They are a couple on a mission, and that mission is to bring Southern Gospel music to audiences around the west side.
Joyce and Bob Spamer of Spencerport started organizing and promoting concerts through their Southern Gospel NY organization in 2011, Joyce says.
At that time, two concerts were planned each year – one in April and another in October – at the Cultural Life Center at Roberts Wesleyan College.
Then this past summer, four area churches opened their doors to host concerts, allowing additional performances to be held in July, August and September. The final two concerts for 2014 are planned in October and November.
On October 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Cultural Life Center at Roberts Wesleyan, the Dixie Melody Boys will perform, and November 7 at 7 p.m. at the Parkridge Free Methodist Church at 10 Straub Road, the 4One Quartet will perform.
“God gave us a mission to bring this good music back,” Joyce says. “There’s a message in Southern Gospel music. People who have never been to a concert and then come have said, ‘Wow, this is what I needed to hear. I needed an evening to enjoy myself and just be blessed.’”
Joyce is a former event planner and she says Bob got her into going to concerts. “It’s always been his dream to be a promoter,” she explains of her husband.
The couple now strives to live that dream by giving people in the Rochester area a place to go out for the evening that “doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and that they can enjoy,” Joyce and Bob say.
Tickets generally range from $12-$15 and some concerts are free with a love offering collected.
The Spamers say they only charge for the cost of the building and the musical group’s fee.
“We try to get groups while they are on the road, that way we can cluster and link (appearances) together. It makes travel less expensive,” Bob says.
Many of the groups travel to the area from out of state and it helps with the cost if they are already touring and performing somewhere in the region.
Joyce and Bob have a DBA for Southern Gospel NY, but they don’t consider themselves a business, as they are not in it to make money; in fact, there’s times when it’s hard to break even, but “God’s been good. He’s taking care of it,” they say.
Even though there are no financial rewards, there are rewards much more valuable and profound for the Spamers than money. “People come up (following a concert) and say, ‘This was fantastic. I had a need in my life … I didn’t know you were doing this,’” Bob says.
Southern Gospel NY is already busy planning concerts for 2015 which include two bus trips. One to Canada for Praise-fest in May and another in April to Bath, NY, to Family Life for a dinner and concert by the Triumphant Quartet.
The Spamers try to bring a variety of acts to the area. They are hoping to survey those who attend concerts to see what groups they would like to see perform at future concerts and how to make the events even better than they are.
The two describe Southern Gospel as “quartet harmony” – most groups focus on vocals, but some also play instruments. The music is typically original to the group and groups/solo acts sometimes sing music “given” to them by another composer, Bob and Joyce say.
“It’s not at all twangy,” Bob explains.
Some groups consist of family members, like the Erwins from Texas. The young group consists of three brothers and their younger sister who are all in their teens and early twenties.
“It’s good to see young kids getting into this music,” Joyce says.
Tickets for the October 17 Dixie Melody Boys show at Roberts Wesleyan are $22, $18 and $16 and are available atwww.roberts.edu/clc or by calling 585-574-6008.
Tickets for the November 7 4One Quartet concert at Parkridge Free Methodist are $12 in advance or $15 at the door. For tickets, send check or money order and a return self-addressed envelope to: Southern Gospel NY, 3250 Big Ridge Road, Spencerport, NY 14559. For information about Southern Gospel NY go to www.sgny.net.
