Gospel music, incredible harmonies, lyrics full of truth… now presenting the Down East Boys! Beginning in 1985, this well-beloved quartet has been recognized for producing treasured Gospel music, consistently making it to top of the radio singles list. With multiple nominations for Group of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year, they’ve played in places like Silver Dollar City, The Ark Encounter, and the National Quartet Convention…and somehow, much to our loss, we had never heard of them.
When we pulled into Colorado Springs, CO on Friday the 20th, little did we know that the next day we would have one of the best evenings of our RV trip so far. The last few days, we’d been talking a little bit about how we should see what kind of Christian music concerts we might be able to attend while on the road. Friday night, Mom randomly decided to Google ‘Christian music concerts in Colorado Springs,’ not really expecting to find anything this last minute. Much to her surprise, a small church was hosting a free evening event with the Down East Boys, a Gospel quartet. Not recognizing their group, she researched them very briefly and figured it would be something fun to do for free…which is always nice for a family our size :)
So after spending Saturday at the Air Force Academy Planetarium (which I’ll do a separate post on soon) we headed for the church, not really sure if we’d be able to pull in with our big-rig. Thankfully, there was space for us to park on the street just across from the church and we walked in a few minutes before their performance started.
In the Deming house, we listen to a lot of Christian worship music from artists like Chris Tomlin, Mercy Me, Anne Wilson, etc… none of us have listened to very much Gospel music, so we weren’t hugely sure what to expect. I’ve seen a few barbershop quartet videos on YouTube and really liked them, plus I love good harmonies…so I personally was looking forward to this. Dominic, on the other hand, was quite skeptical. He proved to be more excited about having Cains chicken for supper than he was about a free Gospel quartet concert. Let’s just say that by the end of the night, he’d had a complete mindset change :)
A quick introduction to the quartet members: Singing lead was Ricky Carden, who joined the group at age 19 back in 1990, becoming the owner a brief four years later. Hitting some surprisingly high notes, Doug Pittman sings tenor and will occasionally thrill audiences with his incredible piano skills. On the other hand, Alex Utech shocks audiences with his astonishingly deep bass voice. Last, but certainly not least, is the newest member of the quartet, Cayden Howell. At a mere 22-years-old, Cayden is by far the youngest member of the quartet, but his beautiful baritone voice easily covers for his youth.
This group’s love for Jesus and passion for spreading the Good News through their music was a delight to experience. Every song they sang, whether one they wrote or a cover of a classic, had me either joyfully bouncing in my back-row seat or deeply reflecting on the lyrics…or both! With the exception of a For King and Country Christmas concert, I enjoyed this concert more than any other concert I’ve been too…including Chris Tomlin (x3), Mercy Me and Third Day. Definitely wasn’t expecting that when I walked into a small Colorado Springs church.
Quick side note: As I mentioned above, the bass singer Alex can sing surprisingly low. I’ve never heard anyone hit such low notes. Folks…he went so low that the floor vibrated all the way in the last row of the sanctuary where we were seated! I tried to record one of the songs that featured him, but my phone froze and missed the first 30 seconds…plus I might have shaken the phone a little (lot) with my incredulous laughing. So, I found a better recording of that song on YouTube by someone who wasn’t moving the phone all over :)
All too soon, their performance ended and the small church sanctuary began to clear out. For a variety of reasons, we ended up being one of the last people to visit their merchandise table and, as a result, got to chat with them. When they heard how much we loved their music, that some of us liked their concert better than a Chris Tomlin concert, that they’d changed Dominic’s mind about Gospel music, and that they’d earned themselves a blog post with me, Ricky gave all of us a free tour t-shirt…and all four kindly autographed them for us. Funnily enough, our time with their group beat out our Monday trip to the top of Pikes Peak - where we sported our new t-shirts :)
By the time we were done talking with these guys, we decided we might as well help them pack their gear for the tour bus. I don’t know how much help we really were, but it was fun to hang out a little longer and learn about their bus. Compared to the Down East Boys tour bus, good ol’ Kram-A-Lot Inn looked quite small. They were very patient with our numerous questions :)
(Maleah and I helped too. I just don’t have pictures to prove it, LOL)
We are really hoping to hit another one of their concerts during our time on the road…possibly in Florida after the New Year?
Please check out their music on YouTube or whatever music streaming app you use. I’ve been listening to the 3 CD’s I walked out of their concert with and its proving to be a great way to tune out the chaos of "8 people in an RV" life. (I especially love their song A Love Worth Dying For. It’s been stuck in my head for several days now…simply beautiful). If you choose to listen to some of their music, I would love to hear your thoughts!
Before I sign off, we want to say a huge thank you to Pastor Scott at Inspiration Church for his incredible hospitality towards us! He allowed us to park in the church parking for as many nights as we wanted, and even gave us the passcode to get into the church at night whenever we needed it. Christian hospitality at it's best. We attended Sunday worship service at Inspiration Church and were invited to their Wednesday night potluck if we were still in town...which we were. It was such a blessing to get to know Pastor Scott during the time we were in Colorado Springs. He was truly the hands and feet of Jesus to us.
Until next time, God bless!
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