri Easter

Ben & Mindy with Gordon Mote

John & Becky

Sonya backstage visiting with friends

Nathan on the cajon - Walk On

Becky, Sonya & Ben singing with Gordon Mote

Home Sweet Home

2009-05-18T20:47:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs will begin their journey home in just a few hours. Our flight leaves Africa on Tuesday and we will arrive back in Nashville on Wednesday evening. Thank you so much for your prayers. We pray that our stories we've shared will encourage you to support World Vision. Adopt a child today. Save a life!

Victoria Falls and the Zambezi boat ride.....

2009-05-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody... Im sorry you havent heard from us! We reluctantly left the village of Musele yesterday (the17th) and flew to finish our trip in a very touristy part of Africa. A place called Victoria Falls in Zambia... Yesterday we arrived by charter plane, a 12 seat Cessna plane which just barely had room for us and our luggage! Poor Becky was so nervous (she hates to fly anyway) and we all dreaded the 2 1/2 hour flight with no bathroom! lol! We finally arrived in Livingstone and spent the day at the Amazing Falls... One of the Seven Wonders of the World! WOW! We rented a rain coat at the entrance not knowing what to expect as we walked the path to the falls. It was sooo breathtaking!! The mossy path led us through the woods and to the cliffs of the waterfall.. then we took an exciting adventure over a bridge that walked you right through the big splash of the falls. We all felt like kids again as we walked through what was like a heavy down pour of rain, which actually was the mist from the fall.. it was spectacular, and so huge!!! Levi and Jakobi loved it!!

After the Falls visit, which left us quite wet inspite of our wetgear, we were taken on a dinner boat up the Zambezi River (which empties in the Falls). For the next few hours we sailed on the calm waters while the warm sunshine dried our wet pants and shoes. We saw all kinds of birds and natural wildlife and just enjoed a gorgeous African sunset before returning to the dock. Our Zambian host, Victor, has done such a great job planning these sightseeing adventures for us. Thank you Victor!! We will miss you!

We headed back to our hotel after the boat ride, and after chasing a lizard from our villa,and letting the mosquito nets down over the beds, settled in for a good nights sleep. We wanted to be well rested for today.. THE SAFARI!!!!!

Meeting the Chief

2009-05-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

Meeting Chief Musele!

In every village, there is a Chief and today we got to meet Chief Musele himself! This title was inherited by his father and those before, and getting the opportunity to visit him was really an honor! When we arrived at his home..(which really wasnt too much more modern than any of the village folks we met), we were instructed to wait at the gate for permission to enter. We followed specific rules and guidelines, like, bow and clap when you enter, to show respect, and never ever touch him.. and only speak when spoken to..

He welcomed us into his home and there he and his first wife (he only has 3, lol) entertained us for over an hour. Being the leader of the people, he really showed graitude to Team Isaacs for helping Musele village, and to WV for all their efforts.. then he continued to share what overwhelming needs they still have. I suppose representing the people, part of his job is to speak for them, and he shared, almost pleading for more to be done on their behalf. It was very somber and serious for most of the time there, and when we left, we took pictures with them.

It was a nice visit, and we knew that we were appreciated and welcome to return anytime. Oh, and he wore sortof a long kiltish looking traditional skirt and a matching jacket and some sort of headdress.. He looked verrrry important :-)

World Vision is saving lives in Musele

2009-05-17T20:38:00.000-05:00

World Vision is doing a wonderful job in the village of Musele! Id like to share with you some of the ways the sponsorship program is helping the entire community!

We visited several of the schools here in Musele. The children who attend all wear uniforms... and although there are many basic schools, there is only 1 high school for 70 Kilometers!! The teens who are fortunate enough to get to go walk miles a day and some stay in the nice boarding houses on site provided by World Vision donors. They travel home on weekends and bring back the food they will cook themselves for the whole week. Its alot different than our schools.. here, they are just happy to get to go. We got to sit in on a 4th grade class and watched as the teacher, in English and Lunda taught them about thousands,hundreds, tens and ones and how to identify them. They sang us this familiar song:

The more we are together, together, together,

The more we are together the happier we are..

Cause your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends

The more we get together the happier we are.

The classrooms look very plain. Only desks, a chalkboard and some posters hanging on the block wall. They have to put water on the dirt floor to keep it from being so dusty inside, I wish all the kids in the USA could see it... they would really appreciate their schools alot more!! They expressed great need for more high schools and need more supplies to make them efficient. But still they are thankful for the improvement WV (World Vision) has made. It is getting better constantly thru the donations of WV sponsors and donors.

We also went to see a fishing pond that World Vision workers helped provide. They want to help the people develop the land, so they teach them how to farm, make fishing ponds, and grow crops. This way they take pride in doing it themselves and when World Vision moves on to help another village (they usually stay in one location about 10 years).. then the villagers can continue the work. We asked the man who owned this pond how has World Vision changed his life. He said that the pond has provided a means of income and food (the fish) for him and his family. He said it allows him to be able to send his kids to school and buy food and clothes. He was so grateful. It took him about 3 months (with the help of 2 other men) to dig the fishing pond (by hand!)... He saw how the training and the hard work paid off. There are many examples of this all over Musele... People who have taken advantage of WV's opportunity to build a business. It was so neat to see!

We saw many wells , or 'boreholes"" as they call them. When you see how spread out their huts are over miles of dry land, you can see why it is such a burden for them to have to walk so far, miles a day, for water. The wells WV has dug now provide much easier access to the water, and now they have water that is cleaner and wont make them sick like getting it from a contaminated lake. They are very grateful for the boreholes... You can purchase one as a gift thru WV for about $17,000, or you can buy a small share in one if you go onto www.worldvision.org. There are other much needed things you can specifically purchase for your child by calling World Visions 800 number.

The care clinics that have been built have definately reduced the sickness and death rates in Musele. We met many of the caregivers who work with WV's program to help the sick and orphaned... They were all so kind and truly had loving hearts. Their jobs range from visiting and bathing the ill, helping tend to the children, cleaning their homes, serving as midwives to pregnant women, and just anything they can do to lighten their loads. WV provides caregiver kits that include things like gloves, cloths, flashlights, bandages, sanitary wipes, ibuprofen and other things they use daily. The caregivers told us that they need more supplies, as they run out too quickly. You can help provide these kits by contacting WV... Our WV rep Michael said they helped put together a thousand kits with GMA people at $28 a kit. You can encourage your church to do a similar thing. You can put the kits together for them and WV will ship them over for you....there are specific guidelines that they can give you if you are interested. Check out www.worldvision.org.

As you can see, your sponsorship is really saving not just your child, but the whole community! You should be so proud of your monthly sacrifice to help them.. we are proud of YOU, sponsors, nd encourage you to continue to do all you can with us and WV as you Help Us Help Them!

Much Love,

Sonya and the Gang...

Meeting the Children

2009-05-16T20:27:00.000-05:00

Musele Children

Mna Handy or.... ""Hello, How are you?"" in Lunda, one of the native tongues here in Musele, Zambia... I love hearing the voices of the sweet little ones running around with sheer excitement at seeing all the visitors... They are so curious, and a little afraid at first, peering around bushes and trees or anything they can to stay a safe distance from all these strange people in their village. It doesnt take long for them to warm up, though, and by the time we leave, they are running after us, waving and shouting and smiling from ear to ear...

"More Musele Adventures"... One of our goals in coming here was to meet as many of the sponsored children as possible... and we accomplished that... having met all of our personal Isaacs children and then some... of course having 1300 children in our team sponsorship made it impossible to see them all, as they are spread out over about an 80km distance and we only had 3 days here. Mom got to see her sweet little girl, Musoli who at only 5 years was crying initially because she was afraid.. then she suddenly calmed and crawled up on Moms lap where she just rested her little head on Mom's shoulder for the longest time. The only time she cried after that was when we had to leave. Sweet sweet memories! .. Then we also met Isaac, whom she chose for obvious reasons ;-) He is also very young and his family was so excited that we shared his name! We all got to spend about 20 minutes with our kids and the each showed us their huts.. and we got to give them all some gifts that we had brought. In hind sight, we have realized so much of their needs from being here. We think about a child missing out on toys and games and sweets, and we all brought lots of that, and they truly enjoy it all, but in reality, their greatest needs are for clothes, shoes, food, coats and blankets, and even a decent place to sleep. If you want to give your child a special gift, you can send a gift notification, which is money that you designate how you want it to be spent... a goat, a chicken, a cow, a metal covering for the hut, clothes, school supplies.. desks for the students.. there are so many basic needs that we can help buy them this way.. yet we sit comfortably on our leather couches and watch 95 channels of satellite while we eat our way to obesity. We must do more... we simply must sacrifice, at least a little more, to provide more for those that are without!

