The United States Association Of Gospel Entertainers & Musicians
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A 501 (c)(3) Faith-Based Ministry/Charity
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USAGEM Television productions.
Five episodes shot and ready for editing.
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USAGEM's
Hallelujah Hayride
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Top photo, left to right: Mike Dunbar (director), Lynn Fox (host), Stu Martin (guest), Debbie Bennett ( guest), and visiting USAGEM member, Tammy Vice
Bottom photos, left to right: Stu Martin, Debbie Bennett
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USAGEM
Writers of the Light
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 U
Top photos, left to right: Randy Ferrell, Bev McCann
Bottom photos: left to right: Joanne Cash, Russ Roberts
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USAGEM PRESIDENT LYNN FOX
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FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
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From The President's Desk . . . . . . . . .
November is a time that all of us turn our minds toward Thanksgiving. In our Fox Family, we get together on Thanksgiving day to enjoy a large meal and give thanks for our many blessings!
The Bible has a lot to say about gratitude. Thankfulness is a very prominent theme. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". Giving thanks in ALL circumstances should be a way of life for us, naturally flowing from our hearts and lives as Christians. Ultimately, God is in control of every situation. We must realize that God can work through anything in our life, good or bad, to accomplish His purpose. We trust Him to work all things together for good in the lives of those who love Him.
Psalms 136:1 says, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever." The people of God are thankful people, mainly because they realize how much they have been given. God is worthy of our thanksgiving. It is only right to credit Him for "every good and perfect gift" He gives!
During the first part of 2017, the board members and officers of USAGEM felt very strongly that our organization should take a year of restoration and replenishing. With this biblical approach in mind, it was decided to take a year off of hosting the USAGEM Convention & Awards and just follow the Lord's lead and direction.
One of the paths that God seems to be leading us is in the area of television and media. Our 13th Annual USAGEM Awards Show is now edited and ready for airing. The Friday Evening Showcase presentations are also complete.
USAGEM recently hosted a Viewing Party for the 13th Annual USAGEM Awards Show and we want to thank everyone that attended. It was a great night of food, fun and fellowship. USAGEM members that helped to make this event successful include Mike Dunbar, Bev McCann, Shelton Bissell, and Becky Short. Very special thanks to Juan Lopez for his work on the show and the many hours he spent editing! My hat is off to all of you! Special thanks to Michael Gardner, DVD copies of the USAGEM Awards Show and the Friday Evening Showcase performances are now available to everyone!
Another film project that is coming to fruition is a brand new television program specifically geared for our USAGEM songwriters. Mike Dunbar is the director of this new show appropriately named "USAGEM Writers Of The Light".
Each of these programs will feature two guest songwriters who will perform two or three of their penned songs, and include an interview with the host of the show. Tom and Mary Campbell
have graciously opened up their home and studio for the filming.
The first four shows have now been filmed and will feature songwriters Lady Corder Chapman, Joanne Cash, Tom Campbell, Ann Hartmann, Deb McCann, Randy Ferrell, Russ Roberts, and Mike Dunbar. Presently, Juan Lopez is in charge of the cameras, lights, and editing. I understand that the "USAGEM Writers Of The Light" show will be first aired in the Nashville viewing area on
Nashville Education, Community, and Arts Television (NECAT).
"Hallelujah Hayride" is another new television program that our organization has in the works. This show is geared towards our performing artists, duos, and groups. It is filmed at New Century Productions in the Mill at Lebanon located in Lebanon Tennessee. The first show features Debbie Bennett and Stu Martin. We will keep you updated on this objective and others as they come together.
One more thing! I want to congratulate our new board members who were unanimously elected by acclamation during our last membership meeting in October. They are Charlene Harrison (Black Gospel), Sandi Kay Shupe (Bluegrass), Peggy Inks (Christian Country), Philip McCoy (Contemporary Christian), and Deon Unthank (Southern Gospel). Each of these new board members will start their three year term on January 1, 2018.
