Wes Hampton, a cornerstone of the Gaither Vocal Band, sits down to talk about life on the road and the magic behind the music. From balancing a solo career with his role in the band to sharing touching stories of faith, Wes reveals what it truly means to be part of this legendary group. This episode offers an inside look into the dedication and passion that drive these artists to connect deeply with their audiences. Discover what it takes to deliver a message of hope through music every night, and how the band’s tour is not just about entertainment,
00:00:00 Introduction to Wes Hampton and Gaither Vocal Band
I’m Rachel Maines with Crawford Media Group, and today I’m honored to have Wes Hampton, a member of the Gaither Vocal Band, with me. And the Gaither Vocal Band will be coming to Colorado on Friday, September 12th at Southeast Christian Church in Parker, Colorado. And it starts at 7 p.m. Thank you, Wes, for joining us today.
SPEAKER 01 :
Rachel, I am so happy to be with you. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it is a pleasure. Just really excited for you guys coming to town. It’s going to be a great time. What’s going to be different about this particular tour?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, so this is really one of the very first weekends for this fall tour. So we’ve been off a lot during the summer, which sounds nice, but we also like to be working since we’re not salaried. So we do like to be working. So we’re very excited to be out working and doing what we love to do, but we’re going to have, since the last time we were in Colorado, we’ve had an amazing singer named Gene McDonald, and he’s an incredible singer who sings bass, and just this tremendous, huge bass voice. So I think the crowd is going to love hearing him. And then we also have the winner of one of the seasons of The Voice several years ago. His name is Chris Blue. he will be joining us as well, and he does a few songs with the vocal band, and he will also do a few songs on his own, and he’s just a tremendous singer and just a sweetheart of a guy, so I think it’s just going to be a really fun, it’ll be a great entertaining evening, it’ll be a very meaningful evening as well. It’ll be about three hours, and the guy at the helm is going to be Bill Gaither himself. He’s almost 90 years old, and is in great health and the way that he acts, you would never think that he is almost 90 years old, but he is. And it’s just a wonderful, fun, very impactful night. So if you were thinking about it or on the fence, I highly encourage you to come out and to take part in this evening because you will not be disappointed.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, yeah, the Gaither Band is just legendary. And to be around for so long and win so many awards is just really amazing. Now tell me how you felt when you got accepted, when you tried out to be in the Gaither Vocal Band. Tell me how you felt.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, so that was back in 2005, if you can believe it. So I just passed 20 years in May. So 20 years I’ve been with the group. And it was so surreal to have Bill Gaither call me and invite me to join the group. I still, still to this day, this many years later, it’s still kind of wild to think about this journey that I’ve been allowed to be on. I’m just so incredibly grateful that they got open the door for this. People ask all the time, how do I, how do I get into the vocal band? And I say, well, for me, you’re not going to probably like the answer, but For me, it was just God opening the door, honestly. All I had to do was just walk through it. He just provided these opportunities, and I just really just walked through some open doors, and He kind of did the rest. So, yeah, I’m still kind of pitching myself, just realizing, okay, this legendary group that I grew up really idolizing. I just love, love, love their music and so many of the singers in the group, and then to actually be one of the to be kind of the veteran of the group besides Bill is pretty wild.
SPEAKER 02 :
That is wild, and I will say you just don’t look old enough to have been 20 years in the group, I will say.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’re very kind. Hair color does wonders, I will say.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, you know what’s really cool about learning what you do, Wes, and your time in the band is also that you are a solo artist and you have an album out titled A Man Like Me. How was that?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, so actually that was my first album, so I’ve since done three more. So I have four solo projects now, and my latest is called Stubborn Hope. And it’s really fun to do some music that I kind of choose to do as well. And I think a lot of the music, if you listen to any of my solo stuff, I think some of the music that I do, you will clearly hear a Gaither influence just because that was a lot of the music that I was raised listening to. So I think this latest album especially, I call it a very Gaither audience-friendly album because there’s a couple of actually well-known Gaither classics on there, as well as some newer songs. They’re really just amazing, powerful songs as well. So it’s just fun to kind of explore different avenues of what I like, kind of branching off from the vocal band, but at the same time, still making it friendly and accessible to the current vocal band audience. So it’s really fun to get out and do my own thing. And people ask all the time, now, which do you enjoy more? Do you enjoy doing the solo events or do you enjoy doing the vocal band? And that’s really a tough question because they’re both really so different. They both have the pros and cons. So I really enjoy them equally.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, and your second album was entitled Out on a Limb.