We travelled a few miles up the road to the next dirt path leading us to Ben's sponsored child, Nelson, an 11 year old boy. Nelson is one of 10 children. Again, they welcomed us with a few rhythmic harmonious songs which ended in them bowing in front of us. Ben got to give Nelson pictures that his kids had drawn for him.. and he gave him a picture of them too, along with some gifts they had sent. Then before we left their area, they brought gifts to him as well... bananas, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and another chicken.. Imagine them handing Ben a live chicken!! At least the feet were tied so it could scratch and run! ha ha... I wish you could all have been there with us. Im telling you, you owe it to yourself to take a trip like this... you will never be the same!!

After a delicious lunch which was generally the same as supper every day but still very tasty, we went to visit Becky's little girl, Memory.. this was so moving! Becky had sent her pictures several times of their family, so when we unloaded from the jeep, as soon as Memory saw Jakobi, she ran straight up to her and wrapped her arms around her as tight as she could! Memory is about Jakobis age, and she is an orphan... She lives with her aunt and uncle's family in their hut and she was perhaps the most needing of all of the sponsored children we saw. You could always tell which child you were visiting because he or she would be the only one with a washed outfit and clean face.. they took very special care in preparing for their sponsors even though their dresses were torn and their shoes were too big or ripped out. Memory didnt seem to notice, though, that she didnt have on a matching shirt and skirt, or that only one of her flip flops had a flower on it.. she felt like the queen of the village, even if just for a few minutes that day. I love how all the families that live in her area paid equal part in the appreciation.. because they all want the best for each other, and World Vision is helping them all through that child's sponsorship. It really does take a village to raise a child. It was hard to say goodbye to Memory.. but we knew there was much more to see and do before we came home.

Our last visit for the day was my other little girl...Sonia... Can you guess why I had to sponsor her? lol. I recognized her from a distance because she had on the same red and white dress that she wore in her annual report picture. She was so adorable.. she had on some huge Miss Magoo glasses and it just broke my heart that they were so dirty and scratched! When we sat down at the welcoming table (every place we went had one), her father told us that she only wears them as an accessory and not for her vision.. later that day we saw many of the people in her village wearing the same kind! Someone had given them a whole bunch of them and they were trying to impress us, as if it were beautiful jewelry or a nice scarf!! lol... we couldnt help but laugh under our breaths! It was the cutest thing!

We had a wonderful visit with Sonias family and as we left the children all giggled, saying ""Sonya, Sonia"", they liked it that they could easily remember my name. We had a wonderful time with all of the families we visited, and have never felt more welcomed anywhere in the world we've been. Some friends of ours, the Beckers, donated about 400 toothbrushes with toothpaste, and our friends the Carmacks sent a box of hair accessories, etc, and we passed them out everywhere we went.. They were all so grateful... really makes you appreciate even the basic things we have that we take for granted everyday!

We visited alot of other places on our trip too.. I will blog about them seperately... but for now I just wanted you to know about the wonderful children!!

More later..

Sonya

The Isaacs visit the village of Musele and meet their sponsored children

2009-05-14T16:18:00.000-05:00

May 14, 2009.. I think.. lol....

Hello from Musele, Zambia everyone!

Today was absolutely incredible!!! I wish I could paint a picture with words to let you see things you wouldnt believe... things that will change your life, as they are ours...

We left Lusaka on a small charter plane yesterday and several hours later arrived in Solwezi, Zambia. We landed in what looked like a field with just enough runway to land, and the airport was no more than a 2 or 3 room building.. very simple, very unmodernized. There we were greeted by several of the local World Vision staff members with roses and big smiles, and grateful hearts for our journey...

Solwezi airport (all of it)

After a great lunch in Solwezi, they took us in 3 vehicles (Land Rover types) to the Mumbezhi Holt Family Guest House... A small cement block building with 4 bedrooms, a living area with dining table, a small kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. There is no running water or electricity here at the Royal Guest House, but they provide water to fill the toilet for flushing and a hot bucket of water every morning for spit bathing. Every day from about 6:30pm till 10pm they have a generator that runs so we are able to recharge our cameras, phones, etc... Oh, and there is hardly any cell service anywhere here, you have to buy a SIM card to get connected and it runs out so fast, youre lucky to say Hi and Bye before the time expires.. lol. We were expecting much worse conditions, and although primitive, we are safe and definately learning to appreciate our spoiled lifestyles. Its alot like camping out here.. bugspray, flashlights, and the brightest, most beautiful starry sky Ive ever seen!

After getting a good nights sleep, we woke up early today to visit the children in Musele. There are about 5000 in the sponsorship program here, and the village is spread out for miles and miles! At every home we visited, we were greeted by women singing welcome songs, and by the children, barefoot and smiling, waving to us like theyd been waiting for a lifetime to meet us! The first child we visited was one of my little girls... Sella. There were 100s of children following us as we walked to her hut. When we arrived, she was standing in front of all the others, waiting to meet me.. her sponsor from America. Her little dirty face was so beautiful.. and she shyly stuck out her hand to meet me. I was so happy to finally meet her. We sat down in a circle and the women again sang songs to welcome us and say God Bless you! Then I went into Sellas hut with her and her family. She has 4 brothers and sisters... and you wouldnt believe the size of the hut they all sleep in... honestly, its not as big as the bathroom in my house with mud walls and a straw roof... Sella showed me where she sleeps. It was just a place on the dirt floor. No bed, not even a mat.. just the earth.. It broke my heart! How could we ever complain about anything!!! I gave her the gifts I had brought... 2 outfits, a slinky, a few blow up balls, some pencils, paper, a bracelet, some polly pockets, and a few other little toys. She loved it all. Then they asked us to sit down outside and Sellas family presented me with gifts... a chicken (yes, a real live chicken!!), some wooden spoons, some pumpkins and some sweet potatoes. I couldn't believe that as little as they had to give, they still gave me all these things. They as well as the other families are so grateful for their sponsors.. This program really is giving them hope and life!!!

After saying goodbye, we travelled a short distance to meet some of the other children, inlcuding Jesse's boy and Ben's boy Nelson. When we arrived at Nelsons home, the women were again singing to welcome us.. and Nelson was in the center, with a cover over his head.. like a surprise who was waiting to be unveiled! Ben lifted the cover from his head and met the little boy that his family has been talking about and writing to for almost 2 years now. Nelson, like some of the others, was also very very shy but he was glad to meet Ben and his family and again presented him with similar gifts, including another live chicken! So very very sweet, so very happy that we came!

After meeting several more of the children in our sponsorship program, we went to see the new hospital clinic that World Visions sponsorship program has built... they are so excited to have this clinic which will be primarily to help HIV/ AIDS patients and also is a maternity ward for mothers who otherwise would have to deliver at home. There were several dozen caregivers there who were so gracious to us and answered alot of questions about the programs. We even got to meet one of their clients, a lady with 5 children who is frail and suffering from TB. She told us how much the WV Caregivers have blessed and helped her and was grateful for all WV has done for her. It was overwhelming to feel like such a help to them all.

After a great long first day in the village, we retired back to the guesthouse where supper was waiting: Sorta fried chicken, sweet potatoes, collared greens, shima (like grit patties) and other local vegetables. Then we had some delicious watermelon and pineapple for dessert. We had to be really careful not to eat anything that wasnt boiled or that they had made with their water... we had to drink only bottled water, even to brush our teeth... because its easy to get sick from what we are not used to. The food was delicious..and the women who cooked prepared it with much love.

Time for bed now.. a twin size bed, 3 in each room, with a treated mosquito net hanging over each and a few spiders (apparently harmless) beaming at us from the top of the walls. Oh, and I shouldnt forget the shrill sounds of the bats coming from the rooftop. Sweet dreams! LOL

More soon... Sonya and the Mazungos (their word for white people) LOL!!

Musele

2009-05-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

I received a short message from Sonya today. They wanted everyone to know they have arrived at the village of Musele. They are safe and they are having a wonderful trip. She is eager to blog about their adventure as soon as she has internet connection. Thank you for the prayers! Keep sending them up!!

Lisa

The Isaacs meet a fan in Zambia

2009-05-13T19:37:00.000-05:00

Hi yall.

Today we are leaving the capitol of Zambia.. Lusaka.. And flying a small plane to Solwezi.. The closest big city to Musele. In the airport today we were greeted by a huge fan.. Mr Vivian Saws, Who sees us on the Gaither shows here in Africa! So cool! He recognized us and was so excited to meet us! He wants us to come to Zambia to sing.. Go God!

All is well on the trip.. We are safe and feel so blessed to be here with World Vision. Just a little tired from all the travels.

More asap.. Keep us in your prayers! Pray especially for safety, and that we can touch the lives of all those we meet this week. Thank you so much...

Gods blessings!

Sonya and the Gang

Safe Arrival in Johannesburg South Africa

2009-05-12T18:28:00.000-05:00

Updated at bottom of post + a few photos

Hey everyone! Just wanted to try to keep you in the loop on our trip to Musele Village in Zambia with World Village! This first blog will be a little short but I just wanted to let yall know we have made it this far with no trouble... After 28 hours travel time including a 4 hour layover in Detroit and another 4 hrs in Amsterdam we are in Johannesburg South Africa. We are spending the night here and flying out at 10:50am for Zambia in the morning. I don't know if I will have internet on a lot of the trip but I will do my best to blog. Keep us in your prayers please! We are coming home the 20th...

