One of Southern Gospel music's best-known quartets will bring a special reunion-style performance to Geneseo this fall.
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound will present its Then & Now concert at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at Kingswood Church, 302 N. State St., Geneseo.
Admission is free, and no tickets are required.
Rather than featuring only the group's current lineup, Then & Now brings together musicians from different eras of Signature Sound for a concert built around more than two decades of the group's music.
The current quartet of Ernie Haase, Doug Anderson, Dustin Doyle and Christopher Taylor will be joined by former members Ryan Seaton, Tim Duncan and Roy Webb during the limited-date tour.
The concept is exactly what the name suggests: part look back, part presentation of where the group is today.
Audiences can expect newer Signature Sound material alongside songs associated with earlier versions of the group, creating what promoters describe as a greatest-hits celebration combining harmony, humor and the high-energy performance style that has become a Signature Sound trademark.
More than two decades of Signature Sound
Haase formed Ernie Haase & Signature Sound in 2003, following a career that had already made him a recognizable name in Southern Gospel.
He spent approximately a decade singing tenor with the legendary Cathedral Quartet, a group he had admired since he was young. After The Cathedrals retired, Haase eventually formed Signature Sound and developed the quartet into an act with an international following.
The group's profile grew substantially through its appearances with the Gaither Homecoming series. Its 2007 release Get Away Jordan became an important breakout project, reaching No. 1 on sales charts and helping establish the quartet's energetic visual performance style with a much wider audience.
Since then, the group has performed at venues ranging from churches to Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry, while also appearing internationally in countries including South Africa, New Zealand, Romania and the Netherlands.
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound has received four collective Grammy nominations and six GMA Dove Awards, along with multiple Gold and Platinum-certified long-form video releases.
Bringing the earlier lineup back
The reunion component is what makes the Then & Now tour unusual.
Former bass singer Tim Duncan, former lead singer Ryan Seaton and longtime pianist and arranger Roy Webb were part of the era that helped establish Signature Sound nationally. They will share the stage with Haase, Anderson and members of today's group during the tour.
Promotional information for the tour notes that it has been more than 20 years since the original lineup performed together, giving longtime listeners an opportunity to hear some of the voices associated with the group's early years alongside its current sound.
The tour itself is relatively limited. Current listings show Then & Now performances in September and October, including stops in South Dakota, Kentucky, Bloomington, Geneseo and Michigan.
That makes the Geneseo appearance somewhat unusual for a community of this size.
Still recording new music
Then & Now isn't simply a nostalgia tour.
Signature Sound remains an active recording and touring group. Its recent projects have pushed beyond traditional Southern Gospel while retaining the quartet's four-part harmony.
The group's A Jazzy Little Christmas reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart, while the 29-song Decades of Love applied the Signature Sound treatment to standards including music associated with several generations of popular music.
More recently, the group released America: Land of Hopes and Dreams, built around patriotic, gospel and familiar American songs as the nation marked its 250th anniversary year.
Signature Sound's official biography describes the quartet's approach as one centered on four-part harmony and songs of hope — but with a willingness to stretch the boundaries of what audiences might expect from a Southern Gospel quartet.
The Then & Now concert brings those two sides of the group together: the music that built its following and the performers continuing that tradition today.