Join me in getting to know new Dixie Echoes tenor Jonathan Rigdon!
Transcript
Lightly edited for clarity.
Daniel Mount
Welcome to Southern Gospel Journal. My name is Daniel Mount, and this evening I have the honor to be joined by Jonathan Rigdon, the new tenor for the Dixie Echoes. Welcome.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah. Well, thank you for having me on here. I’m looking forward to this.
Daniel Mount
Me, too! So what’s your background? Where are you from? And could you also share your testimony as part of that?
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah, so anyway, I’m born and raised in Brandon, Mississippi. I pretty much have never lived anywhere else. I went to Bible college for about three years, and so I went off there. While I was there, my testimony kind of falls into that category. I went off to Walls, Mississippi, to a place called Tri-State Baptist College. I was there for about three years.
I’ve been raised in church all my life. In fact, my grandfather has always been my pastor, except for the time that I was there. So, raised in a good Christian, godly home, I was taken to church every Sunday. And Mama always played gospel tapes. The three main that were on the loop were the Inspirations, the Cathedrals, and Legacy Five. Really didn’t branch out any of those three groups. It was mostly those guys on the radio, and we had pretty much most of their CDs.
But anyway, I had gone off to Bible college, and I remember it just as plain as day. I was reading a book, and it had talked about King Agrippa, almost persuaded to believe. And also in that book, it talked about the rich young ruler who lifted his eyes in hell. And man, something had just struck me in my heart. And the Lord, it seemed, spoke to me that you’re lost.
Well, I did what every sinner and backslider wanted to do. I just closed the book, threw it on the shelf, and ran out the door. But time went on, and the next day I was in class. We were in Revelation, the class of Revelation. So hearing about the things that were going to come to pass for those who are going to be left behind was not settling for me. So I had left class. I tried to get a nap before I went into work later that afternoon. It wasn’t working. I could not sleep.
So I got up, and I remember praying things like, “Lord, if you just let me last for this car ride, if you let me get to work, I promise I’ll get saved.” So I got to work. I tried to cut on all the gospel music that I had listened to as a kid and all my life, thinking that would help me. It didn’t help me. The feeling just grew stronger. I cut on preaching. I tried to figure there would be a soothing calm in the Scriptures. There wasn’t.
So about five o’clock in the afternoon, I think, I went to the break room at Dillard’s, where I was working. And I went in a spare room where no one could hear this, and I called my professor. And I asked him, and I told him what had happened. I told him all those things I went through. And I said, “Look, I’m dealing with this, and I don’t know what’s going on.” And I basically, within that phone call, told him, “I need to be saved.”
And so I sat there in that chair in that room and asked the Lord to save my soul. And as soon as I turned the knob, I remember the burden just lifted off my shoulders. And as soon as that door knob turned, so did my life. And I walked out there a brand new creature. And so from that, as soon as I walked downstairs, I wanted to tell everybody what had just happened to me, and just told them just as clear as day that I had been saved.
And a lot of them looked at me. It was kind of funny. A lot of them knew that I was in Bible college to be a preacher, and they knew I’d sang Gospel Music all the time I was there. And so that created a doorway for me to tell them. I said, yeah, but I got things settled finally. I’ve asked the Lord to save me. So that’s my testimony, really, in a nutshell. So that’s what happened to me.
Daniel Mount
Wonderful. Neat. That was something I was going to ask. You were actually going there to study to preach.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah, well actually, I guess a lot of my stories kind of run together, but since I was two years old, the oldest memory I have is sitting in the back of my mom’s car listening to Gospel Music. And throughout my life, my family knew I wanted to sing.
And I had made that very clear, that I’d wanted to do this my whole life. And so I kind of got off to Bible college expecting to go there to train myself to be a better singer and get my degree and then go off from there and sing gospel music. But while I was there, the Lord kind of shifted my heart and shed light that He wanted me to preach.
And I struggled with it for a while, and I sought counsel as to what I needed to do. And anyway, I just would watch those men up there preach sermons, and the desire would be in my heart to do the same. And so that’s kind of where, and finally, I had been in Bible college one year, I think, and I surrendered at a Gold City concert, actually.
