Chords for Jeff and Sheri Easter on Gospel Music Today

[A] We are at the National Quartet Convention [F] sitting with me, Jeff and Sherry Easter and
[Em] Morgan [A] and we want to welcome [E] you guys to [Dm] Gospel Music Today.
[C] Thank you.
It's good to be [G] with you.
Now let me let me first go [C] back a little bit because Jeff and Sherry both came from singing families.
Give me a little bit of that background.
My family's the Lewis family and they traveled up until [Abm] the end of last [N] year,
traveled 58 years in gospel music and Jeff's family's the Easter Brothers.
[B] They've done [F] just about that length of time [Em] as well.
How did Jeff and Sherry meet?
At a concert.
We were [F] actually at a concert in Springdale, Arkansas
and I was with my mom at the [N] time and looked over and saw Jeff and was just completely taken.
I was smitten.
So I told my mom, I said, who is that over there?
I pointed but told her not to look.
Well, she looked and he caught us looking.
_ _ And then he turns around and walks over and introduces himself
_ and
then my mom after he spoke with her,
she then introduced us to each other and we started dating and was married the next year.
_ How long have Jeff and [Gb] Sherry been traveling as [G] [F] a group?
Well, 25 years.
We just celebrated our 25th anniversary.
_ As Jeff and Sherry, we [Em]
performed with the Lewis family for three and a half of the years [N] and made records
for Benson Record Company and then in 1988, our first actual with a band was _
1989, January of 89, New Year's Day, New Year's Eve of 88, we [E] started our
Jeff and Sherry Easter group.
And now Morgan is in the group and your son.
_ [Gbm] _
Actually, the kids have always been with us on the road.
We've always traveled with our kids.
[E] And so they've always done specials and things, you know, came up on stage and you know,
maybe sing a song, a special, something like that.
But two [B] years ago, Charlotte and Greg Ritchie [F] told us that they would be leaving and I knew that there would be a huge [Bb]
gap
and I looked at [B] Morgan and I said, you're [G] basically
[Abm] accepting the role of an adult.
I said, it's not going to be easy.
You're only [F] 14.
I said, I started traveling and [Abm] singing when I was [Bb] 15.
There's a lot of things you [N] have to give up.
You got to make choices not to do football games and [Eb] things that normal teenagers do on the [Abm] weekends.
I said, it's a great sacrifice.
I said, but the rewards are immense.
I said, if you think you want to do it, I think you're completely qualified.
[Bb] And she said she did and I think she has [Abm] completely [N] blossomed into a wonderful singer with a wonderful heart.
And you know, she's blessed so many [Abm] people and I'm very grateful.
It's nice as a mother to see your kids
come into the job [E] that God [F] has gifted them for.
And Madison is playing guitar with us.
He started at 14.
So he's 22 now.
I'm gonna be 22 in [Eb] another month.
So we love having our kids on stage with us.
They are [Ab] just
_ incredible, I think.
They take very seriously the job that they do and [A] they love it.
Now we've seen, we've managed [Abm] to see Jeff and Sherry maybe once a year at various places.
And so we've seen Morgan go from looking really nervous
_ to looking very confident.
Was [Ab] that, was that,
even [N] though you've been in the, in [G] the
atmosphere all this time, is that difficult to get [Fm] out there on stage?
_ Well, I have been singing [Abm] ever since I was little [F] and I've never really been nervous
[C] ever since I was singing.
Just, I sang one solo a [F] night and I was done.
And then when I accepted the role to be the [Bb] third singer, everything [F] just kind of made me even more nervous.
I'm like, all right, so this means I'm gonna sing all the time.
I can't take any breaks.
I can't do anything.
I was like, okay.
Well, this is gonna, this is gonna be hard.
All right, and
[Eb] _
_ _ _ [Gm] but
through the past couple years, I've [Ab] slowly began to [C] become [G] more confident.
I have people tell [F] me like, oh,
I saw [E] you last year and you were just like this little, [Fm] little turtle in a shell and now you just really blossomed.
