Event

The New Christy Minstrels

Been there, done that! In the humorous words of Yogi Berra, 'It's like deja vu all over again!' Randy Sparks, presiding over a faithfully restored group offering no less than three Original New Christy Minstrels, reclaim their rightful place on stage & in the hearts & minds of millions. "Life is wonderful," says Randy, "so much better than before. We've also been blessed with old age and the wisdom that arrives therewith, so we can better appreciate how special is our time on each and every stage. We love what we do." Sparks invented the BIG FOLK GROUP concept and format in 1961. He actually sat down with a pen and a notebook and designed his dream band, a happy blending of the exuberance of The Kingston Trio with the choral harmony of The Norman Luboff Choir. The name came from his reading on the struggles of Stephen Foster. Steve had been a wannabe songwriter with a whole pile of good ditties that nobody wanted; ditto R. Sparks. Foster solved his problem by leaning on the most popular musical ensemble of his era, Christy's Minstrels, and shortly became a household name. 'Might the same formula work again more than a hundred years later?' Randy Sparks asked himself. The answer was yes. Randy and his group rode their musical chariot to the very top of the mountain, achieving world prominence, then wandered away, one by one, busying themselves with other challenges, always performing, but not being billed as The NCM. "When my mentor and friend Burl Ives died," Randy explains, "I suddenly had more time to devote to other forms of music, and I began writing for my old group again. A reunion concert became the logical next step, and the restored group has now been in high gear for more than four years.
For more information about these Grammy Award-winning Folk Giants,
please visit: www.thenewchristyminstrels.com