Chuck Wagon Gang concert rescheduled for Nov. 4 at Renaissance Center

Release Date: 10/5/2004. Expired: 11/4/2004

Due to scheduling conflicts, the date of the Chuck Wagon Gang’s return to The Renaissance Center has been changed to Nov. 4.

The Chuck Wagon Gang, America’s longest-running and most recorded gospel group, brings its 70-year tradition of Southern gospel harmony back to The Renaissance Center as part of the Solid Gospel 105-FM concert series.

Tickets for the 7 p.m. show in the Performance Hall are $14.

It is a harmony that has been famous since the 1930s. There have been personnel changes, but most of the members have come from the same Carter family and the unmistakable sound of the Chuck Wagon Gang has remained virtually unchanged.

The Original Chuck Wagon Gang was founded in the 1930s by D.P. (Dad) Carter with his son Jim and daughters Rose and Anna. The group recorded for Columbia Records more than 40 years, a mark for a gospel music alliance which has been surpassed by no one, and at one time were the best sellers of all types of music recorded by Columbia. More than 37 million Chuck Wagon Gang records have been sold.

They have appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, the Grand Ole Opry and on thousands of concert stages across the nation. They were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall Of Fame, and are included in the Smithsonian Institution's classic American recordings.

The current members of The Chuck Wagon Gang are Shaye Truax, who sings alto and is the granddaughter of Anna Carter Davis (the original alto); soprano Melissa Cavness; tenor Ronnie Page, who was previously with the group in the 1960s, and bass singer and guitarist Dave Emery. This group has much of the same sound and harmonies of the original group that began in the 1930s.

Shaye Truax sings alto for the Chuck Wagon Gang and is the granddaughter of the Gang’s original alto, Mrs. Anna (Carter) Davis.

Truax is married to Dale Truax and they have two sons, Benjamin and Noah. Truax has two Bachelor’s Degrees in Music (Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Choral Conducting) and so she arranges many of the Gang’s new songs in preparation for recordings.

Truax was involved in many musicals and operas in college as well as choral and theater projects, and so feels completely at home on stage. However, singing the Chuck Wagon Gang songs is what she enjoys most, especially since she has the opportunity to continue the legacy that her grandmother and family began nearly 70 years ago. Truax says the most important decision she ever made was on Aug. 15, 1981, when she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. “Becoming a Christian gave my love for music a purpose. I devoted my life to Jesus and dedicated my voice to singing His praises. I can’t imagine being involved in music in any other form or fashion. The Lord has truly blessed me.”

Melissa Cavness is the 27-year-old soprano. She joined the group in late 2001, and had been working for the U.S. Postal Service for over seven years.

She and her husband, Jason, have two children: Weston and Alysse. She lives in her hometown of Groveton, in the piney woods of east Texas. She grew up singing in a small country church, and recalls attending her first two-week Stamps-Baxter singing school at the age of 6, taught by Mrs. Pauline Pate.

Cavness credits her love of music and God to her family. She once said, “I have been so blessed to have a Christian family that loves the old fashioned music. I didn’t have to learn the Chuck Wagon Gang style, I was raised on it.”

She is fast becoming the most popular soprano the Gang has had in many years. She loves her new job singing and especially loves all the new friends she has made.

Ronnie Page returns to the Gang after several years. He first joined the Gang in 1963 after leaving the Oak Ridge Quartet. He has been performing in Branson, Mo., and various venues across the country. He does the emcee work along with the tenor part.

Also, Dave Emery joins the gang for the first time at the bass slot and plays guitar in the old Chuck Wagon style. He comes to the group from Branson, Mo., as well, where he performed with the Branson Valley Quartet. He grew up listening to and singing the great Chuck Wagon songs. He helps out in a variety of ways, including the sound and bus driving.

For more information on the Chuck Wagon Gang concert at The Renaissance Center, call (615)740-5600. To purchase tickets call (615)740-5570 or visit the center’s box office at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.

Visit the Events - Concerts and Recitals page for more about musical performances.

News

Date Released	Expiration	Headline
No Press Releases to show...