I had met with my cousin who was hosting them, and I had sat there and I told him what I was dealing with. And I said, “I just want to do it so bad.” And he looked at me, and I told him, “I’m just waiting for somebody to tell me to do this.” He said, “Well, if you’re waiting for somebody to tell you to do it, what’s stopping you?”
And that, I believe it was August 5th of 2021, I surrendered to preach. And so the Lord has opened a lot of doors for me to preach several places, and now he’s opened the door for me to sing Gospel Music finally. And so anytime he opens a door, I just want to be willing to walk through that door and do what he wants me to do. So that’s kind of that story.
Daniel Mount
There is a long tradition of Gospel singers who also preach. And it’s not just the recent ones like Wyatt Austin, but this is off the top of my head, but I’m pretty sure Hovie Lister did a fair amount of preaching when he was with the Statesmen all the way back then. So, a good, long tradition of people who God calls to do both. So we’ve touched on this part a little bit. I was going to ask if you grew up around Southern Gospel, and you kind of grew up around three groups.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah. I grew up, really, around four. My mama and daddy were in a gospel group as well, and I really guess I got a lot of influence from them because at that time they had started singing, and every Saturday we were going somewhere new to sing. And so I kind of grew up around it. And, you know, Mama sang alto.
And she was just a tremendous alto singer. Daddy was a phenomenal lead singer. I mean, he was so good. And then my uncle was also a really good tenor singer. And then the fourth part, the bass, was filled in with my Sunday school teacher. And then my Nana was a great piano player. So all my life, my family just raised me around gospel music.
And so it was just kind of like second nature. This music has always been a part of my life. And so it was nothing. And then when we weren’t traveling and singing with my mom and daddy’s group, then I was going out, and I just fell in love with going to hear the Inspirations. Anytime I’d get a kick into a new group and I’d collect all their albums and stuff, Mama would take me to go and see those groups.
So I owe Mama a debt for all the times that, you know, and she never complained or anything. She just took me, and we just had a great time. I remember one time the Inspirations were all the way in, I think, Hernando, Mississippi, which is about three hours north of me. And Mama and me just took off and went, and we just went and had a great time.
Daniel Mount
That’s a long haul.
Jonathan Rigdon
We went and had a great time.
Daniel Mount
I think, I’m pretty sure the longest – this is totally off topic, sorry – but I think the longest I ever went to a concert that wasn’t NQC was also Gold City. There was that little period in, like, 2010, 2012 when Tim Riley came back on the road with them, and Josh Cobb was with them, and Roy Webb was on piano, and of course Danny Riley on baritone, maybe Bruce Taliaferro on lead. I’m not 100 percent sure who the lead was, but I was like, “I’ve seen Tim Riley at NQC, never seen him in a full concert.” It was more than two hours. It wasn’t three, but it was more than two. I was like, “I have to go see Tim Riley in a full concert. Like, I will probably never get this chance again.” And I’m glad I did, because I wouldn’t have ever gotten that chance again.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah, man, I wish I could have seen Tim, like, at all. That’s the thing about me, is like, I’m coming up and I didn’t get to see all my heroes really perform in their heydays. So it kind of stinks, but at the same time, I just appreciate being in it now.
Daniel Mount
Yeah. Well, I actually am similar; I also didn’t. Although I didn’t grow up around Southern Gospel, I grew up in a church that sings some hymns and some praise and worship stuff. But I grew up in northern Ohio. There’s not much of that around here. I didn’t discover the Cathedrals until 2003, so I never got to hear Glen live, never got to hear George live. So a lot of my heroes, I didn’t. I’m in a similar boat for some of my heroes.
While we’re talking about this, you know, I think we both love the Southern Gospel Forward podcast. If you go on there, one of these days Aaron Swain will ask you about your favorite albums. I’m not going to take his question, but what I will ask you is, what are your favorite live concert experiences that you ever got to be at in person?
Jonathan Rigdon
Okay. Ooh, I like tough questions, and this is probably… man, I’ll tell you one that, one of my favorite ones was, like I said, my mom and daddy had a group, and this was just perfect. I’m a huge Inspirations fan. I love it. I always have.