Love and Blessings!

Sonya

I received a brief message from Lily today.......they have arrived safely in Zambia. She said they haven't had a chance to see very much yet and they are very tired. They will be flying to the village of Musele tomorrow and will be meeting and spending time with their sponsored children. They will be "camping out" for the next three days. Lily says thank you for praying and please don't stop now.

Lisa

Becky, Jakobi, Lily, Sonya & Levi and representative

from World Vision - at the airport - ready to fly

The Isaacs waiting to board

Ben with Heidi - the videographer filming their trip

The Isaacs in Paducah, KY

2009-05-05T14:33:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs return to Paducah, KY on May 30th at 6:00pm.

Don't miss this great concert. Get your tickets now!

Click on photo to view Concert poster

A Great Evening of Music

2009-05-05T14:13:00.000-05:00

Join The Isaacs in Rector, AR on August 4th along with Guy Penrod (former Gaither Vocal Band member), Dailey & Vincent (a hot new Bluegrass group), Russ Taff & funny guy Kevin Williams. The concert starts at 6:30pm and will be held at the Rector High School gym 600 Block, 5th St. Rector, AR.

Tickets go on sale May 15 and are $50 for orchestra seats and with the purchase of each ticket you receive a gift bag with products valued at more than $50. General admission is $20. Tickets may by purchased at the Arkansas State University ticket office in Jonesboro by calling 870-972-2781 or at their website at http://www2.astate.edu/tickets/. Tickets purchased early will be mailed.

We hope to see you there.

South Africa

2009-05-03T08:51:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs are about to embark on a trip to South Africa. No concerts are planned this time. They will be visiting their World Vision sponsored village in Zambia. Your prayers are much appreciated for a safe trip. Thank you for sponosoring a child through World Vision.

We would love to hear about your sponsored child and how you correspond. Send your World Vision stories to share with others. Email to info@theisaacs.com and we will post your story on our World Vision blog.

Hannah Montana? It's Sonya Isaacs!

2009-04-20T17:40:00.000-05:00

Last summer I was invited to be a backup singer in the new Hannah Montana movie that just came out! My friend Lisa (she's on my right in the scene) was my publisher at Disney Music Publishing, and she asked Jessi (another Disney writer) and me to join her as backup singers for Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus on 2 songs during the movie. We couldnt believe it! Actresses!! lol... We were given the opportunity to write songs as well, but I didnt have any luck with it... Jessi, on the otherhand,(btw: she's the girl to my left in the scene) had some amazing luck.... She and our friend Jon Mabe cowrote the smash hit "The Climb" which is now a HUGE song for Miley! What a great song.. and a great performance by Ms. Cyrus!!

We filmed for 3 days in Smiley Hollow Campground, located in Goodlettsville, TN, in the dead heat of the summer last June (08)... In spite of the 95 degree days with no a/c on set, we had an amazing time and got to hang out with the wonderful cast of Hannah Montana. Miley is very sweet, and is such a great actress... and all the other cast members were so down to earth and friendly too. It was an unforgettable experience and I feel blessed for the opportunity to be in it. I believe good clean entertainment is important these days. Kids need to be presented movies like this one that teach you to keep dreaming, but keep your feet on the ground! Hope you enjoy the movie!!

Sonya

Isaacs update

2009-04-16T08:08:00.000-05:00

Many of you have written recently inquiring about the A capella album that the Isaacs have been working on. I wanted to update you on that process. Lily says they have almost completed the album, just a little more to do. They don't have a definite release date yet, but we will be sure to post that here as soon as we know something for sure. They also have not definitely decided on a title for the project. There were so many great ideas sent in here on the blog and they also have a few great ones they came up with. Stay tuned here for more info. as it becomes available.

If you haven't heard yet, our very own Sonya Isaacs is in the brand new, just released Hannah Montana movie. Keep a close eye on the blog as we will have some news for you about that in the next few days.

The Isaacs hit the road again last night after having a few days off for Spring Break. Catch them in concert if you can!! View the tour schedule HERE.

Blessings,
Lisa

The Isaacs sisters big winners at 2009 SGN Music Awards

2009-04-15T22:31:00.000-05:00

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The 2009 SGN Music Awards were handed out last night at a special concert celebration in Smyrna, Tennessee to a capacity crowd. The Booth Brothers were the big winners of the night - winning five awards. The group took home their second award for Album of the Year for the critically acclaimed Room For More project. That album was also awarded Progressive Southern Album of the Year. The group was also awarded Male Group of the Year and Best Live Performer. In addition, Michael Booth was awarded Male Vocalist of the Year.

Mike & Kelly Bowling won three awards. The group’s #1 hit “Your Cries Have Awoken the Master” was awarded Song of the Year and Progressive Southern Song of the Year. The trio’s debut recording, Faith to Believe, also won Country/Bluegrass Album of the Year.

Songwriting siblings Becky & Sonya Isaacs also won three awards over the course of the evening – including Songwriter of the Year (Artist). The sisters also took home two more awards for writing the Mike & Kelly Bowling song “Your Cries Have Awoken the Master.”

Click Here to read the entire article and to see a list of the winners.

Touring Stirling Castle and Our First Concert in Scotland

2009-03-27T19:05:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Scotland. Feels like its close to 60° and we are heading out for our 3 hour drive to Northeastern Scotland to the town of Peterhead. We are having a great time, and making new friends all the while! Yesterday was a fun, adventurous day for us! We had several hours to go to the Stirling Castle… where we learned about the legendary William Wallace “Braveheart” from the Scottish insiders! The castle was built in the 1500s and has been preserved and restored to allow tourists to enjoy its history. We were fascinated to learn about King James V and also visited the Regimental Museum inside the castle where we learned about the history of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. There were 1000nds of pictures, stories and remains from the Scottish soldiers gear, and we saw uniforms and machinery that had been used during wartime! We saw our first KILT yesterday!! I cant imagine these men having to go to war wearing them… wasn’t it hard to fight in a skirt? Didn’t their legs get cold? However difficult it may have been for them to battle in (and that is just my speculation) , the kilts were absolutely beautiful and the tradition of the Scottish uniform is marvelous to see!

After lunch in the town of Stirling, we headed to the Dobbie Hall for our concert that night in Larbert, Scotland. This was an older, smaller venue, seating about 400 people, but it allowed for more of an intimate atmosphere with the audience. Most of the people there, as was the case in N. Ireland are HUGE Gaither fans (they all pronounce it “Gether” lol), so they were familiar with us through the DVDs. They seemed excited from the get-go, and by the end of the night they stood and clapped for more.. J There was another family performing last night. The Gardiners. They are from Peterhead Scotland, and are a mother, father and 2 children.. They were fantastic! Beautiful tight family harmony performed southern gospel style! We are singing with them again tomorrow night.

When we were in the Faroe Islands last year, we were booked at a festival with a well-known Christian rock band in the UK called Superhero. We had a little time to get to know them and then on the way home from the Faroes ran into them again in Copenhagen airport… Long story short, we became good friends and have kept in touch with them via email. Well, two of the guys came to see us sing last night! Johnny and Tim, some super sweet guys surprised us at the concert and even stayed to eat. They are coming to Eastern America in May, so check out their website (www.superhero.org.uk or www.myspace.com/superherouk) and if you like Christian rock, go see them! They are very passionate about Jesus and are fun to know!

We finally wrapped up the concert about 11:00 last night (started at 8 and had an intermission) and headed over to the Pastor’s house for … you guessed it, Chinese take out (they say take away here)… Yummy! Pastor Michael Rollo and his wife Diane along with their kids were an absolute joy to meet and wonderful people! We had time to eat supper with them the night we got into town and we laughed and laughed for hours! Then they took us to the shortest street in the UK… “Tollbooth Street’.. it was only

58 feet long! We’d call it an alley in the USA..lol… But quite a cool experience!!

We are nearing Peterhead now… and are looking forward to another fresh fish and chips supper tonight! MMMMM!!! I will talk to you soon.. Thanks for reading, and keep us in your prayers!

Sonya and the I’s.

Sightseeing and Mum's Day!

2009-03-25T06:55:00.000-05:00

We have had a few days this week that we used to go explore the countryside of Northern Ireland… and let me tell you, it is breathtaking! On Saturday before our concert we headed to Port Rush for some delicious fish and chips and enjoyed the peaceful shoreline scenery ! Then we headed up to Bush Mills and to the Causeway Coast, where we visited the legendary “Giant’s Causeway”. It was so amazing.. Stacks of hardened lava have formed pillars of stepping stones out into the ocean and up high above sea level. We carefully climbed as high as we could and took some great pictures! We will try to get you some pics as soon as we can. We had to head back to Belfast for load in later that day.

