Rocky Flatts - Gospel Bluegrass at its finest

Last night we hosted the gospel/bluegrass group, Rocky Flatts, at our church. What a great bunch of talented guys! As I was moving the altar furniture off of the stage around 4:45, the guys started walking in. Dustin, Shaun, Jeff, Jason, and Rusty, each one carrying an instrument of some kind. I was so excited that they had brought all of their instruments, banjo, guitar, dobro, stand up bass, mandolin, they had them all. I knew we were going to be treated to some awesome music.

Our crowd was a little down last night. From what I understand several folks had some kind of prior commitment and wasn't able to attend. We had around 50 people in attendance. The guys in the group didn't seem to let that bother them. They said they were there to worship and spread the gospel through their music, and that's exactly what they did! I video taped the entire service and hopefully will get a song or two uploaded soon.

Rocky Flatts sang 11-songs all together last night. Kicking things off with Jason Miller on the banjo ripping into an exciting rendition of "Over in the the Gloryland." They then moved into the inspiring story of our Savior on the cross with, "Three Men on a Mountain." Their next song was one of my all-time favorite hymns, "The Unseen Hand," which lead into an instrumental version of everybody's favorite, "I'll Fly Away." Next up was one of my favorites of the night, "Soul Train." I loved the instrumental work that they did on that one. The imitation sounds of a train being played by Dustin Atkins on the dobro was fantastic. After that they performed another beautiful song "Rock Of My Soul," sang by the very talented Shaun Kirkland. This song had a haunting instrumental sound that just seemed to stir my soul.

Probably the most heart wrenching and thought provoking song of the night was, "Sorry I Never Knew You," superbly sang by Rusty Watson with Jeff Amburn showcasing his awesome guitar playing. I had heard this song before but I don't think I ever paid that much attention to it as I did last night. I think everyone in the congregation was choked up of hearing the story of a man's horrible dream of not being able to enter Heaven because his name was not written in the Lamb's Book of Life. When the song ended there was dead silence, no one even clapped. I'm sure they were all like me, wrapped up in thought about the song and not really sure that it ended. Wow, talk about a song being able to reach someone! After that they played a rendition of "Amazing Grace," to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun." It was wonderfully performed and I enjoyed singing along. One of my kids was talking in the car about how much they enjoyed that song.

Next up was a song written by Dustin's mother, titled, "I'm Saved Today." What a great song! After that they went into another of my all-time favorite hymns, "He'll Hold My Hand." They did an excellent job on this song and I even heard my buddy, Jerry Butler, who made a surprise visit last night, say, "nicely done," when the song ended. They ended the night by asking our pastor to come forward to give an invitation and they played, "Pass Me Not."

It was a great evening of gospel/bluegrass. I felt that Rocky Flatts was very sincere in their desire to spread the message. I enjoyed their testimonies of their Salvation experiences. After the concert my son insisted he have his picture made with the guys. They were gracious enough to take time away from their tear-down to accommodate us. We visited their product table and purchased their new CD, "In the Beginning," which you can sample on their website. My son also bought a Rocky Flatts baseball cap and said it was the best hat he has ever bought.

If you are a music minister or concert promoter for your church, and you are looking for groups to come and worship, I highly recommend Rocky Flatts.