Ask the average music fan about distinguished gospel singers, and you may be lucky if the conversation gets past the Oak Ridge Boys. Knowledgeable fans of gospel music, whether they refer to it as traditional gospel or Southern gospel, are acquainted with giants of the form like the Gaithers, the Chuck Wagon Gang, and the Happy Goodman Family. From the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes (and wherever cable TV reaches), those same knowledgeable fans are becoming acquainted with The Crossmen Quartet, an area group which is increasingly distinguishing itself in the field of gospel music.

This group — brothers Scott Flener (tenor) and Boyce Flener (lead), Jason Brooks (bass), James Wright (baritone), and Russ Funk (piano) — has its origins in Morgantown, which remains its home base. Though the actual formation of The Crossmen Quartet dates only to 1993, all the original members of the Crossmen — the Flener brothers, Brooks, Darryl Dockery (baritone), and Kevin Embry (piano) — grew up together in Morgantown.

The combination of impeccable vocal harmonies, an unmistakable gospel sound, and intricate arrangements which open and enhance the gospel qualities have made a lot of people notice The Crossmen Quartet. In four years, the vocal quartet has grown greatly in stature, having appeared at major gospel music events and the Grand Ole Opry, getting a record deal, releasing three albums and a video, appearing on gospel television shows, and touring from Florida to Michigan.

It may not be a straightforward task to describe why the Crossmen are so appealing. Yes, the Crossmen’s sound is so identifiably gospel, with a splash of country coloring in the instrumentation. The song selection favors lyrics which are straightforward and positive, with a focus on the promise of the rewards of Christian belief and living. And there are some unmistakably fine voices at work. The Flener brothers possess warm and fluid vocals. Boyce Flener’s lead work shows remarkable range in phrasing and has the ability to change from tender grace to invigorating power in an eyeblink. Scott Flener can soar with his flexible tenor. Jason Brooks’ solidity on bass belies his slender build, a presence both serene and driving.

But it is not the individual talents which make the Crossmen’s remarkable sound but the weave of those vocals into impeccable harmonies with fullness and power. Theirs is a unified sound not skewed toward lead, tenor, or bass, but balanced across the vocal spectrum. Add the desire and ability to stretch both the vocal arrangements and the song structures, and the result is a highly dynamic yet rock-solid gospel sound.

Between 1993 and 1995, The Crossmen Quartet recorded two self-released cassettes, Jesus Is The Way and In My Father’s Care. From Jesus Is The Way’s beginning track Shout and Shine, the intricate vocals, sometimes just short of barbershop complexity, tell the listener that something special is coming at them. Particularly on Jesus Is The Way, the Crossmen display a full vocabulary of gospel: from embracing vocal crescendos; to call-and-response between lead and background vocals; to bouncing harmonies over sprightly rhythms; to key changes allowing the tenor to soar over the similarly rising chorus. Something interesting seems to always be around the corner — artful multiple tempo changes in Just A Little Talk With Jesus, three blood-stirring key modulations in one chorus of He Looked Beyond My Faults (from In My Father’s Care), and those suspended harmonies at the end of many a song.

During this time, The Crossmen Quartet started to catch the attention of folks in Nashville. By September 1994, they had debuted on the Grand Ole Opry, the first of many performances on both the Friday Night Opry and the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday. The Opry, of course, is carried live on radio on WSM. Some of the Grand Ole Opry performances were during the televised portion carried by TNN, and The Crossmen Quartet were interviewed prior to those performances on TNN’s half-hour show “Backstage Live at the Grand Ole Opry.”

These performances led to The Crossmen Quartet’s biggest performance dates in gospel, the Singing News Gospel Music Jubilee at Opryland on Memorial Day 1995. The event is sponsored by Singing News magazine, a publication covering Southern gospel music. The Crossmen Quartet were invited to return to Opryland the following year for concerts on Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend.

More change occurred for The Crossmen Quartet in 1995. Sonlite Records signed the Crossmen to an exclusive recording contract. By the time their album New Ground was released on Charity/Sonlite, Darren Doyle had stepped into the baritone spot vacated by Darryl Dockery (who is currently the chorus director at Butler County High School).

While New Ground has a bit more polish than the self-released efforts, the sound of remained true to what had come before. The music ranges from rousing (like the traditional Open The Doors) to dramatic (like the beautiful story song A View From Here), always keeping the signature Crossmen vocal intricacies. The arrangements have a little more country in them, taking the music in a direction which complement the basic gospel identity of the Crossmen sound. Also, some of the songs on New Ground came from Boyce Flener and Gayle Brooks (Jason’s mother), and another was written by Darren Doyle.

New Ground met with an expansion of recognition and enthusiasm for the Crossmen. Sweet Heaven Awaits, an up tempo single written by Boyce Flener and Gayle Brooks, charted at #49 in the Singing News. The Crossmen were nominated for the Singing News Horizon award at the National Quartet Convention. A nomination for New Group of the Year came from the Southern Gospel Music Guild.

In January 1996, The Crossmen Quartet recorded their first video “New Ground: Live in Nashville,” a live release filmed at the Trinity Music Village, which is part of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). New Ground: Live in Nashville is being aired on the ACTS Network program Southern Stage, a weekly show featuring some of the brightest Southern gospel stars. The new network Gospel Music Television (GMT) is airing parts of the Crossmen video. Voice magazine selected New Ground: Live in Nashville as one of the ten best of 1996.

Things continue to happen with The Crossmen Quartet this year. James Wright replaced Darren Doyle in May as baritone, and Russ Funk assumed the piano duties for the departed Kevin Embry. The group now averages 100 concert dates annually. Last month saw The Crossmen Quartet in the studio recording the follow-up to New Ground for Sonlite. No release date has been announced as of press time.

Recognition is nearly always good for an artist. However, things work a little differently in gospel and other religious genres. There is another motivation for getting in front of an audience for groups like The Crossmen Quartet: a ministry for God. Boyce Flener put it in the form of a wish that the Crossmen’s music “will be a blessing to the lives of all whose paths they may cross.”

Don Thomason is a writer and musician living in Dunbar. Visit him at www.myspace.com/donthomasonmusic