20 th Annual Gospel Reunion Reschedule for 2021

(Silsbee, TX) – The Master’s Men have made the difficult decision to cancel their 20^th Annual Gospel Reunion scheduled for August 8, 2020, and reschedule for 2021, circumstances permitting. The 14^th Annual Winter Celebration is currently scheduled for February 27, 2021 and additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

Bill Wright, President of The Master’s Men, said, “With the guidance of and information from Hardin County officials about the current realities of COVID-19 and the social distancing required, it makes ticket sales an impossibility both online and at the door.” He added, “We certainly do not want to endanger any of our audience that has faithfully attended the majority of The Master’s Men’s concerts, and the special cleaning and disinfecting required both before and after the concert would put an undue burden on the custodial staff at Silsbee High School for the safety of students, instructors and staff.”

The Master’s Men are currently accepting requests for concerts and church services for the remainder of 2020 and into 2021. To schedule a concert, call Kent Houp at 409-718-2332 or Keith Morgan at 409-782-0109. For additional information about The Master’s Men and concert schedules, visit mastersmensilsbee.org.

Silsbee, TX | Tickets for The Master’s Men 12 th Annual Winter Celebration will be on sale soon! Be watching our website mastersmensilsbee.org to purchase yours and get the best seats.

Buy Tickets to The Master’s Men Winter Celebration

The ticketing procedure will be basically the same, even though we are dealing with a new ticket vendor. You will notice a 10% ticket purchase fee through the actual vendor that goes directly to them for setting up and processing all tickets. This was necessary because our previous ticketing company no longer handles tickets, and this is the best option we could find
for all our loyal patrons.

This year’s line up includes the ever-popular 11 th Hour, with numerous chart hits; The Nelons, with a fresh new sound; and the LeFevre Quartet, who recently had their first #1 song on the
Singing News monthly chart, “Suns Gonna Come Up”. Two of the groups, The Nelons and the LeFevre Quartet have rich southern gospel music traditions dating back to the early 1920s. The Nelons, originally know as the Rex Nelon Singers from their inception in 1977 until 1985, have continued the family tradition with beautiful 4-part harmony and voices that blend as only family can do. Group members include Kelly Nelon Clark, husband Jason Clark and daughters Amber Nelon Thompson and Autumn Nelon Clark. The LeFevre Quartet, can trace their roots back to 1921, and brothers Urias and Alphus LeFevre who sang with sisters Maude and then Peggy. Urias married Eve Mae Whittington, and she became the piano player and alto for the group, who had many famous singers in their group, including bass, Rex Nelon. Mike LeFevre, who sang baritone for Gold City for a number of years, formed the LeFevre Quartet in 2005, with current members Jordan LeFevre, lead; Jeremy Peace, tenor, Mike LeFevre, baritone: and Keith Plott, bass.

The 12th Annual Winter Celebration will prove to be another great night of Gospel Singing with some of the very best groups in Southern Gospel Music. The doors will open at 4pm with the concert starting at 5, at the Silsbee High School Auditorium, 1575 Hwy 96 North, Silsbee, TX 77656.

Our 18 th Annual Gospel Reunion was a great night of singing and praising the Lord. The crowd was super responsive to all the groups that were there, and if you missed it, we hope to see you in February for our 12 th Annual Winter Celebration.

With the big singing behind us and our new CD now in the racks, we are tuning up the voices for our Christmas selections, to share the birth of our Savior in song. Of course, we throw in some secular Christmas favorites to round out the program.

We are currently scheduling November and December holiday concerts and will do our best to schedule all requests on the dates of your event. Even though it will be the holiday season, Jimmy likes homemade banana pudding year-round! Just sayin…

If you would like to schedule the Master’s Men for your holiday concert, contact Keith Morgan, after 5 weekdays and on weekends, at 409-782-0109. For any day / time, contact Kent Houp at 409-718-2332 or Rick Goldin at 409-781-3916. We’re waiting to hear from you.

Turn Back to God, America

The Master’s Men’s have a new project available, the first in nearly 3 years. The project was initially started in 2015 with a 2016 or early 2017 release estimate. Then came personnel changes, numerous health issues and a hurricane named Harvey.

All that is now behind us and the new project titled ”Turn Back to God, America”, after the song with the same name, is now available, with a new T-shirt that carries the same name and theme.

The song was originally written and composed some 30 years ago by Kent Houp, baritone, and Keith Morgan, lead, when they sang together with the Countrymen Gospel Quartet. Kent was reading in 2 Chronicles when he came to chapter 7 and verse 14, which says:

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Kent began thinking about the issues our country faced back then, and the words began to flow, with the majority of the song being written in about 30 minutes. After working for several days looking for a melody line and chord structure, he took the song to Keith, who in short order had the entire composition done.

