Cecil’s interest in the piano began so early in his childhood, that by the time he was 10 years old he was playing piano for his sister’s singing group. Then following his military service in the Army during the end of WWII, he moved to Dallas to study music at the Stamps-Baxter G. I. School of Music. At the completion of G. I. School he moved to Lubbock in 1950 to play piano for Otis Echols and the Melody Boys, while at the same time he played for the Tennessee Milk Company Quartet on live radio every day.
He was then called on to join the Imperial Quartet back in Dallas, and from there, played for the original Rangers Quartet with Arnold and Vernon Hyles through 1954. He also worked for the Ozark Quartet out of Wichita Falls for a while, a very popular group that had a young Glen Payne singing lead
He returned to Dallas in 1956 to work for the Stamps Quartet Music Company
where he also got to play the famous F7 arpeggio that started ‘Give The World A Smile’ for Frank Stamps and the Stamps Quartet on early morning radio. His time with Stamps continued for several years until 1961 – and following that, in the early 60’s, he played for The Watchmen Trio out of Dallas.
In 1972 Cecil formed the Gospel Lights, a mixed group that is still singing today. This name was taken from the Gospel Lighthouse Church in Dallas, where Cecil directed the music program for several years. Also during that time, he played for Calvin Wills and the Wills Family Quartet from 1979 through 1983.
Frank Stamps, one of gospel music’s foremost singers, recording artists, music publishers, broadcasters, masters of ceremony, and through the Stamps Quartet School of Music, educators. In 1936, he was a founding father of the National Singing Convention, an organization which has convened annually ever since. “Mister Frank”, as he was affectionately called, traveled the length and breadth of the United States promoting gospel music, participating in gospel singings – local, county, state, and on the national level. Truly the Lord’s ambassador whose heart and voice had wings.
Bob L. Wills was born November 24, 1938, in Hall County, Texas. Bob and his twin sister, Betty, were destined to sing gospel music as 1938 was the year Pop Wills founded the Wills Family Quartet with the older brothers and sisters – Rene, Calvin, and Lou. Bob & Betty (the twins) began singing as part of the Wills Family in 1948 with Pop, Calvin, Lou, and Bill. Baby sister, Norma Jo, joined the family in the early fifties, and the brothers and sisters became nationally known as the Singing Wills Family.
Aaron Burr “Pop” Wills [1899 – 1971] was already involved in Gospel Music during the 1920’s and 30’s when he and his dear wife Leah began having children. By the time the first three siblings were old enough: Eva Rene, Calvin and Lou began to travel with A. B. and sing for Singing Conventions and churches throughout Texas.
Virgil O. Stamps [1892 – 1940] was the older brother to Frank, and the first to inspire and promote southern-style gospel singing across America. Though he was a noted singer, writer, publisher, and pioneer recording artist, his greatest accomplishment was spreading gospel music through the “glory days” of radio. For several years his company counted many salaried quartets and more than 100 affiliated quartets on radio stations nationwide. After working for the Vaughan Music Company from 1915 into the early 1920s, Stamps launched out on his own in 1924 and founded the V.O. Stamps Music Company in Dallas, Texas. Two years later, Stamps merged the company with J. R. Baxter, Jr. to form the Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Company. By the late 1930s, it was the most successful publisher of shaped-note songbooks in America. The company’s annual Stamps-Baxter School of Music, that began in the mid-1920s, stood as the largest developer of gospel singers in Texas and throughout the South for more than four decades.
After 14 fabulous years with the Gaither Vocal Band, Guy Penrod is currently riding high in a solo ministry, garnering two 2011 Dove Award nominations. This country style and gospel music album features “Breathe Deep” and country single “Are You The One”. As a stellar representative of his Texas Gospel Music roots, Guy’s music is celebrated as “life music” expressing his devotion to family values and to ministering the gospel. Born in Abilene, Texas, the son of a preacher, Guy and Angie, his wife of 25 years, live in Nashville, Tennessee, with their seven sons and one daughter. So many fans in Texas and across the country appreciate Guy’s amazing vocal talent and his heart for God heard through any and all of his performances.