Rector, Arkansas

Thursday night’s (Aug. 5) spectacular Rector Concert 2010 benefiting the Rector High School Helping Hands Foundation of Rector, Arkansas surpassed previous efforts, thanks to its lineup of top Southern gospel stars pitching in for a heartwarming cause.

The event was the third annual concert fundraiser for the Foundation, which was formed by 1953 Rector High School graduates Bill Carter and George Barker.

Now Nashville-based, Carter went on to serve in the Secret Service before embarking on a legendary music business career as attorney for the Rolling Stones, manager for Reba McEntire and other country artists, and producer of Southern gospel great Bill Gaither's Homecoming programming. Barker, who is now retired and living in New York, became a U.S. Army general.

The benefit show took place in the new Rector High School gym (“Home of The Cougars”) and starred Gaither Homecoming Southern gospel stalwarts Mark Lowry, Jason Crabb, Kevin Williams and Charlotte Ritchie, along with stellar bluegrass act Dailey & Vincent and Gene McDonald, another Gaither gospel regular, who frequently sang with his family in the Rector area while growing up.

Before the show, a visibly moved Carter noted that virtually everything relating to the production was donated by the artists and event crew—and that any other costs were greatly reduced. He was even able to bring in his old friend (and Little Rock native) Allen Branton, the renowned lighting expert whose concert credits also include the Rolling Stones.

“I tried to reiumburse the artists’ expenses but they refused to accept it,” said Carter, adding that the entire Rector community had again come together in supporting the show, both in buying out the gym’s 1,500 seats and in volunteering to help stage the event.

As School Superintendent Rob Louder noted, the entire town of Rector could fit into Rector High’s gym.

“It’s a good area, but a poor area,” Louder said. “The Helping Hands Foundation is paying college tuition for eight kids, and providing many others with clothes and covering their medical and educational needs. We don’t have kids who do without here, and it’s all because of the Foundation. It’s a tremendous asset to our school and community: Just in K-though-[Grade] Six, 70 percent are free or reduced lunch kids, so we’re pretty poor. But no one tells you ‘no’ in Rector—not for this.”

Likewise, Carter found that “when you do something with music for poor kids, everybody is willing to help.”

Country star Trace Adkins was happy to pitch in by taping an intro and voiceover for a brief video presentation about the Foundation’s history and mission that was screened before the concert began. Following introductory remarks from the mayor, the Rector High School Choir performed “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Be My Baby.” Williams then came out to emcee the show for the third consecutive year, and backed by Dailey & Vincent’s fiddler Jesse Stockman, also performed a short set of instrumental music from his acoustic guitar gospel albums.

Veteran gospel vocalist Ritchie was next, with a lovely set including “My Father’s Angels” and “I’ve Got Joy"--the two cuts from her “Bridges Over Blue” album that are represented by t-shirts. McDonald then thrilled the crowd with his deep bass voice.

But “thrilling” doesn’t do justice to Crabb’s set. Backed by his band, the former lead vocalist for the Crabb Family set the house on fire with songs like “Walk On Water” from his Grammy-winning album Jason Crabb, as well as a string of traditional hymns (“Leaning On The Everlasting Arms,” “Meeting In The Air,” “I’ll Fly Away,” “Power In The Blood” and “I’d Rather Have Jesus”) that kept him close to his roots.

It was a tough act to follow but Lowry was understandably undaunted. The reverentially irreverent Gaither Vocal Band veteran and singer-songwriter-comedian of course sang his much-covered classic “Mary, Did You Know?,” and made the most solemn scriptures uproariously funny: One monolog had Mary scolding Jesus for the living-at-home teenager’s messy room (“What? Were you born in a barn?” she barked), and his observation that Jesus’ first miracle—turning water into wine—was performed “just to keep the party going” was entirely appropriate for a benefit that climaxed with another fiery set, this time from Dailey & Vincent.

Gutiarist/vocalist Jamie Dailey and upright bassist/vocalist Darrin Vincent, backed by a terrific bluegrass band, burned through tunes from their current Dailey & Vincent Sing The Statler Brothers album tribute and Southern gospel standards including “Beulah Land,” for which they rustled out Lowry (he joked that he was already asleep in his tour bus bunk bed) to see if he could sing along “straight” without embellishment. He could.

The inspirational show ended with all performers joining in on “I’ll Fly Away.” Carter noted afterwards that the event raised approximately $40,000 for the Helping Hands Foundation, which has taken in nearly $200,000 in three years from benefit show proceeds, artist memorabilia auctions, and individual donations.

Williams said that when he came on board to emcee the first benefit, Carter supplied him with a financial statement that “showed where every penny went—and no one person got any money. It makes a difference when you know everything is being done correctly.”

Himself a native of a small town in Kentucky, Williams also marveled how Rector was so “reminiscent of that vibe.”

“They all pull together for the foundation,” he said, “and they feed you and take care of you like you’ve been there 100 times before.”

But Crabb, who had lobbied Carter hard the last two years to be included in the lineup, summed it up best.

“It’s all about changing lives,” said Crabb, “and what I love about it is it’s not just speaking, but hands-on. Helping hands.”

Reprinted from the Manhattan Local Music Examiner by Jim Bessman