Destination Bluegrass, a central North Carolina based band, just released their first single and title cut, Over on the Other Shore, from their forthcoming Gospel album. The hymn, written by the band’s fiddler, Randy Willard, features the Carolina native singing lead on the song. Destination Bluegrass is comprised of Keith Souther on guitar, Brad Johnson on banjo, Boyd Hulin on mandolin, Ronnie Edwards on bass, and Willard on fiddle.
Lyrics to the three-harmony part chorus are: “Someday when we meet the Savior over on the other shore. And the dead in Christ gather there to live for evermore. We’ll be singing praises to him in that home beyond the sky. There to live forever in the sweet by and by.”
Willard who suffers from Wegener’s Granulomatosis, a rare disease that involves inflammation of the blood vessels, shared, “I wanted to write a very positive upbeat song about going to Heaven.”
“Several years ago, Randy was very sick, but he never complains,” explained band leader, Souther. “Randy doesn’t make a fuss about his experience with the disease, but we are aware of it and make sure no one is sick when we practice. He actually came up with an idea for his song when he had his own band called Rockford Express. He wrote a few lines of it. He kept trying to imagine what Heaven would be like, and finally took what he had understood (about Heaven) and made it work.”
“As Christians, we are to sing praises to God and getting as sick as I have been, I really wanted to get it finished. I think God helped me a lot with it,” Willard admitted.
He also wanted the tune to be a fun song to play and sing. “It is a good idea to try and do songs that I’m willing to sing every night if people want to hear it.”
Recorded at Eastwood Studios in Cana, VA, the song is available through Airplay Direct, CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, as well as Gracenote MusicID.
Regarding the upcoming album, Souther stated, “All the band members are extremely excited about the new Gospel project. We have five originals and four traditional songs. Our producer and sound engineer, Johnny Williams and Wes Easter, said they thought the writing on the new songs was exceptional and were very proud to have their names associated with our CD. I was especially humbled with that knowing how many projects they work on and hear in a year’s time.”
Mandolinist, Boyd Hulin, shared his second first experience recording with the band. “It never, not one time, got boring! I am so blessed, honored, and proud to be a part of this band and this CD. I pray that our music will encourage, strengthen, and most of all, change lives for the glory, honor, and praise of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
