Diamond Rio A Christian Band?

Last weekend my girlfriend and I had the privilege to go to a Love 4 Life conference.  They are put on by AACS or American Association of Christian Counselors, which is headed up by Tim and Julie Clinton.  The night consisted of two speakers and two musicians.  The two speakers were John Trent and Kevin Lehman.  Both of these speakers are well respected in their line of work.  Kevin Lehman has a lot of the secular world’s attention, appearing on some good morning shows and Oprah.  

The night kicked off by Charles Billingsley doing worhip music with his keyboardist Adam Lancaster.  But the highlight of the night for me was Diamond Rio.  Diamond Rio have always had clean songs and you can’t beat that high soaring harmony that is found in just about every one of their songs.  Previous to this night, I have seen them in concert twice.  The last time I saw them they talked about their next CD being a gospel CD.  They had just done their Christmas CD which was through Word Records.  As many of you know, Word Records is a Christian label.  I thought it might be a onetime thing because most of your country acts will do a song here and there and pay homage to a “higher power.”  Lead singer, Marty Roe, took a moment and shared a testimony.  He said that they had felt like they had gotten off track as a band and he got to the point to where he wouldn’t sing unless there was a check tied to it.  He started having serious vocal problems and went to a series of vocal coaches and none of them could explain it.  He finally went to a Christian vocal coach and the first few sessions they just spent time talking and praying.  After that he said his voice started clearing up.  Although not back to 100% it was getting better.

So in light of the band taking a new direction, they have signed a record deal with Word Records.  It will be exciting to see what the future holds for them as they embark on this new direction.  Over the last few years they have been putting out songs like I Believe, In God We Still Trust, and God Only Cries.  The hook line to that song is “God only cries for the living because it is the living that are so far from home.”  Skeptics would say that this is only a marketing ploy and that they will go back after a little while.  I am hoping that they stay true and we can actually see the fruits of their labors, but that is something that only time will tell.  

You can go to http://www.vasoutherngospel.com and go to “Gallery” to see pictures from this night and may other concerts.