The song was pertinent when it was written, and how much more appropriate the words are in the word in which we live today, when we think the only hope for our country is to get on our knees and turn back to God.

As with most of our CDs, you will find a mixture of old, new and in this case original work that we hope you will enjoy. The CD is not online with CD Baby at this time, so catch up with The Master’s Men at one of our concerts in the near future.

Until then, make a joyful noise unto the Lord!

One thing that is constant for The Master’s Men is CHANGE…and 2017 was no different. As most of you are aware, long-time tenor David Short resigned in the spring of the year, and we began diligently searching for a new first tenor. Little did we know that the Lord already had an alto in mind to fill the position. With the addition of Yvette Morgan, The Master’s Men began a new chapter as a mixed group, after nearly 20 years as an all-male group. And we couldn’t be happier! Not only has she added to the looks of the group, she also brings decades of singing and directing Sweet Adeline’s choruses and quartets to us. For those that have never heard a Sweet Adeline’s group, they are female barbershop singers, and Yvette is one of the best. In addition to David’s resignation, our decade plus sound man, Lowell Myers, tendered his resignation in August effective after the August Gospel Reunion, to spend more time with the family and being a grandpa. Since that time, Nick Hildebrandt has done an excellent job running sound for The Master’s Men, and our prayer is that God will lead him to make that a permanent arrangement. In addition to his collegiate major of sound reinforcement and video, Nick also handles all the electronics for the Tyler County Country Church in Woodville, as well as playing the guitar and singing…be looking for that in our upcoming concerts!

If you are one of our regular attendees, you already know about our major concerts that took place in 2017. For those that might have missed one or both, we kicked off our major concert year with our 10th Annual Winter Celebration in February, with Joseph Habedank, Greater Vision and Triumphant Quartet. Our Gospel Reunion 17 in August was a huge hit, featuring The Erwins, The Ball Brothers and Ernie Haase & Signature Sound.

One of the things we’ve always heard is that when you are working for the Lord, Satan is going to do everything he possible can to interrupt the work. And 2017 was no different, with Rusty’s wife Judy dealing with cancer and surgery, Yvette working through macular degeneration and treatments, Rick’s mother and wife both undergoing surgery, and Kent being hospitalized twice and undergoing surgery. We MUST be doing something right for the Kingdom!

The Masters Men are going wherever we are called to share the gospel in song and testimony of the grace and love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and we eagerly await what He has in store for us the remainder of the year. Remember our Gospel Reunion 18, Saturday, August 4th at the Silsbee High School Auditorium, featuring Joseph Habedank, Greater Vision, The Mark Trammell Quartet and the Second Half Quartet. Doors open at 4 and the concert starts at 5. Tickets will be available soon, online at mastersmensilsbee.org. There will also be a new project coming that will be available at that concert and we are excited about that. May you all know the fullness of living in Jesus Christ!

Filling First Tenor Position the Group Searches for a First Tenor

Silsbee, TX: Yvette Morgan has answered the call for The Masters Men, yet again.

Yvette’s first and foremost responsibility is being the wife of Keith Morgan, one of the two lead singers. In addition to that full-time job, thousands of people have seen Yvette at The Master’s Men’s product table, where she graciously helps find the right t-shirt sizes and bags up CDs that have been purchased. In addition to handling the product table, on many occasions, Yvette has filled in at the soundboard, running it as efficiently as anyone and ensuring that The Master’s Men’s sound is consistent from concert to concert.

And now she has taken on yet another responsibility. With the recent resignation of the first tenor David Short, there was a gap in the group, and when asked if she could fill in at first tenor, Yvette said yes, a little nervously, but a yes nonetheless. Having sung for many years with the Sweet Adeline Chorus out of Beaumont, directing a chorus in the Houston area and been a
member of Out of Control Barbershop Quartet, she is hardly a newcomer to the stage, and more than qualified to handle the tenor part.

How long she will sing tenor with the group is not a matter to be decided by The Master’s Men, but rather by God’s leading and direction with everything being done In His time and according
to His plan for the group.

With the resignation of David Short as first tenor, the Master’s Men are seeking an immediate replacement. If you have a servant’s heart and a tenor voice, we would ask that you be in prayer as to how the Lord might use you in this ministry. In addition to our two big singings at the Silsbee High School auditorium every August and February, with 3 additional full-time groups, the Master’s Men sing an average of 2 times per month, primarily in smaller churches from Port Arthur to Nacogdoches and Houston to Leesville. If you would like to be considered for a first tenor position with the Master’s Men, contact Keith Morgan, after 5 weekdays and on weekends, at 409-782- 0109. For any day / time, contact Kent Houp at 409-718- 2332 or Rick Goldin at 409-781- 3916. We’re waiting to hear from you.

