Well it's hard to believe that 2012 has passed us already, but here we are facing another 12 months of great possibilities.  We hope you all had a great Christmas.  I assure you we all did!  We even managed to do four "Somewhat Christmasy" dates in December.  We managed to work up a few Christmas songs, two quartet tunes as well as two solos each by myself and David, and we had a tremendous time doing this.  I thought we worked up pretty decent reditions of "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful" if I do say so myself, and David Fair did a beautiful job on "Why Can't Every Day Be Like Christmas".  I was very privileged to sing one of my favorites, "My Grown Up Christmas List".  We even got the audience involved on some of our favorite Christmas tunes we learned as children.  These dates were great successes, and we hope to come back next year with an even more Christmas-y program.

One of the most oft-asked questions we receive is with Mike and I living in Georgia, Rick and David in Tennessee, and Barry in Kentucky, "How do you guys rehearse??"  The best answer we can give is...we do our homework.  Sometimes we will meet on a weekend we are not singing specifically for rehearsal to learn more songs, and sometimes we will work more music into our programs as we are doing sound checks.  When we have picked out songs to sing, we have stressed to each other how important it is to have our lyrics and vocal parts well memorized before the next time we meet.  So far, this arrangement has worked out beautifully.  Plus, I am constantly reminded of the seasoned professionals I travel with.  They are true pros!

Speaking of true pros, I had a great opportunity this New Years Eve to help pay tribute to one of the greatest pros of our music, Gerald Williams, as we held the final concert of the Melody Boys Quartet in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Those of you who are familiar with my background in gospel music will know that the Melody Boys are one of the oldest names in gospel quartet music, and the group that gave me my first chance at singing gospel music.  After 63 years of singing bass in professional quartet music, Gerald Williams finally decided that he had earned the right to retire!  I was very honored to join 17 other former members of the Melody Boys, and about 1200 enthusiastic fans in bringing the full-time career of this great group to a close.  We sang from 7:00 until midnight and no one left the building!  It was one of the most memorable nights of my career, and I will always be indebted to the Melody Boys for their faith in me.

The Rebels are very excited about 2013.  This coming March will mark a year since the first little "jam session" concert in Cumming, Georgia, that brought this quartet together.  We have many exciting things in the works, another recording now in the planning stages, a new booking agency, some new states to add to our travels, several exciting concerts in the works, we will return to almost all of our venues from last year, and once again, we will perform at the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion in Greenville, SC, this time for all three days of this wonderful event.  These are just some of the exciting things we anticipate in the year ahead.  We can't wait to come to your town and bring this exciting music and the message of Jesus Christ not just to our brothers and sisters in Christ, but to those who need Him in their lives.  We love you, and the best is yet to come!


Alan Kendall
Rebels Quartet

Well, we are in my favorite time of year, and nearing the end of what has shaped up to be a year that has blown the members of the Rebels Quartet away.  We came together in February of this year with nothing more than a desire to keep alive the desires in our hearts to continue singing.  We began with no name, no money, no matching suits, and no recording.  In time, we became driven to continue the heritage of the Rebels, and somehow everything lined up in favor of our group being named the Rebels, and bringing back some of their great songs.  We were soon blessed with benefactors to help launch our group.  Words however, cannot describe the friendship we have enjoyed with Bob and Anita Vandergrift, who are the primary reason we were able to record our Revived CD.  They have fed our group, loved on each member, and have helped us so much in these early stages.  For this we say THANK YOU Bob and Anita!  You will never be forgotten for your contribution to our ministry!  Over the past 10 months, some of our quartet have even been offered more lucrative singing jobs, which were eventually turned down because for some reason, there was a stronger desire to sing with this group.  God has blessed this group with a means of transportation, a Chevrolet Tahoe that is very comfortable to ride in, and get us to our dates very smoothly and in a very cost-efficient manner.  We have managed to do 15 dates for 2012, all of which were great successes and very moving concerts.  For a group starting with very little means, you can now see how God has blessed the Rebels Quartet.  And from the looks of things 2013 will be another year that will blow each of us away.  So many exciting things are in the works, and we can't wait for you to be part of it!  Keep visiting our website for further developments, and until I touch base with you again, in the meantime please have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!


Alan Kendall
Rebels Quartet

It has been far too long since I last updated everyone on the latest happenings with the Rebels.  We are having an incredible time these days!   Our dates are still few as can be expected when starting a new group, but all have been great successes!  We have sung for some wonderful audiences over the last couple months.  During July we sang on Seminole Indian Reservations in south Florida, with Pastor Phil Enloe at Harvest Chapel in Venice, Florida, at McConnell Memorial Baptist Church in my hometown of Hiawassee, GA.  The Lord showed up and truly blessed us at all of these venues, and the people have received our music so well.  

We were honored to sing at the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion last month.  Charlie Waller ever so kindly gave us our first appearance on a major concert promotion, and he certainly treated the Rebels right.  There's no doubt about it, Grand Ole Gospel is our crowd!  Nobody appreciates quartet music like these people.  Their response to our music overwhelmed all of us.  Rick was unable to make this weekend due to a scheduling conflict, so we were honored that Hall of Famer and my former boss-man Gerald Williams stepped in to help us out.  This 78 year old bass singing legend didn't miss a beat!  We sure hope that Grand Ole Gospel Reunion will continue next year, and that the Rebels will get to come back.

