Exclusive Interview with Legacy Five

When the Legendary Cathedral Quartet retired in December of 1999, Scott Fowler and Roger Bennett decided to continue the rich musical tradition of Southern Gospel Quartet singing. Legacy Five was organized and had their official debut in January 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia. Since that day, they have made a major mark on the Southern Gospel Music world. They have just released their brand new album "Great Day."  We are honored to be able to catch up with them for this Hallels' exclusive interview: 

Hallels:  Thank you Legacy Five for doing this interview.  I guess you guys must be excited to have Matt Fouch on the team.  How has Matt's presence added or changed the sound of your new record?  

Thanks for inviting us to do this interview.  We appreciate everything YOU do to help our music.  Matt has been a terrific addition to Legacy Five.  In addition to being a great singer, he's a good man with a good heart.....and that's MORE important to me than the voice. With regard to his voice, he is only 31 years old.  A bass singers voice doesn't reach it's full maturity, or potential until much later in life.....like decades from now.  So he's gonna be GREAT!

Hallels:  Congratulations on the release of your new album "Great Day."  Let's talk about the album, how is this new record the same or different from your other releases?  

Well, it's the same in that I approach every recoding we do the same way.   I spend hours upon hours of time listening to songs in order to find the right combination from my perspective. I look for songs that say what we as a group  want to say.  I want them to speak to real life issues and I want them to give us hope, encouragement and inspiration. Songs that do all three are very special "finds."  I think out of the 10songs on this CD, I think 7 of them accomplish all three attributes.  The other three do two of the three, in my opinion. This CD is different in that while Lari Goss produced and arranged thetracks  and orchestrations, Trey Ivey actually produced our vocals.  He wrote our parts out and gave us music to use to learn our parts.  He certainly worked in conjunction with Lari, but Lari actually depended heavily on Trey's involvement with the vocals.   Trey is only 24 years old but he is a musical genius....seriously....I think he has papers.  LOL.

Hallels:  I have read that you listened to over 200 songs in order to narrow it to the final 10, what do you look for in a song?  

Ooops, I got ahead of myself earlier.  I guess I should have read all your questions before I started answering them.  But let me add that I look for songs with as few cliche's  as possible.  To me, a song needs to be well thought out enough to not need tired, over-used lyrics.  I love hearing a familiar thought put in a new, fresh way.  For me....the fast songs are often the hardest ones to find for me, for all the reasons I just mentioned.  Sometimes you have to come up with your own way of accomplishing a feel you need.  For instance, I put together a "medley" of up tempo familiar old songs on this CD.  I call it our "Happy Day" medley.  It has, "What a Happy Day," "When We All Get to Heaven," "Everybody WIll Be Happy Over There," "Everybody's Gonna Have Religion In Glory," and a few others.  Itgave me an up-tempo tune that I needed.

Hallels:  Of the songs that did make it into the album, do you have a favorite?  Is there an absolutely "must hear" song?  

Well, I'm partial to all of the songs for a variety of different reasons.  But I REALLY love "Christ Is Still The King", "The Great Medley" and "So Many Things". 

Hallels:  I must say I was floored by your ballads especially "He is to Me" and "He Heals."  Are there any stories behind these two songs?

See....what I LOVE about this album is evidenced by your question. LEt me explain what I mean before I actually answer the question.  I have asked about 50 people to listen to the CD and write me back with their favorite three songs.  I don't think any two people have listed the exact same three songs as their favorites.  I think that is a HUGE testament to the strength of ALL the songs.  Normally, you have two or three absolute "stand outs" that everyone is drawn to as "the best".  But on this album, it's obvious to me that every song is very, very strong. I LOVE IT that no one can seem to agree on the "best" three songs.   With regard to "the story" behind the songs you mentioned.  "He Heals" has a very powerful story behind it. It was written by a wife to her husband in an effort to help him process the fact that their son was critically injured in a car crash that left him clinging to life.  The accident was several years ago and their son remains to this day in a vegetative state.  Her words were so beautiful and comforting, they decided it needed to have music written to it. This is an AMAZING song, especially in light of the story behind it.  I would like to refer you directly to the entire story, in the words of the writer, Jennifer Layne. Click here to read their story.  http://legacyfive.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/its-almost-here/ 

Hallels:  Speaking of "Great Day,"  describe what a great day looks like for you?  

A great day for Scott Fowler looks like this; When I am at home, my two boys Preston (10) and Bailey (8) wake me up around 6:30 by jumping in bed with me and my wife. They shower us with hugs and cuddles.  Then I get up and hang out with them until 8 when they catch the school bus.  I make Preston's lunch 'cause he hates the cafeteria food (I don't blame him), drink two cups of coffee complete with lots of hazelnut creamer, make sure the boys are wearing semi-matching clothes, spray water in their hair to comb away the crazy "morning hair", and remind them to brush their teeth, turn out all the lights upstairs and then we head out the door.  We always pause on the front porch  where I pray that God will protect them and bless them this day.  Then I walk with them to the bus stop.  My Great Days, are when I get to play racquetball with my father-in-law then have a "date day" with my wife, Taryn.  

Hallels:  If our readers would like to purchase your album or find out about your touring information or just read up about the group, where can they go?

You can go to www.legacyfive.com and order a physical copy of the CD or you can purchase a digital download of the CD.  If you "like" our Facebook page, we actually hold pretty regular contests to win a free copy.  The most recent one we did was so much fun.  We posted a live shot of L5 on stage and asked people to write a caption for the photo.  It got some hilarious responses.  We then chose the response that was our favorite and that person won a free CD.  

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