Our other adventure day was Sunday,… Our hosts for the day, Leslie and Carol Ann Brown (sweet people!) wouldn’t tell us where we were going so they could surprise us! We drove about 2 hours and got onto a wee ferry for a wee ride across Strangford Lough (Lake)… we saw miles of yellow flowers blooming from bushes (Carol Ann said they traditionally used the dye from them to color Easter eggs!) and then after about 40 minutes we arrived at our surprise destination: a place called Down Patrick in the southeast part of the country. We were at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral and next to it was the cemetery where St. Patrick was buried in the 12th century!! Did you know that Saint Patrick (his name was Patrick Brennan) is from Britain, the son of a wealthy landowner? When he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland where he was sold into slavery. He escaped to France, but one night in a dream he heard the voice of the Irish calling him back and felt called to go back and witness to those who had mistreated him. How Patrick answered that call and brought Christianity to Ireland is one of the most splendid stories in history!

We weren’t able to go into the church because it was closed due to the holiday. Yesterday was “Mothers Day” in Ireland! And its so adorable how they all say “Mum” instead of Mom. Even the cards all say Mum on them!! So, when you see our Mom next time, say “Hello Mum Isaacs”!

We drove around in the tourist- loved town of Newcastle and viewed the grand Mourne Mountains off in the distance. Then we stopped briefly at the majestic Slieve Donard Resort. Behind it lies the greens of the famous Royal County Down Golf Club where famous Americans such as Tiger Woods, and Bill Clinton have been spotted. That reminds me, Ben, Nathan and Thomas got to spend the first day here golfing in Portadine with Gary (the Browns son) and had a good “guy bonding” time Irish style J . Thanks for a great day Gary!! The girls and some of the guys opted to go shopping, and found some great British deals!!

After Newcastle on Sunday we drove to the Glassdrumman House, a quaint lodge nestled in the mountains, for lunch. The owner, Joan was at our concert the night before and fed us a delicious authentic meal consisting of ham, lamb, roast, potatoes (they eat A LOT of potatoes aka “spuds” here too!), cabbage, broccoli, carrots, soup and dessert. We pigged out and said goodbye to our new friend and headed back to the hotel to freshen up for church..

There is so much to see here, so much that we will have to return for! Lord willing we will come back again and again. You HAVE to come see beautiful Northern Ireland for yourself!

BTW: The wearin green or you’ll get pinched fad is American made, they don’t do that in Ireland : > ) Oh, and we managed to stay out of the pubs too…lol.

The Titanic and a Scottish Rainbow!!

2009-03-24T20:46:00.000-05:00

Today we left N. Ireland at around 11 this morning and headed for Scotland. We drove onto a ferry leaving from Belfast and rode for 2 hours across the Irish Sea… a rocky, but gorgeous ride. We were told that the Titanic was built right there in Belfast and sailed the same sea as we did!! Boy, Im glad we weren’t on it today.. Lol.

When we reached the other side, we drove off the ferry into Scotland. Our 2 hour trip began alongside the ocean at the bottom of tall green mountains and was breathtaking.. THEN we saw the most beautiful huge rainbow... Both ends touching down on the rolling emerald acres of Scottish fields!! God reminds us all the time How Great He really is. We just have to keep our eyes open! We are pinching ourselves every day because we just cant believe we are here!! We loved our time in N. Ireland, and certainly hope we can return soon, and are excited about the next 5 days in Scotland!! More to come…!!

Great concerts in Ballymena, Craigavon and Belfast!!

2009-03-23T20:43:00.000-05:00

It never ceases to amaze me how the Spirit of God unites perfect strangers! Here we are in a foreign land, learning the habits and dialects of a people we’ve only heard about, and meeting individuals we’ve never even seen… and yet we feel like family! Only God and the shared passion we have for His kingdom can unite us in such a quick heartfelt way! We are having some amazing concerts here in N. Ireland..

Our first concert was on Thursday night in Craigavon at the beautiful Civic Center. Start time, 8pm… Seats lined the aisles of the overcrowded auditorium and anxious Irish folk filled them with great anticipation! We were shocked to see such a large crowd at our first ever North Ireland performance! Our promoter Ronnie Dawson plays with a group called the “Drop Inn Country Band” and they started the evening off with about 30 minutes of great music each night! The guys in the band were so kind and tirelessly helped out with sound equipment every night… They were so much fun to watch and did a great job, and we enjoyed their humor and hearing the different accents on some popular songs we all know… “Because He Lives“, “I’ll Fly Away“, “Try A Little Kindness”, to name a few, and the crowd sang along and had a great time with them! By the time we got up, they were already warmed up and ready for more! We sang 45 minutes, then took an intermission where we invited the audience to meet us and give us song requests. We were overwhelmed by the songs that they knew and sang another 45 minutes to accommodate them. Here are some of the most requested:

“Stand Still, He Understands My Tears, Yours and Mine, Sweet Holy Spirit, Heroes, He Never Failed Me, If That Don’t Make You Wanna Go, Walk On“… to name a few…

We sang what seemed to us a long time and at the end of the night, with pictures and autographs and visiting, we were,, to say the least , a “wee bit tired”! J But it was a great night, and we were so happy to be singing to an audience who seemed anxious to listen! The former mayor of Craighaven was there and gave us a tour of the Mayors Chambers after the show. (He) Councilor Robert Smith has become a friend of the Isaacs for life!!

Friday night’s concert was in a town called Ballymena (they would pronounce town like “tine”- all the words with the “ow” sound - sound like long “I“- (now=nie, how=hi, down=dine)… .. Its so cute, and a little hard to get used to! Anyway, it was in the Seven Towers Leisure Center and the crowd was nearly full! It was a wonderful evening and seemed the most spiritual of all 3 shows. The anointing fell on Sweet Holy Spirit, and before the concert ended, we were praying together and worshiping with tears abundantly flowing everywhere. It was a fantastic night!

Our last performance in N. Ireland was in the capital, Belfast, at the Spires Centre. This was a large auditorium and was beautifully colored with careful architectural design. It was our biggest crowd yet.. 800 excited fans, most coming for the first time ever to hear us, and around 100 who came back for seconds. It was a spectacular night and seemed like the perfect finale for 3 amazing concerts.

To wind up our time here, we were invited to worship at Pastor Dawson’s church last night. He asked us to sing a few songs and Mom gave her testimony. Then he gave a wonderful message and impressed on the people to come to the Lord. One sweet 13 year old boy came up and prayed with him and hugged us all after the service telling us with teary eyes that he got saved J !!! That was worth all the hassle at immigrations in itself!! Thank God the Spirit is the same everywhere we go! After church we headed over to the Dawson’s home (where we also ate a delicious home cooked meal of lasagna, chicken pot pie and 5 different desserts the first night we came!) Then last night we had, believe it or not, Chinese food! Oh, and we also had KFC, Subway, and Dominos pizza this week.. Some things are just to good to stay in one country! LOL.. We fell in love with the entire Drop Inn Church and the precious Dawson family (especially 2 month old Caleb and 4 month old Daniel) !! Thank you all for all your hospitality. Come see us in the good ole USA any ole time!

Dixie Stampede then Ireland !?!

2009-03-22T20:03:00.000-05:00

The story of how our trip to Northern Ireland came about is so cool! We were visiting the Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge TN last summer… after the amazing show (our friend Jay Teter is one of the great hosts of the show, so we go quite often), we were leaving and heard some full Irish accented voices calling from the gift shop.. “Are you the Isaacs?”…. A group of gospel music fans from N. Ireland was visiting and recognized us as we were leaving. “ We love your music in Ireland and we want you to come sing for us next year!” So…. We exchanged contact info, feeling grateful that we were recognized, and not really expecting it to lead to an actual tour here… Sure enough, they followed through and arranged 3 concerts here, and 2 in Scotland (next weeks concerts)! Ronnie Dawson, our promoter and his wife Carolyn are hosting us this week, and are doing a fantastic job. Once we got over the jet lag, and the initial detention at immigration, we have had a brilliant time! The country side is so green, and beautiful! Cant wait to see more, and share pics with you all…

More soon… Sonya

All's Well that Doesn't End

2009-03-21T19:39:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Northern Ireland!!! Boy do we have a story for you! We have had quite a memorable adventure thus far and have finally caught a moment to fill you in!

We left Nashville TN at 2:40pm on St. Patricks Day (Mar 17th) to begin our long anticipated 10 day tour in Great Britain! How cool to be going to Ireland, where this holiday was started.. on St. Patty’s Day!!