My birthday was near in one year, and a guy had booked my mom and daddy’s group on a concert with the Inspirations. And so it was awesome. And so anyway, I got to get there early, of course, and my dad was setting up, then the Inspirations were setting up. So I got to spend time with Luke. This was also right after Archie had come back.
So I got to see, that was one I got to see, an exception where I got to see Archie live. I got to see Eddie live. Marlon was the lineup, and then Matt Dibler was singing lead, and then Luke and Roland were playing piano and bass at that time. So that was kind of a highlight.
I guess another one would also be, not to go on about Inspirations, but another time they came to my home church, and my grandfather had booked them to be at our home church, and it was awesome.
So outside of that, I got to see Mark Trammell one time right after Randy Byrd had joined the group and Dustin Black was still singing tenor. So I got to see those four, and man, it was awesome. Mark just, he talked a little more than usual, but I liked that. I liked the comedy of it. And he was just right on cue with everything he did. I mean, they just were really good. They were still doing Your Walk Talks stuff, so it was neat to kind of see. I think maybe Pat had just left probably about that time.
Daniel Mount
Mm-hmm. Yeah, that’s the album he recorded with him.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah, but so that’s cool. I like that stuff. So that’s probably it.
Daniel Mount
Randy Byrd had one of the best bass tones. Like, Randy Byrd was not the flashiest bass ever. He wasn’t like a Pat Barker and a showman, but his tone was just so smooth and warm. A friendly tone.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah. Yeah. I liked Randy. He was really good. I got to go and eat with them one time after the Memphis Quartet Show. So I got to, I ate with everybody that was in the group, I think, except Steven. He was off doing something else at that time. So we got to go to Rendezvous, and I got to spend a lot of time with Randy. And just, man, those were the nicest guys, and to take up time with a nobody and some kid, that was just the nicest thing to me, and that went a long way. So I appreciate them doing that.
Daniel Mount
Nice! Mm-hmm. I think Randy was actually the first Southern Gospel singer I worked up the nerve to talk to back in his Blackwood Brothers days. And he was so kind and warm and friendly to me. Thankfully there aren’t very many people in Southern Gospel who are the opposite, but things could have gone differently in my life if I had talked to one of the people on the other end of that spectrum.
Okay, how did you develop your voice through the years? Work on the tenor range, learn harmonies.
Jonathan Rigdon
Well, I’m just going to go ahead and clarify this through the first part of the interview. Not only are the Inspirations my favorite group, but they’re also some of my closest friends. And since you asked that, I remember that I was just itching to sing. And I remember I went to a concert in Grenada, Mississippi, on my way back up to college, and I stopped off and saw Luke and Isaac and Wyatt and Roland.
And I remember that that night, they got done singing. We’re at the product table, and I asked Luke, I said, Luke, is that piano still plugged up? And he said, “Yeah, it is.” I said, can we go up there and sing something? Well, news flash, Jonathan didn’t know harmony, so it was a train wreck. And I still have those videos, and I hope they never get out.
But I just remember because we were supposed to split up into parts, and I just, for “The First Million Years,” went from Troy’s part on that first verse and just shot up to the tenor. And I didn’t know no better. But those boys took time and helped me and tried to say, you need to go home and you need to learn the parts.
But also during that same night, Luke pulled me aside and he said, Jonathan, you sounded better tonight at tenor than I’ve ever heard you sing. And it was like a switch flipped. And from that point forward, I listened to every Archie Watkins tenor note I could to sound like him.
And then also I listened to Danny Funderburk, and I tried to listen to what he did. And also Jay Parrack was one I loved to hear sing. Then over time I had to learn. I tried some different techniques, and I’m a guy, I love Archie and Danny because they’ll just stand flat-footed and rear back and sing.
And so if you ever come hear me, you’ll probably hear that. I try my best to do just like them guys. If I can’t hit it, I’ll try my best to hit it. But also sometimes I’ll throw it up in my nose and maybe do a falsetto or something. So, you know, that type of stuff. Most of the time, I try to rear back and hit those notes.