SPEAKER 01 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay. Yeah, so you have four total. So listeners, make sure and get those as well and enjoy, of course, the music that you do with the Gaither Band. I just think that’s great that you’re doing your solo stuff as well. How has the band changed you being a part of this for 20 years?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I think it’s changed me as far as musically. It’s really… I feel like I’ve grown exponentially just as a singer and as an artist and also just the wisdom that I’ve gained being under Bill Gaither for 20 years. There’s a lot of just invaluable insight and wisdom that I’ve gotten from him, just watching him, listening to him, having conversations with him. So I’ve really learned some invaluable lessons and truths and wisdom from Bill in my time for the vocal band. And it’s also just been a real encouragement to my faith, too, just to hear stories of people that have… Some people have experienced miracles. Some people have been walked through some really difficult, dark times in their lives because of the music that I do. So… And the music that the vocal band does. So it’s really just an encouragement to us and our faith just to keep doing what we’re doing because we’re kind of reaping these seeds that we’ve sown all these years. And it’s just really cool to experience that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I know you guys are, you know, just profound musically, but just spiritually how you’ve changed a lot of people’s lives with the music that you sing and the well-written music as well. Out on tour, what is it like traveling with the band? Any things that maybe the listeners wouldn’t necessarily suspect with the tour?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, so a lot of people think that we stay in hotels, we’re on the road, and that is not true. the case we actually live on the bus so once we leave nashville where the buses pick us up where our bus picks us up it’s the vocal band guys and bill and then our guitarist kind of funny man kind of guy that kind of pokes a bill all night which by the way he’s paid to do that but kevin williams so it’s it’s the six of us on one bus and that that’s bill’s bus and uh we all have our own bunks and got a bathroom on there a little kitchen and So it’s really just a home on the road for us. But I would say that the biggest thing, I think, kind of a misconception that people have is that what we do is really glamorous. And it’s really not. It’s a lot of late nights, a lot of early mornings. Sometimes we’ve been broken down on the side of the highway on the interstate because the engine has stopped working. Right. Or we’re stuck in an airport because sometimes you do have to fly commercially, depending on where we are, because sometimes Bill doesn’t want us to bus all the way from Nashville to, let’s just say, California. He will fly us all out there. And sometimes there’s delays and cancellations, just like it happens for everyone. Right. And we’ve had just a lot of really long nights and really long weekends. And sometimes… You know, we’re home a day or two later than what we’re supposed to be just because of just problems that happen on the road. So it’s definitely not as glamorous as people think it is.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I mean, traveling can get tiring and then missing your families and missing your home.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
I hear that you’re a cook. You have two cookbooks. And do you cook for the band on the bus? Yes.
SPEAKER 01 :
So, yes, I just released my third cookbook, and they’re all called recipes. They’re all called recipes.
SPEAKER 02 :
I see that. That’s cute. I like that.
SPEAKER 01 :
The original one, then I have recipes 2.0, and then I have 3.0. And I’m currently working on recipes for a fourth cookbook that most likely won’t come out until maybe fall of next year. But I do, since we don’t have anything in the kitchen besides our microwave to cook, I don’t really do any cooking on the road. But I do a lot of baking at home as well. So I will a lot of times, whether I’m just experimenting with new recipes, you know, cookies or some type of cake that I’m working on, I will bring those out on the road. And the guys do not mind that at all.
SPEAKER 02 :
I’m sure. I’m sure.
