When the recording sessions were done and the quartet was on the plane back home, they realized yet another change was in order: the name of their project.
The members of the Classic Gospel Sons Quartet were going to call their new CD “Faithful,” which is a fine name. But because of all the recent transformations in their lives and lineup — and because longtime baritone Stan Kirschenmann had stepped into the lead-singer position and knocked it out of the park on a song about changes for the better — they went with “He Made A Change” as the title.
“We were so impressed, we realized we should call it that,” said bass singer Jerry Watson.
It’s the perfect name for a new recording by a beloved local singing group that’s still going strong after many changes.
The original Gospel Sons quartet was formed by Clark County Bible-college kids in the late 1960s, and formally launched at a church in La Center in 1971. Success came startlingly quickly, and the group eventually toured the Pacific Northwest and beyond in its own bus, performing as many as 100 concerts a year. They recorded 10 albums.
Different members came and went, but the core of the group always was lead singer Don Smith of Vancouver, tenor Terry VanderStoep of Woodland, baritone Stan Kirschenmann of Five Corners, and bass Jerry Watson, who now lives in Happy Valley, Ore. When piano accompanist Bobbi Kay Kirschenmann, Stan’s wife, was promoted to full-fledged singer the group became quintet.
Musical success was sweet, but the challenge of touring churches and other events all over the Northwest and indeed the nation while holding down day jobs and raising families became pretty exhausting, and the Gospel Sons’ pace started slowing down. When leader Don Smith faced health challenges, everything stopped. That was in 2001.
But it started again, nearly a decade later in 2010, when somebody at a Starbucks started gushing over Smith’s Gospel Sons touring jacket, and invite the group to sing at a superfan’s 90th birthday party. That happy occasion resulted in a five more years of glory for the Gospel Sons as they made more rounds of tiny chapels to megachurches. Then, with retirement and grandchildren and new health issues cropping up, they stopped again. Smith was ready for new challenges. Watson was considering moving south to a sunnier climate.
But Stan Kirschenmann and Terry VanderStoep didn’t want to stop. They envisioned a trio and found a great new lead singer, Chris Corbett of Vancouver. Watson, meanwhile, who had also been the group’s business and property manager, set about selling off the old sound system.
But he couldn’t find any takers. He’d felt incredibly guilty about the whole thing anyway, he said, so when the system wouldn’t sell he took it as a sign from above.
“I think it was God’s plan, for it not to sell,” Watson said. “And, you know, I’ve done this for so many years and I love those guys so much. So I called up Terry and said, you need a bass singer? Because I know one who has a lot of experience. That’s how we started up again.”
Songs and hymns
The new group immediately decided to cut a new CD, and credit-carded its way to an affordable Nashville, Tenn., studio called Daywind that’s popular with gospel groups.
“Daywind has a lot of accompaniment tapes. That cuts down on the cost of recording,” Watson said. “We got a good package deal to come down and record 12 songs. We spent four days, stayed within budget and came back pretty pumped.”
The music is good old-fashioned rousing Southern Gospel, Watson said, which — unlike the CD title — hasn’t changed much, Watson said. But lately the Gospel Sons Quartet is sprinkling its sound with just a little even-older-fashioned material: traditional hymns.
“People love that,” he said. “There’s a lot of theology in it, a lot of meaning in it.”
Now, the Classic Gospel Sons Quartet is ready to take “He Made A Change” on tour. Ten concerts have been scheduled through next summer, starting with a 6 p.m. appearance today at New Hope Community Church, 11731 S.E. Stevens Road, Happy Valley, Ore. That’s across I-205 from the Clackamas Town Center mall.
But if you don’t want to hike that far to hear the group, don’t fret — the group is coming to you. The next three Clark County concerts are set for 10 a.m. Dec. 4 at Highland Lutheran Church in La Center, and then two concerts in Woodland and Yacolt in a single Sunday, Jan. 15 — so the group will race to place to place just like in its rock star days of old.
More area concerts are scheduled for February, March, April and June. View the whole schedule at their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/classicgospelsonsquartet.
“We’re older guys now but we’ve still got the four-part-harmony going,” Watson said. “People say God has given us the gift. We’re still excited to share it.”
