On Tuesday 10th February there will be a special
treat for all country gospel music fans at Lisburn Cathedral in the
centre of Lisburn when the legendary George Hamilton IV from
Live Issue will open the concert and then
accompany George as he sings many of his hits, along with a rendition of
well known gospel songs. Live Issue and George Hamilton IV have worked
together on many occasions on both sides of the
Live Issue comprises of Colin Elliott, Roy Dreaning, Sam
Armstrong, Samuel Purdy and Carl Sands. The past few years has seen the
group move from singing at local bookings in
In March 2007 Live Issue released a live album with George
Hamilton IV which went to number 1 in the New Christian Music European
Charts. Their own album “We Will Meet Again” was one of the best selling
local albums that year and in 2008 the group released another joint CD
entitled “Easter in the Country Live” again with George Hamilton IV.
In December 2008 New Christian Music named Live Issue as
“Artists of the Year” for the second consecutive year in the Country
Gospel category. Their award will be presented to the band in March of
this year. Two members of Live Issue, Colin Elliott and Samuel Purdy are
currently producing a ‘duets’ album with
George Hamilton IV featuring many of the stars from the Grand Ole Opry
such as Slim Whitman, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart and Connie Smyth .
Production on this album is well underway and is being recorded both
locally at Hillcrest Recording Studios and at Lamon Recordings in
As well as singing throughout Northern Ireland
this year, Live Issue are also currently working on a new CD and are
planning to head out to the United States again for another tour
in July.
It is clear when you both watch and listen to Live
Issue just how much the members of the group love their music, yet more
importantly the band believes that the message behind the songs is the
most important aspect of their concerts.
George’s two recent gospel albums “Easter in the
Country Live” and “What A Friend We Have in Jesus.” have been produced
by two Live Issue members, Colin Elliott and Samuel Purdy. Samuel Purdy
has lived in the Lisburn area all his life and although Colin Elliott is
from Portadown, he is also the Principal of Brownlee Primary School in
George Hamilton IV first came to prominence in
1956 with a million selling record entitled “A
Rose and a Baby Ruth.” (A“Baby
Ruth”being the name of a
chocolate bar popular in
In 1961 George IV crossed over to Country music
and became a regular at the Grand Ole Opry, working with established
artists like Johnny Cash and Chet Atkins. During the 60’s
the hits kept coming with songs such as “Abilene”,
“Break My Mind”,
“Early Morning Rain”
and Joni Mitchell’s
“Urge For Going.”
In 1970 George Hamilton IV had one of his biggest
selling records entitled, “Canadian
Pacific” and this opened a whole
new fan base in
In 1974 George Hamilton IV was the first Country
artist to tour behind the ‘Iron
Curtain’ and in the
George IV became a Christian at an early age and
always based his life on the Biblical values he had been taught as a
child. In 1974 George rededicated his life to the Lord and over the past
decade has toured the British Isles and
The concert in Lisburn Cathedral will begin at 8pm
and doors will open at 7:30pm.
Entrance to the concert is free however there is a
suggested donation of £8 - £10 per person to cover expenses. Both George
Hamilton IV and Live Issue will have some of their CDs for sale on the
evening of the concert. George will also be keen to ‘meet
and greet’ after the concert, so
feel free to bring your camera along.
Additional free car-parking will be available at
For further information contact the Lisburn
Cathedral Office at
31/01/2009