But that was probably the first time anybody had really pointed out to me that I could be a tenor singer. I never thought about being one. I really wanted to be a bass singer. I guess that was kind of funny how it’s turned out. So, but that was probably it.
Daniel Mount
Yeah. Neat. Well, that reminds me of probably my favorite thing I came across as I was doing what research I could for this episode were the videos you posted of the TEMU Inspirations at Singing in the Smokies last year. I loved those videos. 12th anniversary. Re-doing the 12th anniversary. I loved it.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah. Really? Oh yes. Man, that was so much fun. It was, and it was just a blast to get to do that because, you know, I got to be Archie for a night, and that’s always been my dream. So I tried my best to do it.
Daniel Mount
It looked like it was fun. Mm-hmm.
Jonathan Rigdon
But you talk about memorable concert experiences. I don’t know if that’d be an official one, but that’s up there. I had the most fun that night as any other time I could think of.
Daniel Mount
Mm-hmm. It’d have to be up there. And that was just, it really sounded good too. Because you sounded good on tenor. I love the Dixie Echoes, and Dallas Rogers was there, and I think he kind of liked Archie’s tone too. I don’t know if I talked with him about it specifically. But then he joined the Inspirations, and he wasn’t there for that long. But he did record The Son Came Down album with them, which, that is one of my all-time favorite Inspirations albums. Just a really good album.
So yeah, your tone reminded me a little bit, just speaking of Dixie Echoes context, of kind of a cross between Dallas and Wesley Smith, who are two of the better tenor singers they’ve had in recent years. So I really liked how that sounded.
Jonathan Rigdon
Dude, you don’t know how much that means. We were at a church two or three weeks ago, and the pastor was hearing us sound check. And it was one of those churches, you know, Randy and Scoot had built a relationship over the years with this pastor. And so it was kind of already set, like how we were gonna have a good night when we got there.
And he’s on the front row, and I’m singing “When He Was on the Cross,” and he goes, yeah, he sounds like Wesley. I’d near about fell out because, to me, it doesn’t get any better in Dixie Echoes history than Wesley Smith. He has become a huge influence and a hero of mine while just having to learn all this material and everything. Also I’d throw Billy Hodges in there, cause he’s awesome too.
Daniel Mount
Mm-hmm. I got to interview Billy. It was after his Dixie Echoes days, but I got to interview him in his Kingdom Heirs days. It was fun getting to know him a little. Yeah.
Jonathan Rigdon
Man, I bet that was a lot of fun.
Daniel Mount
It was! And those TEMU Inspirations, there was so much vocal talent on that stage because you’ve got Aaron Swain, who’s sung with other groups, and right now he’s filling in with the Perrys, and Brady Jones, who’s a current Kingsmen bass, and Riley Wheeler, who’s a good singer himself. Really sounded good.
And the other thing I really liked about that was, you know, there are people who carry on about, I wish Southern Gospel singers would do more to invest in the next generation. Well, here you have Luke Vaught staying up like an hour past when he could very well have gone to the bus and gone to sleep for the night to recreate, maybe not a full Inspirations live album, but a pretty good chunk of it with four young singers who love singing so much. He just stayed up to jam with you guys, play with you guys, invest in you, make a good memory. I was like, kudos to Luke for that. I was really impressed with him.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah. Yeah. See, but that’s the thing. A lot of people didn’t see the rest of the night that unfolded after that. Yes, I actually got to tell this now.
So that night you saw probably the first half. It was like two in the morning when we were doing that video, and we’re up there singing. And then after that, there was Singing Echoes songs done. We did all the Singing Echoes you could think of. Then we went into the Kingsmen catalog and tried to do, cause Brady was there. So he wanted to. I did a big Jim Hamill impression. None of that was recorded, which stinks, but I wish it was. If we do that again this year, the camera’s going up and I’m going to record everything.
But after that got done, we all left, and we went to another place and we sang some more a cappella stuff. We took “A Look Back,” and then all of us young boys, I guess, went to Waffle House. And I didn’t get any sleep till seven o’clock that morning. So it was a long night, but it was worth every minute of it. It was awesome. So I would do it all over again if I could.
