The Isaacs have posted some sample video from their recent concert DVD release, Live In Norway. It starts with a spirited instrumental version of I’ll Fly Away followed by footage of the band and family sight-seeing.

The DVD was filmed in Kristiansand in June of 2007, and features 19 songs, including many popular titles from Isaacs’ CD releases.

Many grassers may think of The Isaacs primarily as a pop, Gospel act, not realizing that they started out as a bluegrass band singing Gospel music. I can recall seeing Ben, Sonya and Rebecca jamming at Galax and they are all serious and highly competent bluegrass pickers.

Check out the sample video clip for confirmation.

Troy Engle has joined The Isaacs, playing both guitar and banjo, replacing Kevin Haynie who recently left the band. He had previously been a member of The Mark Newton band, and worked with Buddy Jewell and Patty Loveless.

The Isaacs report that Troy is a natural fit, and since he has been a fan of their music for so long, working him in has been a breeze.

You can find The Isaacs’ tour schedule online to catch them when they come to your part of the world.

Bluegrass Gospel group, The Isaacs have just announced that Kevin Haynie will be leaving the band later this month. Haynie’s last concert with The Isaacs will be July 22nd, in Hopkins, MI.

Haynie is leaving to go on the road with country singer Josh Turner, and the Isaacs wish him well in his new pursuit.

With Haynie’s departure though, there is now an opening in the band for a guitar/banjo player. Here are the qualifications as the band has set them forth on their web site.

We are now looking for someone who is at least 18 years old, a Christian, plays both guitar and banjo.

To audition send:
Solo Song Performance on Banjo
Solo Song Performance on Guitar
Current Headshot
Current Full Body Shot
Resume of Playing Experience

Audition material and resumes can be sent to:

The Isaacs – Audition
P.O.Box 1471
LaFollette, TN 37766

The deadline for Audition submissions is August 1, 2007.

Last month John told you about the new release from the Isaacs, Big Sky. The CD is released today and is available for order from the Isaacs’ website.

Sonya Isaacs will be on the GAC show On the Streets, with host Suzanne Alexander, today at 1:30 pm and 10:00 pm. The show will re-air on April 25th at 2:00 am, and April 29th at 4:30 pm. All times are EST.

Big Sky is the name of the next CD release from Gospel favorites, The Isaacs, which will hit the street on April 24. It was produced by Mark Bright, who has a string of Grammy Awards, and who also produced the latest release from Mountain Heart, Wide Open.

Pre orders are being accepted now on The Isaacs’ site, which also features a special pre order package which includes the new CD, an Isaacs T-shirt and a discount on their new fan club.

The Isaacs have also announced a Scandinavian tour for this summer. They have dates in Norway and The Netherlands in June, with details available on the tour page of their web site.

California photographer Tom Tworek has recently posted a gallery of images he shot at SuperGrass, the California Bluegrass Association’s annual indoor winter festival, which ran February 1-4.

These were taken from the stage, and are mostly close up, portrait shots of bluegrass artists like JD Crowe & The New South, Kenny & Amanda Smith, The Grascals, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, The Isaacs and others.

You can find these images on Tom’s site, Gold Coast galleries, where he has also posted photos taken at a number of bluegrass events, and where you can purchase his portraits online.

Country music superstars Alabama have a new CD set for release on October 24, their first in more than five years. It will be a Gospel project, entitled Songs Of Inspiration, and will contain both familiar Gospel favoriates like Old Rugged Cross, Rock Of Ages and Amazing Grace, along with two new songs by Randy Owen.

We don’t expect that this will be a bluegrass recording, but both Ralph Stanley and The Isaacs are listed as guest artists. Stanley adds his vocals to I Am the Man Thomas, and The Isaacs join Alabama for a version of I Need Thee.

Songs Of Inspiration will be released jointly on RCA Records to traditional music retailers, and by Provident Music Group to Christian bookstores and resellers.

Popular bluegrass Gospel group, The Isaacs, have a new member. Kevin Haynie, brother of Nashville fiddle man, Aubrey Haynie, and a talented musician and experienced performer on stage and in the studio, has replaced John Bowman on banjo and guitar.

Bowman has been a long-time member of the Isaacs, both personally and professionally. He toured with the band for the past ten-plus years, and is married to Becky Isaacs. He was also a member of Alison Krauss & Union Station before joining The Isaacs.

He is leaving the band in order to teach at a private, Christian school near their home in LaFollette, TN, and to allow for one parent to be home more reliably for he and Becky’s two children.

Bowman will be featured on the band’s next CD, which is slated for a release in the Spring of ‘07.