An evening with the Chuck Wagon Gang

When I pulled in to the church parking lot at 4:50 this evening, the Chuck Wagon Gang was already there unloading equipment from their bus. Luckily one of the deacons arrived before me and had unlocked the church doors for them. I entered into the sanctuary and walked up to a tall man holding a large guitar. Dave Emery is the manager of the CWG and he sings the baritone/bass part and plays lead guitar. He quickly stuck out his hand and greeted me warmly. We chatted for 5 or 10 minutes while the other group members finished setting up the equipment. I gleaned a wealth of information from Mr. Emery in just those few moments of conversation. Most importantly, I learned that Dave Emery and the Chuck Wagon Gang are not in show business; they are in the soul business.

As I was in the copy room running off copies of a bulletin that I had put together for the concert, the Chuck Wagon Gang began warming up and doing mic checks. As I listened to the sweet harmonies coming from pulpit, I started getting chill bumps. Old Jim Hamill from the Kingsmen used to call them glory bumps. I had glory bumps running all over me. One of their warm up songs was one of my favorites called, “That’s Enough.” It has a great bass part; “well I want to know, that he will welcome me there, I do not want to be denied, well I want to live in that city so fair, and that’s enough for me to know.” I began singing along with Dave as he ran through the bass part. I didn’t know until my Wife told me later on that they had stopped singing and were listening to my caterwauling from the copy room. How embarrassing!

When you host a concert like this, you never know exactly how many people to expect. I was praying for a large turn out and brother let me tell you, those prayers were answered. The people started filing in at just a few minutes after 5:00. The concert didn’t start until 7:00. As more and more folks came pouring through the doors I began to actually get worried that we would run out seats. It wouldn’t have taken many more before we would have had to break out the metal folding chairs. I don’t know if anyone got a head count but I estimate that we had around 200 people. That’s a pretty good-sized crowd for our church.

I opened up the service with 3 verses of, “Jesus Saves.” Then our pastor led us in prayer and read a couple of passages of scripture. Then the Chuck Wagon Gang took to the stage. If you are not familiar with the CWG, you should go and visit their website for a while and get acquainted. If you are like me and were brought up listening to the CWG on old vinyl records, then you know what to expect. Today’s group is just the same as the Chuck’s of old. They only use a single lead guitar for their music. The only other music they use are their beautiful voices. Ever since starting out in the 1930’s, the CWG has kept faithful to their roots. Four-part harmony is the livelihood of this group. The current CWG consist of; Dave Emery from Seymour, TN, singing baritone and playing the lead guitar. Julie Hudson, originally from Indiana now resides in High Point, NC, singing the soprano part. Knoxville native, Stan Hill, does a fantastic job on tenor. And, probably my favorite singer of the group, Penny Greene, from Morristown, TN, does an outstanding job singing the Alto. Each person in the group is an artist all on their own. But, put the four of them together and WOW, perfection!

We were treated to song after song after song. All of the good old CWG tunes from yesterday and some more modern ones. They even pulled off a very nice rendition of Josh Turners, “Long Black Train.” Complete with Penny’s, “pshhhhhhhh” steam sound at the end. Of course I enjoyed hearing the old classics that I grew up listening to, such as “Looking For a City,” and “On the Jericho Road.” But, I’ve got to say that my very favorite song tonight was one that I had never heard before, "He Said It All For Me." It is such a beautiful song and I cried like a baby the whole time they sang it. I also tremendously enjoyed their latest hit single, “I’m Rejoicing.”

The CWG sang a 45-minute set then took a short break while we took up a love offering. We sang 2 verses of, “Victory in Jesus,” and then the Gang came back to treat us to some more beautiful singing. During the 2nd half, they do a re-creation of an old 1940’s radio broadcast. They even do a commercial for Bewley Mills Flour Company, the sponsor for the original radio program. They take on the persona of the original CWG members, Dad Carter, Jim, Rose, and Anna. Julie Hudson even dons a pair of old 1940’s style Cat Eye glasses. It is a really neat thing to witness. Even with a slight goofing off, the Spirit is still prevalent in their songs while doing the “broadcast.”

They sang for a solid hour and half, but I could have sat there all night long listening to the Heavenly sounds coming from the stage. I’m not alone either; even my 10-year old son said that it was the best singing he had ever heard in his life. He was also giddy with delight when after the concert, Penny Greene, gave him a complimentary color photograph and had everyone in the group to sign it. He held on to that picture like it was pure gold. He came home bugging me to buy a frame for it so he can hang it in his room.

You know, singing groups come and go, but there is a good reason why the Chuck Wagon Gang has lasted for over 70-years. If you want to know the secret to their success, just attend one of their concerts. I think you’ll come to the same conclusion that I have; it’s all a matter of heart.