In closing, let's continually give thanks to God from whom all blessings flow! Also, please remember to keep all of our USAGEM members and friends in your prayers!
In His Service,
Lynn Fox
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Pray for USAGEM
and our members
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The Words of our Lord
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.
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USAGEM
MEMBERS NEWS
Rick Alan King, Wendi and Randy Pierce
The 2017
"Way Beyond The Blue" concert series continues to be a great success for
Rick Alan King and
Randy & Wendi Pierce and special guests. One of the show highlights is the formation of the trio comprised of Rick, Randy & Wendi. Rick states, "I am so pleased with how our voices blend and our 3-part harmony is beautiful". These concerts/shows offer a mixture of gospel and positive country music along with a lot of humor, cold water, coffee and cookies, and always a very special patriotic finale.
Be on the lookout for a "Way Beyond The Blue" concert coming to your area in 2018. You will not be disappointed!
For more info or to schedule a concert contact:
Rick Alan King
Randy and Wendi Pierce
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Member John Young's senior group Fifty Forward has booked a USAGEM variety show called The Gift of Gospel to be held on December 7, 2017 in their meeting center located at 301 Madison St., Madison TN. It is open to the public. Dinner will start at 6pm, and the show will go from 7-8:30pm. Admission for dinner and show will be $15, the show alone will be $10. Among the members performing will be Lady Corder Chapman, Sandi Kay, Lashell Spears, the Pearly Gates, and Charlene Harrison. USAGEM will be receiving a donation for the show. John said he would be willing to book other shows like this for USAGEM.
Thanks John!
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Jam Session at Joanne Cash's
Top left to right: Bill Poe, Wally Parks, Mike Dunbar, Joanne Cash, Lynn Fox, Richard Starkey and Rick Otts
Bottom left to right: Chad Crow, Dr. Harry Yates and Jill the toy West Highland Terrier.
Members Dr. Harry Yates and Joanne Cash Yates had several people out to their house for a jam session recently, including some of our USAGEM members. It was a wonderful time of Gospel, Christian Country, and Bluegrass.
A standout at the jam was Richard Starkey, guitarist, who recently played on the Grand Ole Opry radio show as part of Starkey and Clark. Joanne showed everyone memorabilia of her brother Johnny Cash. She also told how Johnny read the bible every day and showed pictures taken with Dr. Billy Graham.
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While in Nashville to shoot an episode of USAGEM's Hallelujah Hayride, member Debbie Bennet got to play onstage at the Grand Ole Opry as part of the Opry's tribute to Ralph Stanley. Debbie keeps busy spreading the word of the Lord.
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USAGEM Today is distributed to all of our members and to many churches and music industry personnel.
If you have news items about your ministry please e-mail your press releases or digital flyers to Mike Dunbar at:
[email protected]
We may edit press releases as we see fit. Keep in mind that USAGEM is a 501(
c)(3) Non-Profit organization. As such, USAGEM does not endorse a political party or worldly agenda. We are here to serve the Lord and spread the Gospel through song and entertaiment.
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SONGS FOUND IN THE WORD OF GOD
1 I waited patiently
for the
Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
Psalm 40: 1-3
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USAGEM
TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS
What are they and what are they all about?
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And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. - Matthew 24:14
We are told to spread the gospel of the Lord to the world. In these times video has gone far beyond traditional television. It is on cable, on satellite, on wi fi, dvd, digitally transferred, on the internet, shared with flash drives and sd cards. The more ways there are, to broadcast the further we can reach with the message. It's easier to broadcast and harder to block than ever before.
Video, especially in conjunction with music, is more personal and more able to connect with the mind and the heart than music alone. And, that's a good way to reach the lost.
USAGEM has had some opportunities and developed ideas that can help our performing members get their songs and performances onto video at several levels of broadcast. We are starting with two programs, "Writers of the Light" and "Hallelujah Hayride."