Daniel Mount
Oh my goodness! Sure. I saw a concert poster of a group you did at least one concert with called the Blessed Hope Quartet with Luke in it. Is that a one-night thing, or was that something you did a number of concerts with that group?
Jonathan Rigdon
Yep. Well, that was a one-day thing, and I wish we could have kind of done some more dates here and there. But that consisted of Elisha Moore singing lead. And Isaac’s cousin Brian was there singing bass. And that was his first time ever singing bass, and I thought he did a really good job.
Daniel Mount
Elisha Moore, for those listening. Isaac’s brother.
Jonathan Rigdon
And then Riley [Wheeler] was there as well. And then we somehow pulled the strings to get Luke to come play piano, which was just awesome. And so the fact that he drove all the way from Kentucky after doing a long weekend to come and do that, I mean, Luke’s just like, there’s never going to ever be another Luke Vaught ever. I mean, he’s just one of a kind, and he’s one of the best people and one of the best Christian guys that I know. So anyway, I love all them boys, and it was just fun to do that.
I basically kind of got to do a bunch of Inspirations songs, so that got all that stuff out of my system to help me move on to other things. But it was a lot of fun.
Daniel Mount
How about New Revival Gospel?
Jonathan Rigdon
Jackson Smith had called me, and he wanted me to come in, and he was putting that together. He first called me about three times for me to go and do that, and I told him no every time because North Carolina is too far away.
And so I told him, and I put this ultimatum out there. I said, if you pay the plane ticket, I’ll do it. And I was just joking, cause I didn’t think anybody would pay for a plane ticket for me to go out there and do that. Cause I wasn’t driving 10 hours to go to North Carolina. I just wasn’t going to do that. And I know that’s probably bad on my behalf, but I wasn’t going to do it. But Jackson ended up doing that.
And so I flew out on, I think, a Wednesday morning, or a Tuesday, something like that. And I flew out, and so anyway, landed in North Carolina and he picked me up. And so for that whole weekend, we sang, and I chose, I kind of wanted to do some more contemporary-style songs like “My Jesus” and “Chain Breaker.” And so we kind of came together on those, and the finished product is what you see.
I believe, if I’m not mistaken, the concert that we sang with the Lawsons where we’re all kind of wearing blue, that was on Facebook. Is that true?
Daniel Mount
I hadn’t found it. I couldn’t find anything from that group singing. Okay.
Jonathan Rigdon
Oh, that’s right. That was live streamed, and Facebook, I think, has made that thing where after 30 days it goes away, which I can’t stand. But anyway, I’ve got the first night we did that. I’ve got that on my phone. So that was kind of cool.
But we had a lot of fun doing that too. And it was just, we had Samuel Shields, he was there because he lives right down the road. And we sang with them that Friday night.
Daniel Mount
Of the Rogers family. Neat.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah. Yeah. That’s one of my best buddies right there, is Samuel Shields. And so it was just a lot of fun. But because of that, some people, Jack Armstrong saw me sing with New Revival, and he had told me that he was going to put my name in with Scoot. And so I guess kind of leading into this story, this all kind of happened that weekend.
So he called me and he said, “Hey buddy, I didn’t know you were wanting to sing.” And I said, “Well, yeah, it’s just something I’ve wanted to do all my life,” kind of thinking, well, yeah. But anyway, after we got off the phone, he said, “I’m going to call Scoot and put your name in with them.” And I said, “Well, that’s fine.”
And I had originally started, I was just going to go fill in with them because I just thought it’d be the coolest thing to go say I sang with the Dixie Echoes a weekend. Well, it just was revealed to me as I prayed about it and talked to my family and sought counsel over the situation that God was leading me to go with the Dixie Echoes.
So Scoot called me. They were singing at Hattiesburg, which is about an hour and a half from my house. And so I called Scoot and I said, “Hey Scoot, y’all are singing real close to me. And we had talked about me coming to fill in. Would you like me to come down there and sing a few songs with you and see how it sounds?” He said, “Yeah, that’d be great.” I said, “All right, good deal.”
