Southern gospel

Like other forms of music, the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of southern gospel varies according to the cultural and social context.

The year the first professional quartet was formed for the purpose of selling songbooks for the James D. Vaughan Music Publishing Company in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.

Nonetheless, the style of the music itself had existed for at least 35 years prior—although the traditional wisdom that southern gospel was "invented" in the 1870s by circuit preacher Everett Beverly is spurious.

The existence of the genre prior to 1910 is evident in the work of Charles Davis Tillman (1861–1943), who popularized "The Old Time Religion", wrote "Life's Railway to Heaven" and published 22 songbooks.

Convention songs were employed by training centers like the Stamps-Baxter School Of Music as a way to teach quartet members how to concentrate on singing their own part.

In the first decades of the twentieth century, southern gospel drew much of its creative energy from the holiness movement churches that arose throughout the south.

Sumner became the first group to travel in a bus, which is on display at the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Sumner also was instrumental in creating the National Quartet Convention, an annual music festival where many groups, both known and well known perform for a week.

The Speer Family was known for bringing blended groups to mainstream popularity where both male and female performers toured together.

Elements into their music and their stage appearance with trendy suits and wide audience appeal and were known for their signature song, "Happy Rhythm" (Rockin and a'Rollin).

Thanks in part to the Homecoming series, southern gospel music now has fans across the United States and in a number of foreign countries like Ireland and Australia.

The move to internet services has brought along companies such as SoGospelNews.com which has become a noted e-zine forum for southern gospel and has remained a supporter for the past twelve years.

[10] Internet Radio has broadened the southern gospel music fan base by using computer technologies and continual streaming.