Public Television Brings Documentary "America's Gospel Singers," The Story Of America's Oldest Country Gospel Quartet, Nationwide This Fall

Their first audience was made up of fellow farmhands. Their first recording session took place in a rented room at San Antonio's Gunter Hotel in 1936, yet the Carter family's Chuck Wagon Gang - America's beloved country gospel group - have gone on to sell forty million records over their eight decade career, and haven't stopped touring and recording. "America's Gospel Singers - The Legacy Lives On," a documentary executively produced by Marty Stuart and airing on Public Television stations this fall, chronicles the 80-year history of the Chuck Wagon Gang, sharing their stories through rare family photographs, poignant personal stories, old recordings and live performances.

Dan Rather, Merle Haggard, Charlie Daniels, Connie Smith and other guests make appearances to tell the story of The Chuck Wagon Gang, who served as America's guiding light through the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars and the upheaval of the 60s and 70s. Growing up in rural Texas during the Depression, Dan Rather recalls listening to the Chuck Wagon Gang on the radio. "Any glimmer of hope was seized upon, and here come the Chuck Wagon Gang... It lifted spirits. When the radio went off spirits would go down again, but they were higher than when the program came on."

The Chuck Wagon Gang's most recent release 'Meeting in Heaven' (New Haven Records) finds the band singing the songs of Marty Stuart, who also served as executive producer on the album. These new songs were recorded live around one vocal microphone without the use of headphones or overdubbing. 

Today, the The Chuck Wagon Gang, led by third generation member of the Carter clan, Shaye Smith, carries out and preserves the grand legacy of the group. This band is a heirloom in more ways than one though. The quartet is also part of a larger American inheritance, and has been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian Institution's classic American recordings. As Marty Stuart puts it, "Heaven only knows how many hearts have been touched by the music of the Chuck Wagon Gang."

http://www.thechuckwagongang.net/