Carson City's Hope Crossing church hosts gospel concert with famed Blackwood Quartet
The community is invited to a free gospel concert Friday in Carson City featuring the Blackwood Quartet. This group has a legendary story and it comes through in every song.
Join Hope Crossing Community Church, 1505 Railroad Drive in Carson City on Friday, August 2. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the concert begins at 6:30 p.m. A love offering will be taken for the Blackwood Quartet.
Visit them online here to listen to their music.
Mark Blackwood and the Fabulous Blackwood Quartet sing gospel music around the world. According to the quartet's biography, the Blackwood name is legendary in the gospel music industry. The Blackwood Brothers Quartet was formed in 1934. Roy Blackwood, Doyle Blackwood, their youngest brother, James, along with Roy's oldest son, R.W. Blackwood, founded the original quartet in the hills of Choctaw County, Mississippi.
The Blackwood Brothers performed at camp meetings and other church and community events throughout the 1930's. In 1940, they moved to Shenandoah, Iowa, where they had a live broadcast on the radio.
In 1954, they appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts on CBS. They won first place and received a recording contract with RCA. They became the first gospel group to sell a million records. On June 30, 1954, the quartet lost two of it's own as R.W. Blackwood and Bill Lyles were killed in an airplane crash in Clanton, Alabama. Following the plane crash, the Blackwoods reformed with Cecil Blackwood singing baritone and J.D. Sumner singing bass.
The Blackwood Brothers were the first group to travel by bus. A replica of the Blackwood Brothers original bus is on display at the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
The Blackwood Brothers have recorded over 200 albums and toured 47 countries. They have won eight Grammy Awards, 27 Dove Awards and have been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Cecil Blackwood, James Blackwood, and J.D. Sumner were also founders of the National Quartet Convention.
Cecil Blackwood passed away November 13, 2000. After Cecil's passing, James Blackwood, the only living original member of the group, decided to retire the Blackwood Brothers name. In February 2002, James went to be with the Lord.
Mark Blackwood now continues the legacy of the Blackwood Brothers through the Blackwood Quartet. Mark traveled with his dad, Cecil Blackwood, in the for many years. The Blackwood Quartet does not take their heritage in music lightly, nor the responsibility of integrity that goes with it.