SPEAKER 01 :
Especially Bill. Bill has a big sweet tooth. So once Bill sees it, he gets his hands in it pretty quickly.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love that. I’m sure that it also just kind of reminds him of being home, too, having the cookies. Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER 01 :
Because sometimes, too, depending on where we are, the catering is not great. Sometimes the catering is great, but sometimes we’re kind of stuck with whoever the venue uses. And sometimes it’s just terrible. So we would actually go out and find food on our own when it’s really bad.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, yeah, I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you for that. And listeners, I just want to remind you, they’re coming to Parker, Colorado at Southeast Christian Church, September, Friday, September 12th at 7 p.m. So you’ve been to Colorado before. Do you have a favorite thing that you like here? Or do you guys, are you able to kind of go out and explore Colorado while you’re here? Yeah.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, unfortunately, we’re not able to get out much once we get into town, because typically we will get somewhere early the morning of the concert. And then we usually sleep in because we’re up pretty late the night before. But I’ve been to Colorado many times outside of the vocal band just for vacation, just because my family and I love Colorado so much. It’s just one of our favorite states.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, we knew that we liked U.S. Yeah, Colorado’s very beautiful. So come out for skiing, too, or snowboarding. Take the kids. And you have four boys, am I correct?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes, four boys. Two are in college here in the Nashville area. And then we have two that are juniors in high school, all boys. So our house is still quite busy, and I’m still… paying a very high grocery bill weekly. They can go through some food. It is crazy.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I complain about my grocery bill being a single and having a little dog. I can’t imagine four growing boys.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, it’s just unbelievable. I was talking to someone today actually just about how it’s such a blessing having four kids. It really is. I would not trade it for anything. It’s worth every single penny that we’ve spent. But I did say, But let me tell you, one day if you decide to have kids, get ready, because they are expensive.
SPEAKER 02 :
Start saving now.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, my word. It is crazy.
SPEAKER 02 :
What do the boys think about you being in this legendary band and traveling? I’m sure they’re very proud.
SPEAKER 01 :
Maybe they are. I don’t know. They’re not really impressed by it. I think just because when I joined the vocal band, my youngest was one. My oldest was one. So he’s now 21. He was, he’s just became engaged. So he just proposed to his girlfriend. Thank you. They’re getting married fall of next year. So they’ve all grown up in this. This is all they’ve ever known. So to them, it’s no big deal. I think it’s, their friends think it’s kind of cool that that the hampton boys dad has a grammy i mean they think that is pretty cool so the boys kind of like to brag i’m like hey did you know my dad has you know it’s just a hunk of metal it is cool but you know so whenever the kids come over the house hey can i see the grammy can i hold it like sure sure yeah but don’t drop it so yeah other than the grammy i think they’re kind of like whatever you know
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Well, thank you so much just for serving the body of Christ with what you do and your beautiful voice. This last question, Wes, is what do you hope most of all when you’re singing to an audience? What is the thing that you hope that they grasp as they hear you sing?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, we sing about a lot of themes every night, and sometimes those themes change just depending on what the name of the tour is, you know, kind of what the the thing that Bill is wanting to get across. But we also try to convey the hope of the gospel as well, to say, hey, everyone in the world is going to experience pretty much the same thing. We’re all going to go through the same things. But as believers, we have the hope of the gospel. We have the hope of the resurrection. So that’s something that we really try to convey every night of, hey, I know life gets dark, it gets difficult, but… we can face on certain days because we know that we serve a Savior that is living and a Savior that is here to walk alongside us and to get us through the difficult parts of life.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, well said, Wes. Thank you. Well said.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you, Rachel.
SPEAKER 02 :
And once again, I want to remind you that the Gaither Vocal Band is coming to Parker, Colorado, Friday, September 12th at Southeast Christian Church. And the concert starts at 7 p.m. If you go to our website, 670KLTT.com and click on events, you can find out more about the concert. Just go to 670KLTT.com.