We have always dreamed of coming to Ireland, and the UK, and were so excited that we might have gone a little overboard clothed in our “I love Ireland” tee-shirts and flashing pins! Lol…. We planned to surprise our hosts with this patriotic attire, and were, as cheesy as it was, green to the max.. nobody was getting pinched on our plane! After a 3 ½ hr layover in Newark, we left at

9:30pm that night for our direct flight to Belfast, N.Ireland. The flight was 6 hours long but smooth.. And with our 5 hour time change, we landed safely in Belfast around 8 the next morning. This is where the story begins:

We got our carry ons and headed toward the customs/ immigration to flash our passports and proceed to get our luggage and meet our promoter Ronnie and the pick-up crew… Ben was first in line.. He flashed his passport and began to answer the string of questions the immigration officer had for him.. She soon learned that we are a band here to play some concerts and quickly asked for the proper documentation to enter the country under the working clause. Oopsy… we didn’t have any papers to show her!! She asked us to sit in the corner and wait till the end of the line so she could deal with us together. After waiting for about 45 minutes, she finally finished checking the other passengers through and came to talk to us… We were starting to get concerned, but none of us knew the seriousness of what she was unveiling. After speaking to our promoter, and her chief officer, she returned to tell us that this is not a good situation and we would most likely be denied entry into N. Ireland! What? Are you kidding me?? We just flew half way around the world, we are exhausted, and there are thousands of ticket holders expecting to see 6 concerts within the next 10 days! Denied entry? There MUST be some mistake! We waited longer as she left to draw up some papers. We were then taken to wait in another room downstairs. So, security searched our bags and padded us down, then took us to a freeeezing room where a few officers stayed with us.. FOR THE NEXT 6 HOURS!!! Wow.. We were so exhausted, no sleep in 24 hours, hungry, cold and worried. After about 4 hours, they sent a lady with papers and a finger printing machine. We ALL had to get fingerprinted, and had a mug shot taken!! How did we become criminals all of a sudden??!! (least that’s how it felt!) This less than nice immigration officer certainly was taking her time in getting anything done. I guess in hind sight it was good because it allowed our promoter to get in touch with some powerful people who started working immediately to fix the problem. We did have some extra nice security officers guarding us though, and they got us water, tea and cappuccinos and some sandwiches to hush our growling tummies… Thanks Amanda and Adam, and the other nice guards whose names I cant recall… A few of them even watched our live from Norway DVD on Becky’s computer while we waited…

About an hour after our fingerprinting, the officer came back in with a handful of documents, which she proceeded to pass out to each of us. “These are your papers saying that you have been DENIED entry to the country. We have rebooked your flights and you will be flying home in 30 hours. We are keeping your passports and you must report at 7:30 Friday morning to collect them and fly home or you will be arrested. You also will be arrested if you perform during your temporary stay.” Whoa !!! That was verrrrry disappointing news! Then the part that sent Becky through the roof… She continued “Only the 7 onstage have to leave. The children (Levi and Jakobi, Becky’s kids are with us) and Steve (also traveling with us to help out) will be keeping their original flights home on the 28th…” Seriously? They expect the kids to stay in Ireland without their family? That part was ridiculous and when Becky lividly stated that she would NOT leave her kids , the officer suggested we talk to the airline to change their flights too. WOW… That was shocking!

When they finally released us to go to the hotel for the night, we tried to stop at the airline desk to change the kids flights, but they were closed for the night. We called everyone we could think of to start a prayer chain to help get this ruling reversed… and we crashed that night, trusting that God would take care of it!

We slept until 11:30 the next morning, just exhausted, and woke up to a phone call… Ronnie called Moms room to tell us that his friends (and Gospel Music Fans) in government and the Parliament had convinced the immigration control to allow us to stay, and to perform!!!! Praise the Lord! Thank you Ronnie, and all the invisible heroes who worked so hard to help reverse this decision, it is not a frequent happening here! Jakobi answered the phone when Levi called our room to tell us the news, and it was the cutest thing ever! Her eyes got as big as saucers and with happiest, most excited voice I’ve ever heard, she shouted out to us “Don’t pack your bags! We’re staying!!!” AHHHH!! What a relief… What a BIG GOD!!

Yes, what a BIG GOD!! He is our Comforter and our Provider. Prayer is so powerful!! It not only brings peace when your back is to the wall, but it moves mountains too!!! We know that He has called us to be here and only time will tell the reason the enemy fought us so hard to keep us away. The Lord is triumphant and we Praise His Holy Name for seeing us through!

Thankfully, we got our passports back and have been able to enjoy the rest of our trip so far. I will try to blog more this week.. So stay tuned for more from Northern Ireland!!!

Sonya & the gang

Current Ireland Time

2009-03-17T20:35:00.000-05:00

The Isaacs are touring Ireland and Scotland. They have 5 concerts planned over the next few days. Join us in praying for their safety as they travel.

To read some responses from concert attendees the last two nights.....click on comments at the bottom of this post. Emails are coming in and also some photos from concerts. Nathan's mom Peggy has been keeping us updated and it sounds like they are having a great time. Ben, Nathan and Thomas played a little golf yesterday with the promoter and really enjoyed it. Hopefully we'll hear from some of the Isaacs sometime this weekend.

Blessings!

Photos from Craigavon Civic Center 3-19-09

Photos from Belfast 3-21-09

A few photos from Hoofers Gospel Barn in Lagrange, GA

2009-03-17T08:02:00.000-05:00

Saturday March 14th, 2009

by Peggy Fauscett

The Isaacs in Fork Union, VA March 6th, 2009

2009-03-17T07:43:00.000-05:00

A GREAT WEEK END WITH THE ISAACS.............by Carl Bagby

THE ISAACS GOT INTO FORK UNION ON FRIDAY ABOUT 10 AM AFTER DRIVING MOST OF THE NIGHT FROM NASHVILLE. FORK UNION IS A MILITARY ACADEMY LOCATED IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS OF VIRGINIA. THE SCHOOL THRIVES ON DISCIPLINE AND SCHOLASTICS. MANY ATHLETES PREP FOR COLLEGE HERE. THEY PRESENTLY HAVE 13 GRADUATES PLAYING FOOTBALL IN THE NFL. COLONEL FRED HARDY HAS HAD 5 FUTURE OLYMPIANS RUN THROUGH HIS TRACK AND FIELD PROGRAM.

LILY ASKED COLONEL FRED, " WHY US,?" MEANING WHY DID FUMA CHOOSE THE ISAACS TO COME AND PERFORM AT THE SCHOOL. FRED AND I HAD SEEN THE ISAACS FOR THE FIRST TIME AT GRAVES MOUNTAIN IN '03 AND WE WERE SMITTEN WITH THEIR MUSIC. HE WAS THE MAIN IMPETUS BEHIND BRINGING THE ISAACS TO FORK UNION LAST YEAR WITH FUNDS A PARENT HAD GIVEN THE SCHOOL TO DO SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR THE CADETS AND FACULTY. THAT SOMETHING SPECIAL WAS THE ISAACS. IT’S NO WONDER THE ISAACS WERE BACK FOR A SECOND YEAR.

THE TEMPERATURE WAS IN THE 70S, WITH A WARM GENTLE WIND BLOWING ACROSS CAMPUS AS FRED ESCORTED THE ISAACS TO THE MESS HALL: A FAR CRY FROM THE SINGLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES AND A 9-INCH SNOWSTORM A FEW DAYS EARLIER THAT HAD KNOCKED OUT POWER, PHONES, AND THE HEAT. IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT AT MANY TOUR STOPS, THE LOCAL FOLKS GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO PROVIDE WONDERFUL MEALS FOR THE ISAACS. BUT THEY DO HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO EAT WHAT IS PLACED BEFORE THEM AND SMILE. THE BILL OF FARE AT A MILITARY SCHOOL IS, SHALL WE SAY, SPARTAN.

AFTER LUNCH, COLONEL FRED HAD ARRANGED TO HAVE CADETS HELP THE ISAACS UNLOAD AND SET UP. THEY DO HAVE IT DOWN TO A SCIENCE, WITH MIKES, SPEAKERS, SOUND BOARDS- INSTRUMENTS ALL NEATLY PACKED AWAY IN CRATES THAT THEY WHEEL ABOUT ON DOLLIES. THEN THEY HAVE TO SET IT ALL UP AND DO A SOUND CHECK. THE GIRLS HELP ON THEIR END BY PUTTING UP THE PRODUCTS TABLE. THE WHOLE PROCESS TAKES A COUPLE HOURS. AND AFTER MAKING SPECIAL MUSIC........ALL THIS HAS TO GO BACK INTO THE BOXES AND BE CAREFULLY LOADED BACK ONTO THE TRAILER BEFORE THEY LEAVE FOR THE NEXT STOP.

DINNER AGAIN IN THE MESS HALL BROUGHT COMMANDANT AL. HE, SONYA AND BEN BANTERED BACK AND FORTH WITH PLAYFUL TEASING. THEN THE ARTISTS WENT BACK TO THE BUS TO GET READY FOR THE BIG SHOW. THE ISAACS PLAYED BEFORE A PACKED HOUSE OF 6OO+- ALL THEY COULD FIT INTO THE CHAPEL. WITH COLONEL FRED, AS WITH THE ISAACS, IT'S ALL ABOUT FAMILY. (SEE PIC) FRED'S WIFE JO, TWO SONS AND A GIRLFRIEND, HIS OLDEST SON, WIFE AND TWO GRANDCHILDREN, AND HIS IN-LAWS WERE ALL THERE. FRIENDS ANDY AND ELLEN CAME IN FROM WARRENTON, AND KIT AND RUSTY FROM VIRGINIA BEACH. THEY WERE PART OF THE ROLLICKING, FOOT-STOMPING FRONT ROW CROWD THAT REALLY GOT INTO THE MUSIC. A FEW BARS INTO THE FIRST SONG, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THIS AUDIENCE WAS GOING TO BE INTO THE SHOW ALL NIGHT. IT WAS THE MOST ENTHUSIASTIC AND PARTICIPATORY ISAACS AUDIENCE I’D EVER SEEN.