The first, Writers of the Light, is about songwriters. It is shot in an intimate setting with a four camera shoot. Simply produced, these "unplugged" performances show the audience how a song might be experienced before ever being recorded. The background is warm and bright, plain pine wood walls. The sound has a "roomy" quality recorded with high quality condenser microphones in a stereo pattern.
The second, Hallelujah Hayride, is shot in a tv studio (pictured above) that has a set meant to evoke a night time hayride with black background and sparse decoration. It is more performance oriented. For now, it is shot using artists' song tracks. The equipment includes a moving camera which rides slowly on a rail for motion shots.
Both shows have a similar format. Two guests singing three songs each with each guest being interviewed by the host. There will be theme music for each show with theme bumps between segments.
The shows are shot to conform to Nashville Education, Community and Arts Television (NECAT) standards. We have producers from NECAT who will air the shows, but this is not the only broadcasting that we intend for them to have. Among other things, these shows will head a lineup on our upcoming YouTube channel. We will join the YouTube Tech Soup program for nonprofits which will avail us of "technology tools, resources and knowledge" to improve how we present our members on YouTube.
We will also be adding special programs such as Christmas shows, our award shows etc. There will be broadcast programs that fit members at different stages in their ministries. we also will be providing broadcast opportunities for members who produce their own videos or have them produced. We are aiming high over the long run, looking to have a presence on major cable and satellite television.
USAGEM is not asking fees from artists who appear on Writers of the Light or Hallelujah Hayride. Donations will be accepted but are not necessary. For now, both of these programs are only made up of original music, public domain music, or cover songs with written permission from publishers and songwriters. In the future we may make provisions for "cover" songs. Then we may ask that artists pay any fees necessary to license such songs from publishers. However, we still will not ask fees for our organization in return for video services. We believe God will sustain us in this.
Writers of the Light and Hallelujah Hayride together form the flagship of USAGEM's video arm. Our production team will be putting together the guest rosters for them, but once these shows are ready and aired, and the YouTube Channel is up and running, we will have several video production and broadcast opportunities open for any and all of our members. We thank the Lord for all opportunities.
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General Membership Meeting and 13th Annual Award Show Video Viewing Party Oct. 23 2017
WHAT A PARTY!
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The General Membership Meeting and 13th Annual Award Show Video Viewing Party was a resounding success. Fellowship and food was followed by the full video of last year's award show. The applause after the first segment was an indication of how well the video was accepted by the attending members. Members who took part in the award show and/or the Friday night showcase will receive four dvd's that contain the entire award show as well as the Friday showcase.
If you haven't received yours soon, contact us here and leave your mailing address
as well as your preferred email address: CLICK HERE
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Our "USAGEM God and Country Jubilees"
are over until next spring. Thanks to everyone who participated in last year's programs.We have some exciting new venues lined up for 2018.
Let us know if you're interested in performing on next year's Jubilees. We'll be developing a schedule soon.
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We are a volunteer organization. Don't wait to be asked...volunteer!
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USAGEM ON THE INTERNET
to reach our
Main
Facebook Page
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Make it a "favorite" and please share it!
CLICK HERE
to reach our NEW Facebook Events Page.
Make it a "favorite" and please share it!
to reach our
Website
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Register and begin filling out your page with music, photos and more
to use in your ministry.
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We, the board and officers of the United States Association of Gospel Entertainers and Musicians, thank God for you, our members. and we thank him for allowing us to serve you.
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USAGEM's members are a diverse group of people creating music and entertainment in various ways. Yet, we all share one goal. To reach the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Whether it is one singer in a small church coffee house, a praise and worship team, a Christian comedian, a Grammy winning quartet, a songwriter, a saxaphone player, a booking agent, a gospel music fan, or a family band, we're all here to
PRAISE THE LORD.
We are a fellowship of servants using out talents to serve the
King of Kings
GOD BLESS OUR MEMBERS
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P.O. Box 121583
Nashville, TN 37212
www.usagem.org
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