We were so glad to see Rick back with us this past weekend when we sang near Murphy, NC, at Boiling Springs Baptist Church.  I use the term NEAR Murphy, NC, very loosely.  This church was WAAAY back in some of the most beautiful wooded and farm country I have ever seen, in a little community called "Hanging Dog".  If you're wondering where you can find Hanging Dog on the map, it is to the west of Owl Creek and to the east of Beaver Dam.  Hope that helps.  The church was celebrating "Old Fashioned Day".  We chose to get in on the fun ourselves and dressed in bib overalls and matching shirts.  I thought I would be singing much more comfortably than normal, but those overalls were definitely hotter than any suit I have worn.  Bro. Eddis Dockery and his congregation gave us a very memorable Sunday morning.  We look forward to getting to come back to Hanging Dog again next summer!

Our CD "Revived" is out and is receiving GREAT response.  I don't call our style "vintage" or "classic quartet" style, I just call it good music.  It is simple and straight from our hearts, and we hope you feel that when we sing!  

If you would like to have the Rebels come sing at your home church, or if you know of any venues in your area who are having gospel concerts on a regular basis, please contact us!  We would LOVE to come sing in your area!

Your prayers, love, and friendship are treasured.  Keep it up.  We love you!


Alan Kendall
Rebels Quartet

Well, it's hard to believe that it has already been a couple months since my first news installment on The Rebels.  We have been busy making preparations, booking some concerts, recording our debut CD....that is when we are not tending to our families!  We had our first "official" concert (I guess "Official" would mean our first time actually where a venue knew The Rebels were coming several weeks in advance) at Central Baptist Church in Crossville, TN.  Upon hearing of our formation, they were kind enough to invite The Rebels to be a part of their Memorial Day service, and what a thrill it was to be a part of this program.  The service began with one of our veterans who shared his story of witnessing the loss of a fellow soldier in war.  Needless to say, the chill bumps were all over us as we sang our new song "Another Hero's Coming Home" right after paying tribute to these soldiers.  Thank you Central Baptist for allowing us to be a part of this service.

In the meantime, we are in the process of finishing our "Revived" recording, which will feature 10 songs from The Rebels days covering from 1955 through 1972.  Many of these songs have not been heard in years.  For those who have asked if we're recording "Lily of the Valley" and "The Fourth Man"...YES, we have recorded them!  David Fair does an incredible job on "Lost, Searching, Found".  Mike Young brings that classic tenor sound to "Lifted From Sin".  I am very excited about singing "He'll Understand and Say Well Done".  And ol' man Rick Fair has re-recorded "It Is No Secret", which he sang on his record with The Rebels in 1972.  Those are just a few of the favorites we've brought back.  We can't wait to stage all of these songs for you.

We're very excited to be coming to Florida in July.  We look forward to traveling to Hollywood, Clewiston, and Venice.  Most of the guys in the group have performed at these venues before, but I look forward to singing at all three for the first time.  Sometime next January or February, we hope to have a Homecoming concert in the Tampa area with as many former members of the Rebels as we can get to attend.  We will keep you posted on that.

Keep checking our schedule for more dates.  We hope to be coming your way soon!


Alan Kendall
Lead Singer

Excited!

I cannot begin to tell you of the excitement we feel, and blessings that God is bestowing on the Rebels in this early stage of our ministry.  So many doors are already being open for us, and so many have outpoured their love to our group.  

We just had our first concert on Sunday Night (March 25, 2012) in Cumming, GA, at Antioch Baptist Church.  With only two days notice, Pastor Travis and Alicia Bridgeman graciously opened their doors for us, and allowed our group to "practice" on an audience.  The Bridgemans made phone calls, emails, facebook announcements, etc, and the large crowd they brought in for our debut performance was nothing short of a miracle.  Southern Gospel DJ Danny O'Day even came to introduce our group and show his support.  We were merely looking for a place to rehearse and get an offering that would maybe cover driving expense for the members of our group, and God provided so much more!  Pastor Travis prayed over our quartet, we sang as close to perfection as five men with only a few rehearsals under their belt could, and the spirit and energy of the audience truly moved our souls.  Thank you Bridgeman Family, Danny, and Antioch for your contribution to our ministry!

Plans are already underway for two new albums.  One will feature several new songs, including two songs written by our pianist, Barry Patrick, along with several favorites like "How Big Is God", featuring our bass singer and "Rebels patriarch" Rick Fair. Our other project will feature songs that the Original Rebels made famous, such as "The Fourth Man", "The Lily of the Valley", "I'm Going Back", and many others.  As time develops, we will be accepting more bookings for concerts.  In the meantime, it's back to the rehearsals, the meetings, the rehearsals, the phone calls, the emails, and of course, the rehearsals!  We will keep you posted right here on our website on the latest happenings of the Rebels.

Be sure to check us out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RebelsQuartet.  We're excited to bring the legacy of our gospel singing heroes back to life, and we hope to see you soon!


Alan Kendall
Lead Singer