Group Name: Providentials Quartet
Website: www.providentials.com
Album Title: “Past Met Grace”
Song Titles:
1. Glory Hallelujah Song
2. Blood Washed Band
3. Living In The Land Of Promise
4. It’s Gonna Rain
5. Show Me Your Face
6. Movin’ Up To Gloryland
7. The News Is Out
8. Songs We Used To Sing
9. Keep Looking Up
10. Somebody Touched Me
11. When I Wake Up To Sleep No More
12. Just A Little Talk With Jesus

The Providentials Quartet consists of tenor singer Tim Johnson, lead singer Joe Young, baritone singer Lane Reed, bass singer C.O. Stegall, and sound man Reggie Duncan. The quartet was formed in February of 1999, and they have been going ever since.

“Past Met Grace” is the group’s latest project and their 5th overall. It consists of 12 songs, and it is very much mainstream Southern Gospel music- neither contemporary nor overly traditional. In fact, several of the songs on the album were previously recorded by well-known Southern Gospel groups from the 1980’s and 1990’s. The album cover is black with what looks like a chalk drawing of the group on the cover. As I looked inside the cover, I saw that the song lyrics were not included. However, the production credits were included on the back of the cover. The group seems to do much of the work themselves- song & vocal arrangements, production & engineering, cover concept, and several other things were handled by members of the group.

Now, let’s take a look at each of the songs on the album.

“Glory Hallelujah Song” is an upbeat song that kicks off the album in typical Southern Gospel style. The use of accordions in the tracks is interesting. They are not a normal instrument used in Southern Gospel arrangements, and it’s a new experience to try wrapping my mind around that particular sound. This is also one of those songs with a rhythm that makes it somewhat difficult for the singers to say their words together, and you can hear a little bit of that difficulty on parts of the chorus. That said, however, the blend on this song was one of the best of all the songs on the album, and this would definitely qualify as one of my favorites.

“Bloodwashed Band” is the album’s second song, and it’s the first of several Cathedrals’ songs covered by the group. We get a chance to hear C.O. Stegall’s bass voice take the solo on the verse, and his voice is strong in its upper and mid-low registers. The last chorus gives us a taste of Tim Johnson’s tenor voice as well. He has the higher range for the part, but he sometimes seems to be pushing a little more than is necessary. This makes his volume hard to mix into the overall group sound when he hits his higher notes.

Song #3 is called “Living In The Land Of Promise”. This is a medium-tempo song that was done a few years ago by Danny Funderburk & Mercy’s Way. The group sings together throughout this entire song, and the blend is pretty good here too. I would consider this as another one of my favorites from this album. This leads into the fourth song, an uptempo number “It’s Gonna Rain”. This seems to be a “fun” song, and I’m sure the group enjoys singing it.

The fifth song is called “Show Me Your Face”, and it is the first- and only- slower ballad-style song on the album. The blend seems to be pretty good on this song. Song #6 is another Cathedrals’ cover, “Movin’ Up To Gloryland”. This song is followed by the album’s title cut, the medium tempo “The News Is Out”. I say that this is the title song because the album title comes from a phrase in the second verse of this song. The more I hear this song, I like its arrangement and message.

“Songs We Used To Sing” is the eighth song. It has a light arrangement with some nice piano licks in the background. Once again, we hear the quality of C.O. Stegall’s bass voice in its upper register. Immediately following is an uptempo number called “Keep Looking Up”. Song #10 is the third Cathedrals cover on the album, “Somebody Touched Me”. I admit that I cannot listen to this song without hearing Danny Funderburk in my head- this was very much one of his signature songs. Overall, this is a decent version, and Tim’s voice is clear as he hits the higher notes of the song.

Song #11 is an old Kingsmen song, an uptempo number called “When I Wake Up To Sleep No More”. This is another song that I really like. The album closes with a live, a cappella version of the old standard, “Just A Little Talk With Jesus”. Interestingly, the group seems to blend the best when singing a cappella. C.O. Stegall takes the lead throughout the song, and his voice is rich and full-sounding on everything except the lowest notes. I must admit, though, that I am not fond of the ending. It’s one of those endings- unfortunately popular in Southern Gospel Music- where each part does their own thing and the group eventually comes back together on an ending chord.

I think that the Providentials are a group that has some potential. The basic groundwork is there for a very good sound, and they just need to keep working on improving in a few areas. Things like staying together on word pronunciation, listening to the person next to you to help ensure a good blend, and each singer knowing and staying within their best range will help to refine their sound. As far as the album is concerned, I don’t mind groups doing covers of the songs of more well-known groups. However, I would not do as many “high-profile” covers per album as the Providentials have done on this album. It is very hard not to hear the original group as you listen to these songs, and that is the standard to which the performing group will always be held. Finally, while I like uptempo Southern Gospel music, I think that the album needed at least one more slower ballad to even things out a bit. One just wasn’t enough.

In closing, I look forward to seeing and hearing how this group progresses in the future. Fans of quartet music will definitely find something to like on this album. Overall, I think that this album deserves a rating of 3 out of a possible 5 microphones!

Personal Favorites: “Glory Hallelujah Song”, “Living In The Land Of Promise”, “The News Is Out”, and “When I Wake Up To Sleep No More”

my personal favorites are

# 5 Show Me Your Face
# 9 Keep Looking Up
# 10. Somebody Touched Me
# 11. When I Wake Up To Sleep No More