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The Isaacs | |
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| Origin | Hendersonville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Southern gospel, Bluegrass, Country |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | Horizon, Gaither, K-Tel, Spring Hill, Isaacs House |
| Members | Lily Isaacs Ben Isaacs Sonya Isaacs Becky Isaacs |
| Past members | John Bowman Jimmy Yeary Levi Bowman Joe Isaacs Jesse Stockman Kevin Haynie Nathan "Spikit" Fauscett Thomas Wywrot Tim Surrett |
| Website | www |
The Isaacs are a bluegrass Southern gospel music group consisting of mother Lily Isaacs (b. September 20, 1947), daughters Becky (b. Aug. 2, 1975) and Sonya Isaacs (b. July 22, 1974) and son Ben Isaacs (b. July 25, 1972), along with John Bowman (husband of Becky Isaacs) as an instrumentalist and songwriter. Joe Isaacs, formerly a singer and banjo player in the group, has left since his 1998 divorce from Lily Isaacs. He now does solo work on a far more localized level.
Former Kingsmen Quartet bass player, lead singer and baritone Tim Surrett was a member of group from 1997 until 2002. Surrett was married to Sonya Isaacs during this time period. They were able to hire Jesse Stockman, a fiddle player from NM (who had been playing with the prestigious bluegrass band Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver), from 2005-2010. From 2006-2008, they hired Kevin Haynie to play banjo and guitar. (Kevin is brother to Aubrey Haynie, fiddler extraordinair who is an A-list session player in Nashville having played on hundreds of recordings.) [1] Kevin and Jesse were able to raise them to be heights instrumentally, as is evident on the "Live from Norway" DVD recorded when the two were in the group. [2] With already unequaled vocal harmonies and now top tier instrumentalists, they recorded their first crossover album at StarStruck Studios (owned by Reba McEntire) in Nashville, with Mark Bright (Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts) as producer. This album garnered the group their first Dove Award. [3] Thomas Wywrot was a member from 2008 to 2011. Sonya Isaacs' husband, Jimmy Yeary, took his place. [4]
Currently, the Isaacs consists of Sonya Isaacs Yeary, Lily Isaacs, Becky Isaacs Bowman and Ben Isaacs. On August 10, 2021, they were invited to become members of the Grand Ole Opry. [5]
The group's roots go back to 1971, [6] when Joe and Lily Isaacs began a bluegrass band. Lily's parents are Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors. A few years after they were liberated from a concentration camp in Germany in 1945, her parents moved two year old Lily to New York City, where, in 1958, she got a recording contract with Columbia Records and started performing in night clubs. While performing with his Kentucky band at the Gerde's Folk City, Joe met Lily and they were married in 1970. After Joe's brother died in an automobile accident, Joe and Lily became Christians, and the group began to perform only bluegrass gospel music. [7] The group was initially named the Calvary Mountain Boys and later became Sacred Bluegrass before settling on the family name, the Isaacs. The group performed primarily on weekends, part-time, until 1986. [8] As their son and daughters became old enough, they joined the group. [9]
In 1992, the Isaacs moved from Morrow, Ohio, and settled in LaFollette, Tennessee. [9]
As the Calvary Mountain Boys and Sacred Bluegrass, the group recorded for Pine Tree and Old Homestead labels. As the Isaacs, they had more success with Morning Star Records and Horizon record labels. [9]
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Producer | Label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | Country | Heat | Bluegrass | ||||
| 1988 | Heartbeat | Harvest | |||||
| At Nightline | |||||||
| 1989 | Family Chain | ||||||
| 1990 | A Labor of Love | Morning Star | |||||
| Live at Hominy Valley | |||||||
| 1991 | 20th Anniversary | ||||||
| 1992 | Live In Atlanta | ||||||
| 1993 | Songs to Remember | ||||||
| Our Style | |||||||
| 1994 | Carry Me | Tony Rice | Horizon | ||||
| 1995 | I Feel the Christmas Spirit | ||||||
| 1996 | Live: Mountain Praise | Kim Ryan | |||||
| 1997 | Bridges | Ben Isaacs | |||||
| The Very Best of The Isaacs | K-Tel | ||||||
| 1998 | Increase My Faith | Horizon | |||||
| 1999 | Pieces of Our Past | Ben Isaacs | |||||
| 2001 | Stand Still | Ben Isaacs | |||||
| 2002 | Christmas Spirit | Ben Isaacs, Tony Rice | |||||
| Eye of the Storm | Ben Isaacs | ||||||
| 2003 | Songs of the Faith | 14 | Ben Isaacs | ||||
| 2004 | Heroes | 19 | 45 | 31 | Don Cook | Gaither | |
| 2005 | Bluegrass Preserved | Horizon | |||||
| Radio Hits | |||||||
| Lily | |||||||
| Isaacs Bluegrass: A Cappella | |||||||
| 2006 | Isaacs Bluegrass: Sonya | ||||||
| 2007 | Big Sky | 21 | 48 | 23 | Mark Bright | Gaither | |
| 2009 | Naturally: An Almost A Cappella Collection | 25 | 12 | 1 | Bill Gaither, Ben Isaacs | Spring Hill | |
| 2010 | Christmas | 31 | 5 | 2 | |||
| 2011 | Why Can't We | 47 | 25 | 3 | |||
| 2013 | The Living Years | 10 | 1 | Gaither | |||
| 2016 | Nature's Symphony in 432 | 3 | Isaacs House | ||||
| 2018 | Favorites: Revisited By Request | Gaither | |||||
| 2020 | Songs for the Times | Isaacs House | |||||
| 2021 | The American Face | ||||||
The Grammy Awards are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry. The awards were established in 1958. The Isaacs have been nominated three times.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Nature's Symphony In 432 | Best Roots Gospel Album | Nominated |
| 2018 | Favorites: Revisited By Request | Nominated | |
| 2022 | Songs for the Times | Nominated |
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