|
01 Sep 2004
Tony McGee & New Covenant - “Following God’s Plan”
 Add this entry to Your Favorites | [0] Favorites  [8] Comments
 Tony McGee…the name may sound familiar to you as Tony traveled and sang as lead vocalist with a popular group out of Rogersville, Tennessee called The Redeemed. Taking the lead on such notable tunes like “It Will Pass”, “Just On the Other Side”, “ Calvary 's the Reason Why” and “Listen Sinner, Listen”; Tony decided that after almost 12 years with the group, it was time for him to leave. With Tony not being quite sure what to do, God had a Master plan for Tony. As Hebrews 8:6-7 explains, “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.” Along with Tony's brother in law, Shane Ferrell, the group Tony McGee and New Covenant was formed earlier this year. Completing the group is a powerhouse female vocalist named Karen McPherson. I recently got together with these guys to talk about the group and the new and exciting things going on with them… First of all, give me some background info on you guys. Who were your musical influences, how you got into singing, etc? Tony: Well, I grew up loving the original Hinsons, Rambos, Happy Goodmans, Hemphills and others. I guess it was the Singing Cookes and Primitive Quartet that I idolized growing up. My dad was a preacher and we were in church or at singings all the time. My dad used to be big in bluegrass years ago; he played with a lot of the known groups in bluegrass before he became a Christian. I guess my dad and mom were my biggest influence on me as far as actually singing goes, because it was never an option not to sing. No matter how sick you were, we sang! (laughing) Shane: I grew up listening to my dad sing and was raised on bluegrass and old timey singing, but I still loved groups like the Downings, Hemphills, Rambos, Talleys, etc. I actually didn't start singing until just a couple of years ago when I was filling in for about 4-5 different groups. I just never had the confidence or really the desire to sing fulltime. I sang with Kyla Rowland quite a bit, as well as the Joyaires, Divine Purpose, the Frosts and some others. I always sang in groups that knew how to worship and knew how to have church. Those groups set the standard for what I wanted to do and the kind of group I'd like to be involved in. I always envisioned me being in a group that was more progressive and had a bigger sound than what we have. But after traveling and being a part of the meetings that I have been in, it has changed my mind and my whole way of thinking about where I wanted to go musically. Karen: I have sung since I was 3 years old. Basically, my musical influence comes from singing with my mother for years. Then my brother formed his own group when I was in middle school and that to me was so exciting. I was so amazed at everything they were doing. I always looked up to my brother and he would critique me, and that was hard for a teenager to take sometimes. He wasn't the greatest singer, but he knew music and he knew what he wanted things to sound like. He's probably the reason that I sing the way I do, because he would always tell me “Sell me the song! Make me believe what you are singing about.” I would listen to groups like the Hinsons and the Happy Goodmans, and we constantly had their records playing around the house. We'd go to concerts and I'd look up on that stage and think, ‘oh what a wonderful life!” (laughing) That was what I thought, until I started traveling with a group for 4 years called Higher Calling, and then reality set in and I realized it wasn't as glamorous as I though it was! (laughing) After Higher Calling, I stayed at home and worked there in my church until I felt the Lord leading me back to singing again. So, who is the most vocal person in the group? Shane: Uh…Karen! (laughing) I think Tony speaks his mind, but I think in a lot ways, Karen and Tony run neck and neck! (laughing) Karen: (laughing) Now that's not true! Shane, I know you and Tony are brothers-in-law, as Tony is married to your sister, but how did you come to meet Karen? Shane: Actually, Karen and I have a mutual friend named Bill Martin. Tony and I have talked about starting our own group for a couple of years now, and it was always a joke between Tony and me because I always hated traveling. In fact, I despised it! (laughing) That was one of the reasons Tony never made the move to start a group with me! When we finally started piecing things together for this group, I told Tony that I know who I want for the third part, and that was Karen McPherson. I didn't know who she was personally, but I heard her sing on CD with Bill Martin's group, Higher Calling. I felt the anointing and power in her voice and knew I wanted her in our group. So, I called Bill and asked him to give me the dish on Karen McPherson! (laughing) He filled me in and from there I just called her out of the blue. Karen: I had two prior invitations, and both times I prayed about it, and God said no. That was hard for me to accept, because I was ready to get back into singing. I just knew that was what I was supposed to be doing, but God said no on both accounts. It really made me question the Lord about what He was doing? I told the Lord I want to work for you, so why can't I? Then Bill called to tell me Shane would be contacting me about a new group with him and Tony. Shane called and we met and everything felt right. When we sang together for the first time, it was just so easy. When I prayed this time, I was really hoping God wouldn't tell me no! (laughing) He didn't! It was a feeling that this was what He had planned for me all along, and I just had to wait for it. So, how did you come up with name New Covenant? Shane: We practiced for several months without even a name. At one point we had another name picked out. Mike Bowling had a group one time called Family Tradition. I called Mike and he said we could use it, but he felt we needed a better name than that. So we took his advice and kept looking for a name that would really set us apart and be recognizable. Tony had mentioned in passing to me the name New Covenant. I began looking at scripture about new covenants, and the scripture I found that kind of confirmed it for me was from Hebrews 8:6-7. It showed me that God had an even greater ministry in store for Tony and it made me even more excited about this group. Tony: You know, this group is called Tony McGee and New Covenant, but it's not going to be as the name sounds. It's not like every time you turn on the radio you're going to hear Tony McGee leading with two harmony singers. Our singles are likely to feature anyone in the group, be it me, Karen or Shane. I don't feel that highly of myself that I would put myself in that kind of position. I just think it would be cheating the people if we were to do that. How would you describe your sound to someone? Karen: I think we're just a pure Southern Gospel sound, with just a hint of grass. We are what I would consider, and what I have grown up knowing, what pure, good Southern Gospel is. Was there ever a defining moment where you knew it was time to form the group? Tony: Shane was ready from the get go. Shane had been praying about it for a long time and he and I had talked about it and it never was the right time. Now, when I left The Redeemed, I left with no intentions of starting a group. It was just time for me to leave. After I left The Redeemed, things just seemed to fall together that there was no way of denying that God had His hand in it for us to start the group.
