The Watkins Family are an American acoustic Southern gospel/bluegrass music performing group based in Toccoa, Georgia, United States.
The group comprises Judy Watkins, her two adult children Todd, Lorie, and various side musicians. The group has been performing for over twenty-five years. Their 2013 album Heaven's Worth Waiting For was produced by former Ricky Skaggs musician Grammy winner Mark Fain, Grammy nominee Karen Peck Gooch and Danny Jones. [1]
The ministry started by Donald Watkins and his wife in the 1970s performs throughout the United States and Canada including in the U.S. Capitol building. [2] The family was inducted to the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012. [3]
According to Power Source magazine, their single "She's Working on Her Testimony" is a top ten bluegrass gospel song. According to Singing News magazine, "She's Working on Her Testimony" was a top 50 single. According to the Front Porch Fellowship Bluegrass Gospel Music Awards, Lorie is a three-time nominee for Favorite Female Vocalist and in 2010 was a nominee for Favorite Instrumentalist. Singing News magazine and other publications highlighted their appearances at the National Quartet Convention from 2006 to 2010. The Watkins Family shared a #1 song “God’s Children” with Randall Franks in the February 2023 Cashbox Magazine Bluegrass Gospel Charts. The song was written by Franks and late Georgia Music Hall of Fame member Cotton Carrier. [4]
William Smith Monroe was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, and created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass".
Jake Hess was an American Grammy Award-winning southern gospel singer.
The Statler Brothers were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group from Staunton, Virginia. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening act and backup singers for Johnny Cash.
The Blackwood Brothers are an American southern gospel quartet. Pioneers of the Christian music industry, they are 8-time Grammy Award winners in addition to winning 7 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. They are also members of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame.
James Webre Blackwood was an American gospel singer and one of the founding members of legendary Southern gospel quartet The Blackwood Brothers. He is the only person in any field of music to have been nominated for a Grammy Award for 28 consecutive years. He received 31 nominations and won nine Grammy Awards.
Randall Franks is an American film and television actor, author, and bluegrass singer and musician who plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and mountain dulcimer. The singer was nominated for 2023 Inspirational Vocalist and Musician of the Year at the 9th Annual Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House. He was inducted into the Tri-State Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2022; and America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019; Independent Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013; recognized by the International Bluegrass Music Museum & Hall of Fame in 2010 as a Bluegrass Legend; the Carolinas Country, Bluegrass and Gospel Hall of Fame presented him it’s Legend Award and designated him as the “Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle” in 2010; inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004; and was designated by Catoosa County, Ga. as "Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle" in 2004; and was inducted into the Chamber Business Person Hall of Fame and honored as Patriotic Citizen of the Year in 2020. He was chosen as the first 2020 AirPlay Direct Evolution Grant Artist (www.AirPlayDirect.com).
Bobby Van Osborne was an American bluegrass musician. He was the co-founder of the Osborne Brothers, a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Osborne was a member of the United States Marine Corps, received a Purple Heart for his service, and was honorably discharged in 1953.
Gloria Gaither is a Christian singer-songwriter, author, speaker, editor, and academic. She is married to Bill Gaither and together they have written more than 700 songs. In 2000, ASCAP named them Christian Songwriters of the Century.. She performed, traveled and recorded with the Bill Gaither Trio from 1965 through 1991. Since 1991, she has served as a performer, recording artist, songwriter, scriptwriter and narrator for the Gaither Homecoming series of television broadcasts, video and DVD releases, and audio recordings.
Dottie Rambo was an American gospel singer and songwriter. She was a Grammy winning solo artist and multiple Dove award-winning artist. Along with ex-husband Buck and daughter Reba, she formed the award-winning southern Gospel group, The Rambos. She wrote more than 2,500 songs, including her most notable, "The Holy Hills of Heaven Call Me", "He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need", "We Shall Behold Him", and "I Go To the Rock".
The Klaudt Indian Family was a professional southern gospel group. They were noted as being one of the most diverse groups to ever travel the gospel music circuits.
Karen Peck and New River is a southern gospel mixed group based in Gainesville, Georgia.
Rex Lloyd Nelon was an American southern gospel musicician, who had a career spanning over 40 years of both singing and publishing gospel music. He was a longstanding member of The LeFevres, which later became The Nelons after his own family took over management. Nelon was also a featured singer of the Gaither Homecoming series.
The Whites are an American country music vocal group from Fort Worth, Texas, United States. They consist of sisters Sharon White and Cheryl White, and their father, Buck White. Sharon plays guitar, Cheryl is the bassist and Buck plays the mandolin. Formed in 1972, the trio has recorded multiple albums and charted multiple songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. They are also known as frequent collaborators of country and bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs, who is Sharon's husband.
Tarrian LaShun Pace, professionally known as LaShun Pace and sometimes credited as LaShun Pace-Rhodes or Shun Pace-Rhodes, was an American Grammy Award–nominated gospel singer–songwriter and evangelist. Pace was also a Stellar Award winner.
Janet Paschal is an inspirational gospel vocalist. She has released numerous albums in that genre and has received multiple fan awards and Grammy and Dove Award nominations. She is also a songwriter and published author. In May 2019, she was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. Paschal was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in October 2022.
Rickie Lee Skaggs, known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo.
The Lewis Family is a family of gospel and bluegrass musicians from Lincolnton, Georgia. They are known as the "First Family of Bluegrass Gospel".
Charles F. "Rusty" Goodman was an American singer/songwriter in the Southern Gospel Music industry. He was a prolific composer whose many songs included "Standing in the Presence of the King", "Leavin' On My Mind", "Home", "John the Revelator", "Touch the Hand of the Lord", "Had it Not Been" "I Believe He's Coming Back" "Look for Me" and "Who Am I?" His songs have been covered by many of the top artists in the music industry including Elvis Presley, The Imperials, J. D. Sumner & The Stamps Quartet, The Speers, The Happy Goodman Family, Michael English and Gaither Vocal Band.
Kelly Nelon Clark is an inspirational Christian and southern gospel vocalist. She is associated with Bill Gaither's Homecoming events. Nelon Clark along with her family group, The Nelons, were inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Hall of Fame in 2016. She has won Singing News Fan Awards in the categories of Favorite Alto and Favorite Female Vocalist in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1987, and 1990.
The Mercy River Boys were an American Christian country music band who performed from 1979 to 1985. They were nominated for a Grammy Award for their first album, Breakout. The album was also a finalist for the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for Album of the Year, 1979–80, and won a Dove Award for backliner notes, written by Merlin Littlefield.