The Chuck Wagon Gang

The Chuck Wagon Gang

The Chuck Wagon Gang is a multi award winning Southern Gospel musical group that was formed in 1936 by founding member D.P. (Dad) Carter with his son Jim(Ernest) and daughters Rose(Lola) and Anna(Effie). The "Gang" signed with Columbia Records and remained with them for over 40 years. At one point they were Columbia's number one selling group with excess of over 37 million in record sales.

By the late 1970s, the group was still touring but felt a lack of support from the label they had recorded for during the previous forty-one years. Columbia had stopped servicing their songs to radio; thus airplay had become non-existent. Roy and Ruth Ellen Carter talked about it. They asked each other the question: “What can we do to rebuild what Daddy started?” That became the aim: not to make money, but to truly dedicate themselves to rebuilding the group to the strongest position it had enjoyed in years past. It was at this point starting in 1979 that they began recording for Copperfield Records for several years.

The Chuck Wagon Gang has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Grand Ole Opry. The group has been elected to the Gospel Music Association's Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian Institution's classic American recordings.

Current members

Dave Emery

Dave Emery grew up as part of a musical family in Indiana. He first heard of the Chuck Wagon Gang, from listening to the Mull Singing Convention broadcast as a child. His Dad and brothers formed a quartet while his Mom played the piano. During their travels they would often sing many of the old Chuck Wagon Gang songs that were found in the songbooks published by Mull.

Emery spent 20 years as a pastor and as a teacher in a Bible college, while singing across the country. Later in the 1990s he joined the Blackwood Brothers in Branson, Missouri, and even followed them to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where they still perform. He left Tennessee and moved back to Branson to join the Branson Valley Quartet. During his time with that group, Ronnie Page invited Emery to join the Gang.

Emery and his wife, Phyllis, live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Julie Hudson

Julie Hudson was born and reared in Bedford, Indiana, and was graduated from Olivet Nazarene University. She obtained a degree in nursing in 1987. She has been an operating room nurse for 18 years.

Hudson moved to High Point, North Carolina, where she became a music minister at her church. She was a member of concert and a cappella choirs and played the flute.

She resides in High Point, North Carolina, with her husband John, to whom she has been married for 18 years, and their 16-year-old daughter Brittany.

Stan Hill

Stan Hill was born and brought up in Knoxville, Tennessee. Hill makes the list of tenors for the Chuck Wagon Gang. His voice and blend have helped to maintain the standards first taught by Dad Carter.

In addition to singing with the Chuck Wagon Gang, Hill sings with his wife and performs with other local groups and theaters in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Hill has been married to his wife Kathy for 25 years, and they have three children: Chris, 22; Brad,16; Rebekah,15.

Penny Greene

Penny Greene grew up in a musical family. She sang at church with her father, her brother, and her best friend Nicole. She began singing with numerous local groups and finally started singing professionally with Sacred Calling. After four years, that group disbanded and Greene was offered the opportunity to join the Chuck Wagon Gang.

Greene and her husband Dustin live in Morristown, Tennessee, with their two children, Blake (born 2001) and Lauren (2004). They serve as youth leaders at Morningside Baptist Church.

Original Members

D.P. (Dad) Carter- Tenor
Rose(Lola) Carter Karnes- Soprano
Anna(Effie) Carter Gordon- Alto
Jim(Ernest) Carter- Bass, Guitar

The Family Connection

Shaye Truax (Member 1994-2007)

Shaye Truax is the granddaughter of the Gang's original alto, Mrs. Anna (Carter) Davis. Shaye has two bachelor's degrees in music and currently teaches choir at Kings Mountain High School, close to her home in Shelby, North Carolina. Even though she is not able to travel with the gang, she is always welcome to join them in concert.

Shaye participated in musicals and operas while in college as well as choral and theater projects.

Former members

D.P. (Dad) Carter
Rose Carter Karnes
Anna Carter Gordon
Jim Carter
Jim Waits
Haskel "Hi-Pockets" Mitchell
Roy Carter
Eddie Carter
Howard Gordan
Ronnie Crittenden
Pat McKeehan
Greg Gordan
Vickie Gordan (Owens)
Ronnie Page
Bettye Goodwin
Ruth Ellen Yates
Shirley Carter
Patricia Neighbors
Harold Timmons
Debby Trusty
Anita Saylor
Kathy Watson
Renee' Martin
Shaye Truax
Darrell Morris
Jim Wesson
Rick Karnes
Melissa Kemper
Ronnie Page
Allen Thompkins Source 'CWG 70th Ann. CD Cover'

External links

• www.thechuckwagongang.net The Chuck Wagon Gang's Official Website

• (http://www.copperfieldmusic.com Former Record Label For Chuck Wagon Gang and additional info/product)

• (http://www.chuckwagongang.com/) Historical Page For Chuck Wagon Gang

References