So I practiced everything I could. I listened to Pensacola Live, So Many Reasons, the Live at Silver Dollar City record. They sent me a few concerts to go over to figure out. And the Dixie Echoes had always kind of been like a staple in my life because Mama and Daddy, like I said, they had sang also with the Dixie Echoes on a program or two. And they had been around here and there, and there was a stint in a year or so where I had seen them so many times in my childhood and throughout my life. So I had known Scoot for a while.
And so anyway, he said, “I didn’t know you sang.” And I said, “Well, by the time you knew me, I wasn’t singing anything worthy of this.” So anyway, when I got to Hattiesburg, we went over a few songs, auditioned with the group, and Scoot said, “Would you be able to come ride with us February 6th, 7th, and 8th?” And I said, “Yeah, that sounds good.”
So I went, we did the whole weekend, had a real good time, and then Randy ended up offering me the job February 8th, that night after we got done. And so here I am.
Daniel Mount
Do you remember what songs you sang with them to audition? You know, the Dixie Echoes, so looking for a tenor, what songs did they want you to sing for them?
Jonathan Rigdon
Well, I got a cool story about that too. I had kind of called some of my close friends, and we had talked on the phone. And I called Elisha Moore. I called him on the phone. I said, “Hey buddy,” and we had talked just normal. And I said, “I’ve got an opportunity that I could be going with the Dixie Echoes.” And he said, “Really?” I said, “Yeah.”
He said, “Well, you remember that old song they used to do, ‘If You Know the Lord’?” And I said, “I think I’ve heard that a time or two.” Well, he said, “Let me send it to you real quick. If y’all could come back and sing that, that would be awesome.” And I said, “Okay. I’ll keep that noted.” And so I took a mental note of that.
And so we run, and I get there, and they had eaten pizza after that concert in Hattiesburg. And so we’re all sitting around, and Scoot looks at me and says, “You ready to go sing?” I said, “Yeah.” I’m nervous by this point. I mean, not that I hadn’t sang all my life, but you’re talking about your first big break with a gospel group’s about to happen, and you know, do I get the job or not, you know, kind of thing.
So anyway, we go out there, and I think Randy starts playing “I Am the Man.” And then he goes on and he says, “Let’s do what? ‘Hide Thou Me.'” I think I sang that. I think we did “Roll on Jordan” too that night. But he wanted me to do “Walk with Me,” which we have been actually doing a few times now. But when I auditioned, he asked me about that song, and I said, “I don’t know it well enough to sing it.”
But he said, “All right, well, do you know ‘If You Know the Lord’?” And I said, “Well, actually, I do know that song.” And I didn’t know it well enough to sing it that night, but I had listened to it enough to where I kind of got the gist, and I kind of made it through it. But apparently they liked it well enough to where they wanted me to come out for a weekend. And then they apparently liked that weekend well enough to where they wanted to hire me.
So I’m kind of blown away, still in shock that I’m here and I’ve been given this opportunity to do this. I can’t believe it. The Lord is so good, and he’s just blessed me beyond my wildest dreams, literally. But yeah.
Daniel Mount
That’s really cool! Just from, you know, there hasn’t been anything high quality out yet, but just from little cell phone clips on YouTube, I can hear what they heard in your voice. I can see why they’re like, yeah, this guy can fit our sound. So looking forward to hearing it.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah. Well, thank you for saying that. I appreciate it. Yeah.
Daniel Mount
Do you have other musical talents? Do you play any instruments? Write songs? Run sound? Anything else along those lines?
Jonathan Rigdon
Well, I guess in some cases I’ve done all three of those things. I wouldn’t put running sound on my resume, though. I wouldn’t put that there, but I do. And I’ll just be really honest about this.
I play guitar, piano, bass, and mandolin a little bit. But I am in no means a Randy Shelnut on any of those instruments. I just play kind of basic. Man, he’s so good. But I can play enough to play chords. And if you were to ask me to play guitar with you or something, I probably could do that, but I’m no finger picker. I don’t do any of that. I probably could if I sat down long enough, but I don’t have the patience.
But songwriting, I have written some songs. But before I went and got into gospel music, I guess my big break, or whatever they want to call it, I had kind of gotten to a place where I wasn’t in the best shape spiritually, you could say. And I had actually had a desire to do a whole 180, and I wanted to go into country music. But the Lord kind of got my attention, and he helped me realize that that wasn’t what I needed to do with my life.