Your families are also heavily involved in the group. How so? Shane: This is a family group, and as much as possible, our families will be with us traveling. As a matter of fact, on our new recording my little boy Zachary and Tony's little girl, Bethany does a little chorus of “This Little Light of Mine” to start off the recording. We want our kids to be involved in what we do. This may be a small thing, but I hope it leads to greater things for them. And plus, when Bethany gets old enough, she can kind of boot Karen out! (everyone laughing) Speaking of your new recording entitled, “Somebody Prayed” , tell me about it and how you went about finding the songs for it. Shane: I guess I am the one primarily responsible for finding the songs, though we all took part in it at some point. In the very beginning we all agreed that we would not record anything that only one person liked. I wanted every song on the project to speak to each of us. And I promise you that every song on this album has spoken to each of us. We refused to do a song where we all weren't in agreement over singing or recording. Tony: If one person did not like a song, the others wouldn't override and say we were still going to do it. Because if we're on stage and someone just doesn't like a particular song, then you're not going to be able to get that song across to the audience. Every song on this recording, we all were in agreement 100% with singing and recording and we like every song on there. Shane: Having good relationships with the publishers and writers really helped us nail down some great songs. This new writer, Stephen Phillips who wrote, “I Have No Doubt”, he's just a fresh talent. Adina Bowman is another great writer who wrote two great songs on this recording. One song Adina wrote is probably one of my favorites called “Joy.” Adina called me one morning at the office. I was working hard and was so behind on things that day and she called and had no idea that I needed to hear this song. She called and asked if she could sing me a song, and I told her she could. She put the phone down and began singing and playing it. She'd sing a little bit and then cry a little bit and this kept up through the entire duration of the song. She did not know that I needed that song that morning. She didn't know that my family needed that song and Tony and Missy needed that song, and our group needed the message in that song. The song says we may go through things and may go through the darkest trial in our life, but as a Child of God, there is something deep inside that you just know, it's going to be ok. We may think, “God where are you?” but we are reminded in this song, that it's going to be okay. Because of the peace that passes all understanding, we can have this joy that this song speaks about. “On the Third Day” is your first single from the new recording, right? Shane: Yes it is. “ On The Third Day" had all the ingredients for a first single. It was uptempo, it featured Tony and it has a great message of hope. Adina Bowman, who wrote, “Joy”, wrote this song and we all fell in love with it when we first heard it. We all said, "This is Tony's song" when we heard the demo! What's coming up for the group in the next few months? Anything new and exciting? Shane: We are excited to be a part of something new in our community. The radio station, 104.3 WEYE has annual concerts in May and October. Both concerts they have had have been sellouts. We were asked to be the host group for the concert series. This is neat because we get to sing right here at home and help the radio station host the event. The next concert is October 9th. We will be with our friends The Whisnants, Kyla Rowland & Deliverance and the Reggie Saddler Family. Next year, they are planning on concerts to include Janet Paschal, The Perrys, Dunaways, Hope's Call, The Bowlings, Three Bridges and more! We are so excited to be a part of it. We are also working on another project that we will probably start recording in November. We will not be releasing any material from it for radio, but this is basically for us to sell on the road. When Tony traveled with The Redeemed, he was featured on many of their singles. We are going back and recording some of those songs. You've also been asked to be a part of a special CrabbFest next year right? Shane: You know, God has truly blessed us. He has opened doors that we never thought would be opened. Kathy Crabb called us and put us on a special CrabbFest that will be held in Johnson City, TN October 2005. We are really excited to be a part of those two nights. We are also going to be in some special jubilees and campmeetings next year and that is where our heart is. What do you hope to accomplish through this new group? What are your goals? Karen: Our main goal is to touch as many lives as possible through our songs and through our testimonies. God's work is so important and being a part of His ministry is something you better take to heart. As far as our group is concerned, it's to be in places where we can minister to those who are in need, whether they are burdened down, or they need salvation. We want to be blessing to those who are willing to receive that blessing. How can people contact the group? Tony: They can visit our website at www.tonymcgeeandnewcovenant.com or they can contact us by phone at (423) 345-5153 or by mail at 115 Lauren Drive Reader Comments
Page 1 of 1 Comment Pages
|
Now Playing About This Article
Tony McGee & New Covenant - “Following God’s Plan”
 Written: 09/01/2004  Author: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Category:
Feature Articles
Comments: 8 Favorited:
Add this entry to Your Favorites
Favorited by:  Email this article RSS
feeds
(What's an RSS feed?) Recent FeaturesFeatures Archives |
|