After many years of faithful service both as sound technician and then as first tenor, David Short has tendered his resignation from the Master’s Men. David stated that at this time, there are just too many things going on that require his personal attention to continue as a regular member of the Master’s Men. And David is still going to be an invaluable asset, continuing as a ticket outlet for the Master’s Men Gospel Reunions in August and the Winter Celebrations in February. Best Impressions, David’s print company, will also continue to provide artwork for both these events and other printing that may be required. So, while he won’t be on-stage, expect to see David Short at our big concerts, helping wherever and however he can. David has been a dedicated member for many years and his service will be missed.

What a difference a year makes! 2016 was a very busy year for the Masters Men, with more singings than we have had in the last few years. We were everywhere from Pancake Suppers at First United Methodist in Woodville, to the County Fair in Newton, to the 80th Anniversary of Calvary Baptist in Port Acres, to the 90th Anniversary of Rosedale Baptist in Beaumont, to the 100 year Anniversary of Wiley Mae Pentecostal Church (hmmm…seems like they call old guys to celebrate old events!) We were asked to participate at Christmas Parties for Calvary Baptist and Westgate Baptist in Beaumont and Stringer-Griffith Funeral Homes at Rayburn Country. Everywhere we went we praised the Lord and presented the plan of salvation through song and testimony.

We kicked off the year with our first concert at Genesis Baptist Church in Buna, Texas on January 16th. Our 9th Annual Winter Celebration on February 27th was a great night of singing and praising the Lord at Silsbee High School Auditorium with 11th Hour, The Perrys and the Booth Brothers. In April we traveled to the northern area of Louisiana, where our senior tenor, Jimmy Norwood, grew up. We sang in Rocky Branch Baptist Church in Farmerville and at Boeuf River Baptist in Rayville. This year we sang in Tenaha, Timpson and Blair…if we can just find a church to sing at in Bobo, we can say we’ve been everywhere (for our younger viewers, it’s a reference to an old country & western song by Hank Snow…look it up.) Our 16th Annual Gospel Reunion in August featured the Ball Brothers, the Jim Brady Trio and Jeff & Sheri Easter and was awesome! This year we were blessed to sing in several different denominations, including Assembly of God, Baptist, United Methodist, Church of the Nazarene and Pentecostal, demonstrating that the message of Jesus Christ is universal and people everywhere like good ol’ Southern Gospel Music.

New developments included Kent and Keith both changing jobs, Rick joining the ranks of the happily retired, the Masters Men becoming their own independent 501C3 non-profit religious organization and Kent and Iva becoming Hardin County residents (Wildwood) on Dec. 29th. There were some sad times as well in 2016, as Rick had to say goodbye to both his father and brother, and Rusty bid farewell to his father. Neither of them lost anything, because they know their loved ones are now at home with Jesus and one day they will have a great homecoming celebration.

The Masters Men are eagerly anticipating and looking forward to 2017, starting with the 10th Annual Winter Celebration coming February 28th at the Silsbee High School Auditorium with Joseph Habedank, former lead singer for The Perrys, Greater Vision and Triumphant Quartet. Tickets are available online at mastersmensilsbee.org. There will also be a new project coming next year and we are excited about that. May you all have a spirit-led Happy New Year!

Since our last update, we have been quite busy! If you’ve noticed from some of our pictures–or attending one of our concerts–we have a new member. Rusty Mott has been singing baritone with us now for several months. Rusty and his wife Judy live in Spurger, Texas and he owns and operates Mott Supply in Kountze. He is an active member of First Baptist Church in Spurger, and he is also a Gideon. He is a great singer—but more importantly –he loves the Lord and shares our vision for The Master’s Men ministry!

And speaking of Rusty–he came along just in time to be on our NEW CD! The project is titled HE’S STILL WORKIN’, and features many of the radio hits of the past. Some of the songs are TOURING THAT CITY, THE LIGHTHOUSE, WHEN HE WAS ON THE CROSS, SWEET BEULAH LAND–just to name a few. The CD ends with the great Hemphills song HE’S STILL WORKING ON ME. We brought in many of The Master’s Men kids, grandkids and godkids to sing this song with us, and we were overjoyed with the results!

So far, 2016 is looking very busy for us so be watching our website for our concert schedule. You might also want to sign up on our email list. This way, you get periodic updates on our concert dates–as well as early bird purchase opportunities. Just click on the “Mailing List” tab on our homepage.

As always–Thank you for your support!
The Master’s Men