Dixie Echoes Visit XM's enLighten 34

Like most groups, the Dixie Echoes enjoyed a couple of weeks off for the holidays. Everyone had a wonderful time on the much needed break to rest, relax, and spend some time with their families. But, as they say, all good things come to an end, and all too soon the time had come to hit the road again. Being the over-achievers that we are, we decided to make our first weekend out as taxing as possible!! Our first stop was in Hampton, Virginia with a wonderful concert at Hampton First Friends Church. We have always been treated wonderfully here and we were certainly not let down this time!

The next morning we found ourselves up early and on our way down to the studios of XM Radio in downtown Washington D.C.. We were the guests of XM's all gospel channel, enLighten 34. During our time there we were greeted with a warm welcome from enLighten's DJ's Marlin Taylor and Dan Dixon. Marlin and Dan gave us a complete tour of XM's studios which is one of the most fascinating facilities on the planet! For the next couple of hours we were interviewed by Dan Dixon for an upcoming "Dixie Echoes Day" on enLighten 34, which will air at a later date. Stay tuned to this blog, or sign up for the Dixie Echoes FREE email list on our website to stay up-to-date on this subject and all that's going on with the Dixie Echoes! You'll also want to stay informed as there just might be something else special in the works between the Dixie Echoes and enLighten! We'll let you know if things work out for this to happen. Special thanks to Dan Dixon and Marlin Taylor for coming in on a Saturday morning as this was the only time we had available to get in for the interviews.

As soon as our time at XM was done, we headed off to New Holland, Pennsylvania and Yoder's Restaurant for a Eve of New Year's Eve concert with our friends the Dixie Melody Boys and Mark Bishop. We had an outstanding time there. The banquet hall was jammed full of great folks who not only brought an appetite for great gospel music, but also for Yoder's wonderful food! I know I made one to many trips to the buffet! Twila Roher and Garden Spot Promotions ALWAYS put together a great show and this one was no exception.

They say there's no rest for the weary and this was certainly true for us. As soon as the concert was over at Yoder's we pointed our bus south, pushed the pedal to the floor and drove 17 1/2 hours, with only 2 stops along the way to make it to Lime Springs United Methodist Church in Samson, Alabama. The folks down at Lime Springs have made the Dixie Echoes honorary members of their church and always go out of their way to make us feel right at home. Our good friends Ronnie and Diane Reid put together a wonderful program and we sang right into the new year! We were tired and weary but the crowd was so energetic that they charged our batteries right up!! Below you'll find a few pictures from our whirlwind weekend, hope you enjoy them!

Dixie Echoes being interviewed for "Dixie Echoes Day" by Dan Dixon for XM Radio's enLighten channel 34. L-R: Scoot Shelnut, Dallas Rogers, Tracy Crouch, Stewart Varnado, and standing in the back enLighten DJ Marlin Taylor.

L-R: XM 34 DJ Marlin Taylor, Scoot Shelnut, Randy Shelnut, Stewart Varnado, Dallas Rogers, Tracy Crouch, and XM 34 DJ Dan Dixon.

Yours truly in front of the XM LiVE Performance studio

Ed O'Neil and myself in New Holland, PA at Yoder's Restaurant.

Special thanks to Liz Hess for the birthday cake she provided for Dallas and myself. Dallas celebrated his 25th birthday on December 9th and I'll mark another year, 29 to be exact, on January 18th! Special note: I would like to thank my good friend Andrew King of the Dixie Melody Boys for taking this picture. But I must deduct greatness points due to the fact that whole purpose of this picture was to include Liz AND the cake, which Andrew expertly cropped out of the photo! Must be the way they take photos in Tenaha, Texas!!