OUR NEW BIO…

I thought you might like to read our new bio that we posted on the website last week….

But now by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the New Way of the spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
Romans 7:6 (NIV)

From the seventh chapter of Romans comes the namesake for Arkansas’s New Way Quartet.

When it comes to their sound, perhaps noted Southern Gospel songwriter Dianne Wilkinson says it best. “New Way Quartet— woo hoo! My, my, my!”

With their third CD, So Saved, these four men deliver on the promise seen on the stage of the National Quartet Convention, proving themselves worthy of their top five finish in the 2009 talent competition.

Steeped in the tradition of landmark groups like the Oak Ridge Boys, the Kingsmen and the Cathedrals, Dr. Wally Liles set out nearly ten years ago to create an outlet for a style of music he finds inescapable.

“I’ve been a big Southern Gospel fan all my life, from the time I was a kid listening to the Blackwood Brothers and the Statesmen. I studied classical music all my young adult life but I still couldn’t get away from my love of Southern Gospel.”

An optometrist by day, Dr. Liles spends his weekends sharing his vision with the three men with whom he shares the stage:  Jeff Hindmarsh (lead), Brian Rushing (tenor), and Gary Kindy, Jr. (baritone).

The bass vocalist confesses to a collection of records that number nearly five hundred, one that informs the group’s song selection, even on the new CD. “Inside of Me” is a 35-year-old Dixie Echoes song from the Dale Shelnut era, and “Something New” is a Michael English composition from his days with the Singing Americans in the eighties.

“I love the harmony, I love the message and I love the interaction, both between the group on stage and of course, with the people out in the audience too.” So far, the Hoppers, Greenes, the Lefevre Quartet, Mercy’s Mark, and the Melody Boys are the first on a growing list of top groups with whom New Way has shared the stage.

Produced by Dove Award winner Kevin Ward, So Saved is New Way’s first foray in introducing new material, and they’ve done it with the help of some of Southern Gospel’s most stellar writers:  Wilkinson (“So Saved”), Marty Funderburk (“I’ve Not Seen A Mountain” & “I Am the Way”), and Ward himself (“Faith Talkin’”).

Dianne Wilkinson is downright exuberant when it comes to New Way’s take on her song, the title track “So Saved.”

“What a fabulous cut this is! I knew it was going to be a killer from the first line on. Love the groove of the track and the young man singing the lead is just wearing it out! I’m sure the whole CD is great but honestly I just keep playing mine over and over! This cut just blew ole Di away!”

If high praise from the lady who wrote Cathedrals hits like “Boundless Love” and “We Shall See Jesus” is any indication, this quartet is following in the footsteps of their heroes, forging a New Way, and leading their own excited group of fans and followers.