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In
the early 80’s, Don began writing a few songs. He sang
“Somewhere” at church one evening. When the quartet pianist
heard it, she was so touched that she learned to play the song.
With this new arrangement on the piano, the quartet began singing
“Somewhere”. This song became their most requested song over time
so it was included on both the “He’s Still God” and “I Will Serve
Thee” recordings. Over the years, Don has continued to write
anointed Christian music; and the quartet has produced the
arrangements with the help of Mike Elliott (See the “Meet the Quartet”
link). For a listing of Don’s songs please email us. If you are interested in recording Don's original songs
please click on the
Mechanical Licensing
link. Purchase cassette tapes
and CD’s by clicking on the
Order CDs & Tapes.
 The history from there shows God’s hand gently leading the quartet.
First, they sang special music in church services with the church song
leader and pianist. Then, area churches invited this nervous group of
five singers (including pianist) to Sunday evening gospel sings.
Couples invited the “quartet” to sing at weddings; and, families asked
them to sing at funerals. As more people heard them sing, the quartet
received more and more invitations to sing outside their home church,
Mid Valley Baptist Church, located in the middle of the Roaring Fork
River Valley in Colorado. People began calling the quartet “Mid
Valley Quartet” at their first gospel sing in New Castle, Colorado;
and, the name stuck.
The most difficult decision that the quartet had to make was to begin
singing in other churches on Sunday mornings. They had been turning
down invitations on Sunday mornings so that they could serve in their
local church. When friends, family, pastors, and song leaders kept
referring church leaders to the ministry, a decision had to be made.
After prayer and long consideration, the quartet began accepting
invitations to sing Sunday morning worship concerts. The Colorado
Baptist General Convention heard about the quartet and invited it to
sing at the pastor’s state conference. Churches in Kansas, Texas,
Oklahoma, and Alaska invited the quartet to sing.
Because of so many requests for their songs, the quartet recorded the
most favorite songs in a small studio in Rifle, Colorado. It was a
mix of favorites introduced by such groups as the Cathedrals, Gold
City, The Talleys, Gaithers, and other Southern Gospel Groups. Their
first project was “Feelin’ Fine”. Later, another project “He’s Still
God” was recorded in Denver.
In the early 80’s, Don began writing a few songs. He sang “Somewhere”
at church one evening. When the quartet pianist heard it, she was so
touched that she learned to play the song. With this new arrangement
on the piano, the quartet began singing “Somewhere”. The song became
their most requested song over time so it was included on both the
“He’s Still God” and “I Will Serve Thee” recordings.
 In 1995, God called the church’s minister of music and his wife (the
quartet’s tenor and pianist-alto) to full time ministry. They moved
to Kansas. At that time, it seemed that God might be finished with
using the Mid Valley Quartet. The quartet lost its musical
accompanist-arranger, tenor, alto, and group manager.
After
prayer and encouragement from family and church family, Jacque
“auditioned” for the alto part. With her children no longer at
home, she was free to join the ministry. Joe Allen, a brother in law
who was a Country and Western songwriter and musician in Nashville,
referred the quartet to Mike Elliott, a world class guitarist, music
arranger, and engineer. He put all of the musical arrangements
together, including several of Don’s songs. Mike’s creativity and
musical genius helped the Mid Valley Quartet to establish its own
distinct style. The “I Will Serve Thee” project included five of
Don’s songs. Evident in the faces of the listeners, God’s Spirit
touched many through the music and words at worship concerts.
Today, the quartet incorporates many music styles to convey God’s
message of love, compassion, encouragement, sacrifice, and
redemption. The music styles recorded range from Southern Gospel,
Jazz, and Blue Grass to Folk, Ballad, Country, and Contemporary
Gospel. The projects “Love Has A Name” in 2000 and “I Can Live
Forever” in 2002 continue to reflect their commitment to praise God
and to tell others about God’s redeeming grace. Click on the
different tabs to know more about the ministry or to find a personal
relationship with God and be happy in Jesus.
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