LILY TOLD ALL ABOUT HER PERSONAL JOURNEY FROM THE DEATH CAMPS OF EASTERN EUROPE TO A JEWISH GIRL SINGING GOSPEL MUSIC. SHE RELATED HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS FOR A JEWISH GIRL RAISED IN THE JEWISH TRADITION TO FIND JESUS IN A SMALL COUNTRY CHURCH AND FORSAKE ALL FOR HER BELIEFS. SHE TOLD THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS LIBERATING HER MOTHER AND FATHER AND THE IMPORTANCE TO OUR WONDERFUL COUNTRY OF THOSE WHO SERVE IN UNIFORM. SHE RELATED HOW, HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THESE SOLDIERS LIBERATING HER PARENTS SHE WOULD NOT BE STANDING HERE TODAY. THIS WAS AN ESPECIALLY POWERFUL MESSAGE HEAR AT FUMA, A MILITARY SCHOOL WITH A LONGSTANDING MILITARY TRADITION. THEN SONYA STEPPED ONE STEP DOWN OFF THE STAGE AND BEGAN THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER. BECKY STEPPED DOWN BEHIND HER AND BEGAN HER HARMONY, AND THEN BEN FOLLOWED. WHAT AN AWESOME, POWERFUL MOMENT! THIS AUDIENCE, WITH MANY CADETS AND RETIRED MILITARY, STOOD WITH HAND -OVER -CHEST AT RAPPED ATTENTION, IN DEEP REVERENCE. THERE WAS MANY A MOIST CHEEK. I DO KNOW THAT SINGING THIS PATRIOTIC SONG IS DIFFICULT. NO ONE - - NO ONE BRINGS THIS NATIONAL ANTHEM OFF LIKE THE ISAACS.

COMMANDANT AL WOULD GET HIS TURN. SONYA INVITED HIM UP ON STAGE TO DO THE BROTHER /SISTER PART SOLO OF "IF THAT DON'T MAKE YA. WANT TO." I CAN TELL YOU THE ISAACS GREATLY ENJOYED THIS PART. CHECK OUT THE PICS. THE AUDIENCE..........THE CADETS WERE RAUCOUS.

FUEL FOR THE TANK: I DIDN'T GET TO RELATE THIS TO THE ISAACS. A GOOD FRIEND OF OURS, WHO IS A FINANCIAL ADVISOR, HAS NATURALLY HAD A TOUGH YEAR EMOTIONALLY IN THIS CURRENT MARKET. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE SHEER JOY ON HIS AND HIS WIFE'S FACES. FOR THIS MAGICAL EVENING, THE DEPRESSION MELTED AWAY. I ALSO MET HEATH AND ALICE FROM BUCKINGHAM COUNTY. HEATH HAD BEEN INJURED RECENTLY AND WAS IN A WHEELCHAIR. THEY HAD NEVER SEEN THE ISAACS BEFORE BUT HAD BEEN LISTENING TO THEIR CDS. THEY HAD COME EARLY TO GET A GOOD SEAT. LILY HAD INSISTED I TAKE AN EXTRA DVD WHEN I TRIED TO MAKE A DIESEL DONATION. I MARCHED RIGHT BACK DOWN TO MY SEAT AND GAVE THEM THE DVD. THE ISAACS TOUCHED THESE PEOPLE VERY DEEPLY THIS NIGHT. I KNOW TOO THAT THE MESSAGE THE ISAACS HAD FOR THESE YOUNG IMPRESSIONABLE CADETS WAS REAL AND WELL-RECEIVED.

EVEN THOUGH THE ISAACS HAD MANY MILES TO GO TO BE READY FOR THEIR NEXT STOP IN GRANITE FALLS, NC, THEY BACKED THE BUS DOWN THE ROAD AND SHARED SOME QUALITY TIME WITH COLONEL FRED AND HIS FAMILY. FRED'S FOUR-YEAR-OLD GRANDSON WAS STARSTRUCK, AND SONYA, YOU HAVE A NEW ADMIRER.

LISA HILDRETH TOLD US ABOUT THE ISAACS IN GRANITE FALLS, NC ON SATURDAY. SONYA ASKED LISA AND WADE TO STAND AND ACKNOWLEDGED THEM FOR THEIR TIME AND CONTRIBUTIONS WITH THE WEBSITE AND OTHER MATTERS. SHE RECOGNIZED GINA BLACK AND DAVID CARMACK AND HIS FAMILY FOR THE SUPPORT THEY LEND THE ISAACS ON THE ROAD. ALL THESE GOOD FOLKS PLAY A ROLE IN PERPETUATING AND EXPANDING THE ISAACS MINISTRY.

GOD BLESS THE ISAACS, THEIR MUSIC, MESSAGE, THEIR MINISTRY, THEIR HEART AND SOUL.

The Isaacs in North Carolina

2009-03-08T13:39:00.000-05:00

by Lisa Hildreth

The Isaacs made an appearance in North Carolina on Saturday night. Granite Falls was the place. A nice little town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The day was warm, almost hot as the temperature was up around 75 degrees. The stage was set and 6:00pm sharp The Isaacs entered the auditorium. The rest is history........

When we arrived at the church around 4:00 The Isaacs were just finishing up their sound check. They had gotten a late start with set up as there was some confusion on the bus about what time the concert started. Some thought 7:00pm but it was actually scheduled for 6:00pm. They finished up and I went to the bus to catch up with Lily. I got to listen to some rough recordings of their new acapella project. I say rough because the songs haven't been mastered yet, but it didn't sound too rough to me. It's gonna be amazing! I can't wait to have a copy in my hands and for each of you to have one also.

Soon the bus got crowded as everyone came in to start getting dressed. I made my way back to the auditorium to find my hubby who was chatting with my friend Gina and my other friend Carl Bagby. The auditorium was filling up. Final count for the night was over 900 people in attendance. The concert was awesome. One of the sweetest parts is when Lily came forward and shared her testimony. I've said this before, but it always brings me to tears. She is indeed a very special lady and her story is so special. She is still working on her book about her life story and believe me it will be worth the wait.

The Isaacs are gearing up for a trip to Ireland in a couple of weeks. We'll be sure to have some blogging and photos from their trip.

Speaking of photos, Tracy Pyle shared these photos from Granite Falls last night.

2009 National Quartet Convention

2009-03-07T14:07:00.000-06:00

The Isaacs will be appearing at the National Quartet Convention again this year. Their schedule has recently changed and they will now appear on the main stage on Tuesday night September 15th and Saturday night September 19th.

For more information visit natqc.com

Cruise with The Isaacs in 2010

2009-03-04T09:33:00.000-06:00

The Isaacs recently returned from a fabulous cruise with Templeton Tours. Plans are already in the works for the "Singing at Sea" cruise 2010.

Visit this link to read all the cruise information. You can read all about the cruise ship, scheduled entertainers, etc. The Isaacs would like to encourage you to make your reservation online right away. Some cabin selections are already sold out and the rest won't last long. All you need is a $200.00 deposit to reserve your reservation.

If you would like me to email you a brochure just email me at Lisa@theisaacs.com and be sure to put Cruise 2010 in the subject line of your email. I can also mail you a brochure. Be sure to list The Isaacs as your host on your application!!

Make your plans now to join The Isaacs on this wonderful trip.

Templeton Tour cruise 2010

The Isaacs travel to the Pacific Northwest

2009-02-15T15:49:00.000-06:00

Come hear the Isaacs in Portland, Oregon on February 20, 2009! Simply go to www.iTickets.com to get your tickets online or call 1-800-965-9324. We’re excited to be appearing in the Pacific Northwest and don’t want you to miss this special event. You’ll hear songs from our latest album, BIG SKY, our second release for Gaither Music Group. Nothing expresses God’s love and mercy quite like a powerful song. Bring your friends and family and experience an incredible evening—a unique fusion of blue grass, gospel, and country!

February 20, 2009 – 7:00 p.m.

Central Bible Church

8815 NE Glisan Street

Portland, OR 97220

General Admission: $12 advance; $15 at the door

Gold Circle: $16 advance only

NOTE: Service charge applies. Gold Circle tickets not available at the door. Groups of 10 or more can receive a 10% discount on General Admission tickets purchased in advance.

2009-02-15T14:35:00.000-06:00

The Isaacs at First Baptist Church of Lake Wales, Florida

February 14th, 2009

by: Tammy Wells

The Isaacs did an outstanding job at the First Baptist Church of Lake Wales. They were looking sharp in brown and with the glow of sun on their skin. The Isaacs had just finished a Gospel cruise that went to Mexico and Grand Cayman Island.

