Alabama Singing Men launch anniversary tour

For three decades, the Alabama Singing Men (ASM) have led worship at the state convention annual meetings, various conferences and numerous special events. And to commemorate this, their 30th year, the men’s choir is going on tour April 5–7.
   
The Alabama Singing Men 30th Anniversary Tour will take the 80-member group to four cities across Alabama — Birmingham, Marion, Montgomery and Auburn, respectively. Directed by Tom Smith of Auburn, the men are accompanied by pianist Frank Jones from Calvary Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, and the ASM brass ensemble. 
   
They will be singing selections ranging from spirituals such as “Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal,” to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir’s jubilant “He Reigns Forever!”
   
According to Bill Carr, ASM president, the group formed during the 1974 Alabama Baptist State Convention’s annual meeting in Tuscaloosa. Their first concert tour was during the spring of 1975 and began in Birmingham. Thirty years later, the group will return to Birmingham to kick off the celebration tour.
   
“I am extremely excited about this tour,” Carr said. Promising a different “flavor” for each stop, he noted that many charter and former members will be returning for the tour.
   
First Baptist Church, Birmingham, is the first stop with an 11 a.m. concert April 5. That evening, the group will proceed to Samford University in Birmingham for the official 30th Anniversary Concert.
   
The following day the ASM will travel to an 11 a.m. concert at Judson College in Marion and a 6 p.m. concert at First Baptist Church, Montgomery. The tour’s final day will begin with a 6:30 a.m. concert and prayer breakfast at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.
   
The tour will end on a cooperative note at Auburn’s Lake­view Baptist Church. ASM’s sister organization, the Alabama Singing Women (ASW), will join the men for a 7 p.m. concert.
   
Originally limited to full-time ministers of music, ASM has expanded its membership to bivocational music ministers as well as laymen. The group has toured extensively during its 30 years, appearing at the Southern Baptist Music Conference and Music Week at Ridgecrest and singing for the American Choral Directors Association. Other venues include missions trips to Wyoming, Indiana, Korea and Spain. ASM has also produced recordings of its songs and has plans for a future album.
   
This year’s ASM officers are: Bill Carr, president; Craig Stringfield, president-elect; Scott Corbin, secretary; Charles Shaddix, treasurer; Jerry Dykes, historian; Tommy Pierce, chaplain; Robby Head, publications; Tom Smith, director; Roger Walworth, instrumental director; Dunaway Conner, handbell director; Ray Burdeshaw, assistant director and adviser; Frank Jones, accompanist; Keith Hibbs, assistant accompanist and adviser; and James Nance, past president.
   
Officers for the ASW are: Jane Burdeshaw, president; Beth Henderson, vice president; Ola Jean Head, secretary; Liz Pate, treasurer; Jane Leland, accompanist; Connie Hale, chaplain and Gayle Smith, director.
   
For more information, contact Carr at 251-937-9536 or bbrrcarr@yahoo.com. (TAB)