And so, but.
Well, the funny one too, we've always encouraged our kids on stage to smile.
You know, if you [F] have, if you're smiling in the audience, [C] they're gonna smile back at you.
[E] And so one [F] of the first nights after one [C] of our concerts, Morgan came to the bus and [Bb] says, okay,
[Eb] can I stop [C] smiling now?
[G] _ _ And it just comes [Ab] natural for us to.
Well, and two, it's a lot to do [Fm] with personalities.
Like Deborah Talley and I have talked before.
The both of us love to sing,
[Bb] but when we were younger and coming up, we were bashful.
And if I could have sung without an audience looking at [Eb] me,
I probably would have chosen that route because it was, it's [F] very [Ab] intimidating and, and it's also [Gm] very,
_ _ _ [F]
there's a lot of emotion that goes into
[G] _ revealing yourself [Ab] and opening up.
And [G] that's the only way that you can get a message [F] across to people is if you open up and show them your true [Bb] self.
So, you know, there's that exposure and you're [F] just kind of there and, and there's a [C] lot of that going [Db] on.
And Morgan and Madison both [F]
have a little of that tendency like [E] me.
Whereas Jeff's the kind of person that walks into the center of the room and he's perfectly comfortable there.
[Eb] You know, he's very comfortable.
[Db] The rest of us kind of stare around the wall and we kind of, you know, [C] have to deal with, you [F] know, the, the insecurities,
I think.
And Morgan has done really well [Eb] at overcoming, you know, those.
And [Abm] two, with every time somebody compliments you, with every recognition, with every award,
you become more confident that you are doing what God has gifted you to do.
[N] Well, I think she's doing a good job with that.
We sing Saturday night in Princeton, West Virginia.
First lady I met when I walked in, she says, wow, [Em] you look better in person than you do on video.
And I'm like, thank you, Lord.
I needed [B] that.
You know, I didn't know what I was looking at because sometimes [F] you travel so much, you [G] say, man, I feel tired.
Do I look like I feel?
And she was precious.
But she don't realize that little [C] sentence and kind words [Em] that she spoke made my night.
[G] You know, she didn't have to [Dbm] say that.
Well, I [F] understand that if you, if you [Ab] take what you do seriously and obviously [Em] you guys do.
[G] So that's a big responsibility every night to hold people's [C] emotions and hopes in your hand.
The thing is being real, [G] being real, yes, being yourself.
[F] And I think [E] sometimes, you know, you feel the responsibility because we have to choose these songs [F] and we have to know and believe that God is leading us to do certain songs.
[Bb] And not only is [Db] that [F] music itself is a very [N]
personal kind of offering.
And it's so varied as far as [C] people's tastes.
Some people [Cm] like this, [Db] some people don't.
So you have to know before [F] you get into it.
Some people are going to love you.
Some people are [A] not.
It's not [Db] like a plumber's job that it's consistently this way.
[Fm] This is very much about [G] taste, [E] you know, and so there's a lot at stake [B] that I wonder ahead of time.
[F] And she's done a wonderful [Abm] job taking that responsibility. _ _
We do want to ask [Eb] you about your health.
You look great.
[Abm] I feel great.
I feel fabulous.
This month actually is 26 months cancer free.
I go in for more [Eb] bone scans and CT scans.
I tell [Db] people [Abm] I said I'm in the best seat in the house because [Ab] they watch [F] you very closely when you've come through a [Ab] battle like this.
But it was July 2nd of 2008 [Db] that I was diagnosed.
[Ab]
I went through about a year of surgeries and chemotherapy.
_ But [Abm] I am feeling healthy and strong.
I'm [F] exercising every day.
And life is great and getting better.
_ _ Good [G] title for a song. [Bb] All [Eb] right.
_ Well, [F] Jeff and Sherry [Ab] and Morgan, thank you very much for talking to us on Gospel Music Today.
Thank you so much.
_ There's more coming up