The singing and playing were outstanding. The Isaacs did many of their best songs. They started off with the upbeat "Great is Thy Reward" which features Ben on Vocals. Of course the night would not be complete with out the popular "Blue Grass Medley". Becky did a very passionate "Through the Valley". Becky's vocals continue to amaze me. Her voice is so strong and just fills the room. They also did "I Have a Father", "The One I'm Dying For", and "It is Well". It was an outstanding first half.

In the second half they did some requested songs. In honor of Valentines day Becky sang "Thats alright by me". Becky also did a couple of more songs that she is featured on including the often requested "Stand Still" which is always so moving. She also sang with Sonya the song "Lord I thank You for Touching me today". I'm not sure if that is the title but this song ministered to me in a very special way. The whole evening was very moving and filled with great fun. I can't think of a better way to spend my Valentines Day than being where the one who loves us most is honored.

The night in fact was a great success as some came by the tables to tell the Isaacs that their music and ministry had touched them and that they were rededicating their life to Christ. What an awesome Valentine!

As always the evening is over way too soon and it's time for the Isaacs to pack up and head to the next stop.

I am so thankful for the Isaacs and their music and ministry. It has meant so much to me and my life.

I hope you will try and see the Isaacs soon. You will be blessed!

God Bless,

Tammy

Bon Voyage!

2009-02-09T19:36:00.000-06:00

Photo by Becky Isaacs Bowman
See more photos from our cruise HERE

The Isaacs left today on a cruise with Templeton Tours. See below a detailed description of the cruise.

About 4:00pm EST this afternoon I heard from both Sonya and Becky. They send their love and these photos! They were aboard the ship in Tampa, Florida and they were heading out. We hoped to have a blog or two from them this week but Becky said they would not have use of their phones or computers. She said they would take lots of pictures to share with everyone! Have fun Isaacs!!!

TEMPLETON TOURS has chartered Carnival Cruise Line’s Inspiration for this Southern Gospel Music Cruise. The bars, casinos, and slot machines are closed and the ship’s entertainers are replaced by inspired preachers of the gospel and THE BEST IN SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC.

Our first stop of the cruise will be the resort island of Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman is kissed by sparkling, turquoise waters…where you can enjoy virtually every water sport you can imagine. Snorkel with stingrays go scuba diving, sport fishing or just relax along the island’s most magnificent stretch of oceanfront, Seven Mile Beach. Thursday morning we arrive at Cozumel, a resort town of fashionable shops and beautiful beaches. Cozumel is world-renowned for the superb diving opportunities it offers, including Palancar Reef, home to thousands of kinds of brilliantly colored fish. Shop til you drop, dive in, or just kick back on a sun drenched Mexican beach and say ‘adios’ to all of your everyday concerns.

Our home for this adventure will be Carnival Cruise Line's Inspiration. The newly remodeled Inspiration features a world class spa, putt-putt, and a three-story water park for the young and young at heart. During the cruise you will enjoy gourmet delights and sumptuous buffets. From the Welcome Aboard buffet to the 24 hour Pizzeria, you will not have a chance to get hungry. The Inspiration also offers a complete children's program with supervised activities for ages 2-15 each day. Kids can enjoy treasure hunts, movies, video games, ice cream parties, and even their own swimming pool. While the children enjoy supervised activities, you can enjoy inspiring Bible study or great Gospel music. This is the ideal vacation for the family.

You will enjoy Christian fellowship, comedy, preaching, and Great Southern Gospel Music every day. The week is yours to relax and enjoy vacationing in a Christian atmosphere.

2009 SGN Music Awards

2009-02-05T21:27:00.000-06:00

The voting has begun.........

Click HERE to vote for The Isaacs!

Voting ends on February 15th.

Thanks for voting for The Isaacs!!!

Concert Review from Hawkinsville, GA

2009-02-02T06:05:00.000-06:00

The Isaacs in Hawkinsville, Ga.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

My husband Randy and I made the trip down to Hawkinsville on Friday with plans to attend both Isaacs shows at the Hawkinsville Opera House. The Opera House is a beautiful, historical building that was originally constructed in 1907. It isn’t huge, it only seats about 380. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in character.

We had dinner on Friday night with friends Peggy Fauscett, Kemper Meadows, Tammy Wells and Lucy Dudding. We were all looking forward to the concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Peggy is of course, the mother of The Isaacs drummer Nathan Fauscett. The concerts were to honor her late husband, Byron Fauscett whom we lost about two years ago. Byron was a very much loved man and he is truly missed by his family and friends. Everyone involved, which seemed to include most of the town, did a wonderful job of honoring the memory of Mr. Byron Fauscett.

The Isaacs enjoyed lunch on Saturday with some folks from Peggy and Nathan’s church, including Nathan’s high school band leader. Tammy, Lucy, Randy and I went out for some light shopping, a street tour of some of the old homes in Hawkinsville, then a spaghetti lunch at The Horse Shoe Restaurant. We met The Isaacs at the Opera House at 1:00 for the load out and set up.

It is always interesting to see the transformation that comes over the band members when the trailer door opens. They systematically start rolling boxes and carts of equipment off the trailer into the venue and the work begins. All the equipment has to be unpacked and set up-----just right. Folks, there is so much more to this than just unpacking the instruments and singing. Ben does a great job getting the sound just right for each venue. Sound check is an interesting experience, too. It went quickly in the opera house because of the attention that was paid to the science of acoustics when the place was built.

The show was scheduled for 7pm. We had our choice of seats but we soon found that there was not a bad seat in the house. The Saturday show was sold out weeks ago. It didn’t take the place long to fill with excited fans and friends. The Isaacs had two friends traveling with them for the weekend, Tim Dillman of Music City Coach and Mike Bilanchi from World Vision. In addition to Randy and me, Tammy Wells and her mom Lucy Dudding drove up from Brandon, Florida. Dee and Mary Hill drove up from Murrell’s Inlet, SC. The Beckers were down from TN. And might I add, Peggy and Nathan had a friend or two there!

The Isaacs took the stage in black and silver. They gave an awesome performance for the first half of the show. The sound was perfect. We were pleased to see John Bowman filling in for Thomas Wywrot. Thomas had a prior obligation for the weekend when he came on full time with the Isaacs and they had John filling in. I love to hear John pick and his voice is wonderful. Becky was really happy to have her husband along for this special weekend.

The cajon was placed at the front of the stage so Nathan could really show off for his hometown. While playing his solo on “Walk On”, he looked around when the audience started laughing…..every member of the group had walked off stage……Nathan was out there alone. It was a total surprise to him and his expression was priceless. Sonya told me later it was Ben’s idea. Great prank, guys!

There was an intermission and then the second half of the show. The concert promoter, Norman Bonds, called Peggy, Nathan and Kelly to the stage and talked about Byron. This is when Nathan was asked to speak about his mom and dad. Nathan was very emotional, feeling very close to his father as he talked to his hometown crowd. He spoke eloquently about his parents and what a loving home he grew up in and how great his dad was and how great his mom is. There were lots of tears shed during that time. But, I knew Nathan had a secret that he was getting ready to reveal. He finished talking about his mom and dad, and then about his new road family, The Isaacs. Suddenly, he spun around to Kelly, his girlfriend, and dropped to one knee as he pulled the diamond engagement ring from his pocket and asked her to be his wife in front of nearly 400 people! The crowd went nuts! Go Nathan! That really took some guts----especially knowing that the Isaacs band members had tortured him about it for months. You know, things like hiding the ring from him and asking what he’d do if she said no in front of all those people…..

The concert somehow continued after all that. Ben, Sonya and Becky did a new song, “I Will Praise Him”. It was an acapella that they’ve been practicing for their new CD. As you know, they are in the studio now, working with Bill Gaither to record a CD of mostly acapella songs. Ben and Bill Gaither are producing the CD and Bill asked them to try the song on their audiences to see what their reaction is. Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but it brought many of us to tears. It is a powerful old hymn and their performance was breath-taking. I don’t know how anyone who knows the Lord could listen to that performance without crying. Ben said later that he was not able to hit the high notes because he had a little bit of a sore throat. Trust me, he was mistaken. His voice was perfect doing that song. I can’t believe how The Isaacs continue to get better and better at what they do. One would think it wasn’t possible for them to improve……seems there is no room for improvement because they are so good……and then they go and kick it up another notch. Glory to God, for they are simply amazing and anointed by Him to do what they do so well.

