Each month in this column, we focus on a Gospel Artist and their story.

This month: The Churchmen

“Get Onboard”—it’s an old-fashioned Gospel train song. But wait, in this song you can take a train or you can take a ship. Steven Martin, songwriter in the popular Gospel bluegrass band, The Churchmen, describes his song: “It’s a catchy tune and has an up-tempo. The song was inspired because I was thinking of how fast life is and how we are all on the go constantly. I thought, ‘Hey, if we don’t make time for the Lord, then we are going to miss the boat.’”

Keith Clark (upright bass, vocals), Freddy Rakes (banjo, vocals), and Gerald Harbour (mandolin, vocals) formed The Churchmen in 1989, as an offshoot from singing in local churches. Other Churchmen include Steven Martin (guitar, vocals) and Shannon Wheeler (fiddle). Nowadays you can see The Churchmen at popular bluegrass and Southern Gospel venues, singing alongside The Lewis Family, Blue Highway, and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, to name a few. The men all play instruments, an added bonus for when they play at venues with the Southern Gospel genre.

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