Hello to all our friends! This is the eleventh "issue" of our email newsletter. If you don't want to receive the monthly newsletter, please click here and put "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.

I can't believe it's been nearly a year since I sent out the last newsletter. My, how fast time goes by! There are so many things to tell that I don't know where to start, so I'll just jump in.

In the last year, the Gospel Sounds have driven nearly 60,000 miles to sing and preach. God has been so good to us, and we've been able to sing in places we could only dream of thirty years ago. We've met so many people and made so many friends, if I tried to name them all here it would completely fill up this newsletter. But I do want to "send a shout out" to Kaylee May, Jenny and Shanna in Shelburn (Shall-Burn), Indiana and Tiffany in West City, Illinois. These ladies are all vying for the title of "Gospel Sounds Number 1 Fan". We also want to give a special "Thank You" to Pastors Jerry Adams (Shall-Burn) and Keith Moore (Carmi, Illinois). These gentlemen, in addition to being two of the finest ministers you will ever meet, are both incredible guys who have done everything they could to promote the Gospel Sounds. To all our Pastor and Church friends, we say, "Thank you", for without all of you we would never be able to do what we do.

As many of you may have heard, in November of 2008 I underwent triple bypass surgery. After all these years, the doctors who told me I needed to slow down and take better care of myself have been proven right. My wife could tell that something was wrong with my health and "encouraged" me (in the way only a wife can do) to go to the doctor. Aren't wives a blessing? Mine sure is! Well, I did go to the doctor, and he scheduled a heart cath procedure, during which he discovered a 50% blockage in one artery, a 40% blockage in another, and a 90% blockage in the third. When they woke me up I was taken to the intensive care unit, where I spent three glorious days getting every kind of test you could imagine. It's a good thing they were giving me I.V. fluids, becuase if I had drank any water I'm sure I would've leaked! The amazing thing to me was that I wasn't scared or anxious throughout the whole ordeal. I just had a peace about it all. I knew that God had made promises to me that had not yet been fulfilled; and I knew that as long as that was the case, He would get me through whatever I had to get through.

On another note, I'm very pleased to say that Paul Rigdon, one of the finest lead guitar players on the planet, has joined the Gospel Sounds full time. He was previously with the Conquerors Quartet, so I've been teasing him by saying that he is now "more than a conqueror". "The Blizzard", Phil Culbertson, is playing bass for us when his church is not having service. This guy is an awesome bass player, singer, drummer, keyboard player, songwriter and all-around nice guy. And he can preach the fire down! When Phil can't be with us, Pastor Keith Moore in Carmi, Illinois loans us his bass player, Monte Smock. From the first time he played with us, Monte fit in very well. The best part is that Paul Rigdon now gets to stay on the lead guitar, which is his first love. Welcome to all the guys, we love having you with us.

We have many events coming up that we are excited about. For a full list of our upcoming events, please see our events page, or set up your free account at Gospel Gigs and get email notices of where we are going to be. Our Gospel Gigs website is: http://www.gospelgigs.com/showpage.asp?groupid=gospelsounds.

There is much more to come. Be sure to watch our website for more updates and information. Until next month, God Bless You!

David East