And I’m thankful that he did that, because Lord knows where I’d be. But during that time, I wrote songs left and right. I mean, and some of them were awful, but a lot of them I thought were really pretty good. But ever since I started singing gospel music, that well just ran dry, and I hadn’t really written a song since. And I hope maybe someday I can write some gospel songs, hopefully write a gospel song for the Dixie Echoes and we could do it. But that’s kind of where that has stopped. But I still play guitar every now and then. I don’t do it a whole lot, but most of my time’s singing, you know.
Daniel Mount
Neat. What do you hope Southern Gospel looks like 25 or 50 years down the road, and what do fans and artists need to do to get us there?
Jonathan Rigdon
Well, in 25 years, I kind of see all these young people still singing gospel music. That excites me. And to name those few that I’m thinking of, I think the Rogers Family will still be singing just like they’re singing. And I think that Jeff Tolbert, he’s got Elisha with him and Skyler [Coffey]. I think all those guys are gonna go on for years to come. The Inspirations, the Mylon Hayes Family, I think they will be doing the same thing and carrying it on. So I see it going to that place where young people will still be singing this great music that we love.
And what it’ll take to get us there, I would just say faithfulness, which is what I’d probably say. You know, sticking with it is what we’ve got to do. And I’m not going anywhere. I’ve wanted to do this my whole life, and as long as the Lord will allow me, I’m going to keep on doing it. So I know that’s easy to say right here at the start, I know that, but this is what I’ve really always wanted to do. So I’m just glad to be doing it.
Daniel Mount
Neat! I want to tell your story as well as I can. Are there any questions you can think of that I might not have asked that I should ask? Anything else we can talk about that would be interesting for somebody getting to know who you are that I maybe haven’t asked about?
Jonathan Rigdon
I love to have a good time. I’m always cutting up, joking around. So I love doing that, and that just makes up who I am. Anywhere I’m at, I want to have a good time. And so I think that can kind of go along with getting to know me a little bit better.
Other things about me, we kind of really covered a majority of it. But yeah, I can’t really think anything. Unless you can, I’d love to answer anything you’ve got. Well.
Daniel Mount
Alright. Well, that’s all I could think of. Alright, how can people keep up with the Dixie Echoes?
Jonathan Rigdon
Well, we got a Facebook page to go and like, and you can friend me on Facebook, and I’ll share anything I can. And I’ll say this, you know, the main thing I want to do is build a relationship with everybody, all the people that we come in contact with. So if this gets out there somehow, don’t just run out the door at the end of a Dixie Echoes concert. Come by and talk to me, and let’s become friends. I want to be friends with everybody. And so, yeah, that’s kind of my desire about all that.
Daniel Mount
Nice! That is a really great attitude to have because I don’t know if there is a genre of music that’s more relational than Southern Gospel is. It’s almost like what makes a group Southern Gospel versus Christian country or something else. It’s the relationships with everybody else in Southern Gospel. It’s a family. You can be doing a variety of styles of music, and if you have those relationships and you’re part of the Southern Gospel family, you’re Southern Gospel. You’re singing the Gospel.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah, I a hundred percent agree. And that’s one thing, Luke taught me, and I’m trying my best to perfect it. But he said, “Go out and talk to people.” And that’s the thing, and I’ve heard that all my life. So if you see me kind of standoffish, don’t be afraid to come up and shake my hand and talk to me. If you can get a conversation started, I’ll talk your ears off. I promise I will.
Daniel Mount
Yeah. Wonderful! Well, thank you so much for coming on this evening. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you.
Jonathan Rigdon
Yeah. Well, thank you for having me. I’ve had a blast doing this. Again, this is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this, so it’s all new for me. But hopefully it’ll be an encouragement or a blessing to somebody.
Daniel Mount
Great. You did great. I think so. Well, thank you so much!
And to the listener, I would say thank you for listening to Southern Gospel Journal. You can keep up with the latest episodes on YouTube, Facebook, your favorite podcast platform, or on southerngospeljournal.com. Thanks for listening.