After the show, we were treated to a great home-cooked meal at the home of Peggy Fauscett. She is such a good cook! Some of us should take lessons! We had chicken and roast, vegetables, potatoes, gravy and biscuits. There were two scrumptious desserts and plenty of iced tea. And, lots of talking, joking around and fellowship. Peggy had made a poster with the heading, “She Said Yes”. She had added some pictures of Nathan and Kelly and one questionable photo of Nathan……..it looked like he might be wearing a Barbie Band-aids shirt that was a little small for him……it made some folks ask why she said yes……..Just kidding, Nathan! We didn’t stay long after eating, everyone was very tired. We shuttled everyone back to the bus and got to bed at a reasonable time. We were all looking forward to the next day’s events.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

We were all meeting at a local restaurant, The Steakhouse, for a Sunday buffet lunch. Randy and I got ready and checked out of our hotel and drove over to the bus which was parked at the Opera House. We had a great visit with John, Ben and Mike Bilanchi while waiting for the others to finish with showers. Peggy was shuttling band members from the hotel to the bus and we’d come to offer some assistance. They all made it to the restaurant by noon…….we were supposed to be there by 11:30. We enjoyed a delicious buffet….including Nathan’s favorite, homemade macaroni and cheese. We went over and over the previous night and Nathan’s successful proposal. Sonya shared the video she made from the stage which you can now see here on the blog. Ben suddenly stood and said, “Guys, we sing in exactly one and a half hours!” We finished up and caravan back to the Opera House, actually getting everyone into a vehicle the first time. I’m not sure if there were more, but I know that at least one seat belt violation occurred………

There wasn’t a packed house on Sunday, but there was an avid crowd. The Isaacs did songs I had not heard them do in a live show. A local dobro player joined them on stage for a song. Good job, Jimmy! Then, they called Peggy Fauscett to the stage and she did a song with them playing for her. She has a great voice but the highlight of the song for me was when Lily took her mic over to the drums and Nathan harmonized with his mother! He has a great voice, too! Sonya said they had a new name, “Nathan Fauscett and The Isaacs”. This brought a huge round of applause. Then, Ben made Nathan introduce all the band members. It was hilarious!

After the show, it was load-out time. The guys got things packed up and we all stood out in the street talking and saying our good-byes. It was a rare occasion for the Isaacs bus to return to TN before the wee hours of the morning. They actually pulled out a little before 5pm.

This was a totally awesome weekend. There were many special moments. Some of the highlights for me, in no particular order, included:

The proposal (and having Nathan tell myself and my husband about it ahead of time but

making each of us promise not to tell anyone, including each other)

Seeing Tammy, Lucy, Dee, Mary, the Beckers, Kelly and Kemper

Hearing Ben, Sonya and Becky sing “I Will Praise Him”

Hearing Peggy sing

Eating Peggy’s cooking

Having time to have meaningful conversations with each member of the group and family

It was so much fun to have other fans and friends there for the weekend. Randy and I have made so many special friends because of our interest in The Isaacs and their ministry. And the group really does love seeing familiar faces in the crowd when they go different places. So, check the calendar often and look for a show near you. You won’t regret it! Thanks Peggy and Norman for a great weekend. May God continue to bless The Isaacs and each one of you!

Gina Black

Congratulations! An Engagement!

2009-02-01T22:07:00.000-06:00

Last night in his hometown of Hawkinsville, Ga, Nathan (aka Spickett) asked his beloved Kelly to be his wife. He did this right on the Isaacs concert stage on Saturday night. She said Yes!

Sonya caught it on video and shared it with us........

Please visit our gallery for more photos from Hawkinsville.

Congratulations Kelly & Nathan

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

2009-01-26T17:36:00.000-06:00

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

Saturday night in Roanoke, VA

2009-01-25T01:03:00.000-06:00

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!

SoGospelNews.com announces nominees for SGN Music Awards

2009-01-22T05:22:00.000-06:00

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.

http://sogospelnews.com/index/content/articles/sogospelnews.com-announces-nominees-for-2009-sgn-music-awards/

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**

Reporting on The Isaacs from Tyler Texas

2009-01-20T04:17:00.000-06:00

by Odie Boggs

January 19^th2009, 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

Awesome Isaacs Finale in North Carolina!

2009-01-13T21:39:00.000-06:00

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.

The 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

Fantastic Weekend in NC!

2009-01-12T23:18:00.000-06:00

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

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

2009-01-10T16:48:00.000-06:00

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!

2009-01-10T14:16:00.000-06:00

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

Messages from The Isaacs

2008-12-30T18:49:00.000-06:00

From Lily

Well, it seems as if another year is almost here!! Where did
2008 go? I am so blessed to have had such a wonderful year. Just
getting to know many of you in our concerts has been a highlight! We
pray that you all have a healthy and happy New Year. Please pray for
us whenever you think of us, and please come visit us often. God
Bless you, Lily and all the Isaacs

*******************************************************************************************

From Sonya

Hey everyone. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and managed to find some time to relax! I was busy shopping and wrapping right up till the last minute this year but caught up on my rest this week in style! Let me tell you about it...
Most of you know my sweet lil Jewish Grandma still lives in the Bronx, New York. After some tender Tennessee Christmas memories with friends and family, Nate and I took an early flight out of Nashville on the 26th to spend a few days wth her.
We spent the whole day in Manhattan, enjoying the beautiful holiday decorations and the hustle and bustle of the crowded city pace. We stood at Rockefeller Plaza and admired the 60 ft tree while Jingle Bell Rock serenaded hundreds of bundled up ice skaters below. Beautiful!!! I ate sooo much good food.. my favorite being the NY cheese pizza and hot dogs with spicy mustard and sauerkraut sold by the street cart vendors (I know, not too healthy, but deeelicious!!) I love New York City at Christmas time. It really is amazing!
Then we took the $50, 30 minute taxi ride to Grandma's. She was so excited to see us! She is 89 years young and lives alone there... We had a great time, and even got a good laugh when the lock to her apartment door broke leaving us stranded in the hall of the apartment building for an hour! Have you ever had to pay a locksmith on a Sunday evening to break into your house and then replace the lock? Ouch! $255 big ones.. But at least we were here together! She has a friend, June, from health services who keeps her company a few hours a day and helps her run errands and such. The two of them are so cute together. June is a middle aged Jamaican woman, and Grandma, well she's still fun and vivacious and hard to keep up with... :-). We really did have a blast and returned Mon night to get ready to head out today for New Years Eve in WV. Please keep Grandma Faye in your prayers as we continue to trust the Lord for His light to be revealed to her in a miraculous way!!

We are going to be singing in the New Year this year... I hope that wherever you are when the Big Apple drops, that you will join me in thanking God for another blessed year. He is reliable, and faithful and we don't have to fear or fret what is to be as long as we know He is in charge.. And He most definitely IS!!!!

Love and Blessings this New Year!
Sonya Isaacs

Spend New Years Eve with The Isaacs

2008-12-28T16:30:00.000-06:00

CHARLESTON NEW YEARS EVE!

Municipal Auditorium

Charleston, WV

December 31, 2008 6pm

*Featuring*

Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver

The Isaacs

Brian Free and Assurance

Roy Webb

Tony Gore

All seats are reserved

For tickets or more information call 304-419-2410

2009 National Quartet Schedule posted......

2008-12-20T15:20:00.000-06:00

The Isaacs will be appearing on the main stage on Wednesday night and Thursday night at the National Quartet Convention in 2009.

Click here to see the full lineup: NQC 2009

Recap of Christmas Tour

2008-12-19T21:39:00.000-06:00

***Photos are in the website Gallery***

To recap The Isaacs Christmas tour......it was a long, exhausting but great trip. The concerts were awesome! It was so much fun to see friends and fans all over the U.S. Thank you so much to all of you that joined us in concert whether it was an Isaacs concert or a Gaither event. So many of you brought gifts and treats to the bus and we enjoyed every bit of it.

We started out on December 3rd from TN. Our first concert was on the 4th in Toledo, Ohio for a Gaither Christmas show. We then moved on to the 5th in Indianapolis, Indiana for another Gaither event. On Saturday night the 6th we were in Roanoke, Virginia with the Gaithers and on Sunday the 7th in East Stone Gap, Virginia. The church there is always so good. They fed us a wonderful Christmas meal before the show. We had turkey and dressing and all the trimmings. That night we headed back to TN for a few hours. We did some laundry, grocery shopped for the bus, loaded back up and headed back out on Monday evening. On Tuesday the 9th we appeared at a Civic Center in Lebanon, Missouri. That night when we came out to board the bus everything was icy. Brrrrr it was sooooo cold. The next morning we woke up in Sioux City, Iowa to snow covered everything. We sang in a beautiful church there that was so beautifully decorated for Christmas. On Thursday the 11th we were in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for a Gaither event. Friday the 12th found us in Moline, Illinois and Saturday night the 13th we ended with a Gaither event in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Here we saw the most snow. We were in the Resch Center right beside the Green Bay Packers stadium.

Special thanks to Ed for some great food. The oreo balls rocked! The Lafollettes for the Witey's ice cream YUM!, Gina & Randy for the Neosporin lip ointment (Lisa thanks you anyway!! LOL Lily's experience with it wasn't so good!) Beth Endean you are one awesome new blog buddy! The church in Sioux City for the great gift baskets, yummy fruit, cereal bars, cough drops and more!! Lynda Randle for the awesome pancakes for breakfast on the last day out!! AND everyone else! I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. You all are awesome fans of The Isaacs and you are loved.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year!!
Remember the Reason for the Season!!!