Music

Poe’s Law

85 Comments

Is this video real or an intentional fake?

Although several people have sent me this horrific rendition, I’m going to call shenanigans on it for several reasons:

1) The singer starts out by talking about Brian Free and the Assurance which is definitely not an IFB group but then transitions right into talking about Gospel Light Baptist Church in Salisbury, NC which is most definitely an IFB church.

2) The applause track after he mentions the church is an obvious fake.

3) We see three heads of audience members but there’s nobody on the stage or in the choir loft. In fact, this guy is sitting on the arm of the pastor’s chair (right next to the phone). Nobody would do that to the pastor’s throne and get away with it in an IFB church. [Edit: Thanks to everyone who pointed out that he’s actually on a stool in front of the chair. I concede the point]

4) He’s wearing a polo shirt and sneakers. Sneakers. On the platform. Not likely.

5. He chooses a song best known by Vestal Goodman and then murders it in a way that could only be purposeful. While doing it he runs around the stage and holds the microphone in both hands.

I suspect that some hooligans managed to get into a Baptist church somewhere when nobody else was around and shot this video as a spoof. But I’d love to hear your opinions.

85 thoughts on “Poe’s Law”

  2. First of all, my husband says he wants to kick him in the nuts, but it sounds like someone already did.

    Observation: He was not sitting on the pastor’s chair — it looks like he’s on a folding stool or something in front of it.

    But that definitely DOES sound like canned applause.

  3. 1. I don’t know. The circles I was in revered groups such as and including Brian Free & Assurance (Free also used to sing for Gold City, I believe.)
    2. The applause sounds canned, but that could be the sound quality.
    3. I count 6 heads. And as Jessie pointed out, he’s not sitting on the throne.
    4-5 are good points. He absolutely murdered that thing and Vestal Goodman is still revered enough in Southern IFBdom that he would be run off the stage.

    However, a couple of things it has going for it.
    1. Name dropping galore – Gospel Light, Brian Free.
    2. Most IFB churches will let anyone up on stage (as long as they’re not singing a CCM song with drums)
    3. Couple #2 with someone in the church who is– how shall I put this politely – “challenged” (the wheel’s turning but the hamster’s dead, if you know what I mean) and some churches will be more forgiving and tolerant of such shenanigans. (and now I’ve got the shenanigans scene from Super Troopers in my head)

    1. (i)2. Most IFB churches will let anyone up on stage (as long as they’re not singing a CCM song with drums)(/i)

      This is so correct. For a religion that constantly berates it members, it seems unwilling to tell many of its members that they lack talent, that most people find their special music performances annoying and that they should not be performing in public.
      This is another part of the IFB culture, special music. Anyone who wanted to do special music would get to perform once every few weeks. And like clockwork, you knew when the hacks were going to perform, mostly at Sunday Night or Wednesday Prayer meeting services. Sometimes my parents would even skip of service to avoid having to listen to these hacks sing. People should not do karaoke to a captive audience!
      While many of these hacks claim they are performing for the lord, they are doing it for their own need for attention and maybe a lost dream of being in show business.
      I took organ lessons as a child. A few years later I realize I did not have musical talent. It was a heartbreaking experience for me. But I moved on and stopped performing in public.
      Maybe the IFB needs it own Simon Cowell.

      1. I so agree with you about how such singers claim to be doing it for God but are really wanting attention!

        Small churches try to be accepting and loving of their members so they think in love they should let them sing, but really they’re just enabling them and not helping them confront their selfish demands for public performance and applause.

        And, yes, it’s so strange that the very same churches which have no problem calling names and insulting people from the pulpit can’t find the fortitude to gently tell Brother Jim and Sister Sally that their special music needs to stop!

        1. Probably because in most hymn-singing churches, no one practices the hymns. You just pick a number, turn to that page, and sing. Special music requires a special, dedicated time to practice it – well, it’s SUPPOSED to require that!

        2. My oh so former fundy church used to call it special music and then somehow now they call it “testimony in song”. 🙄 🙄

  4. A reliable pastor friend of mine posted it today and says he has a friend in the audience where this was recorded. So I’m just sayin’, it’s a “I heard from a friend who knows this guy” kind of thing. I could only make it to the first modulation and the “evil stare” he gave the pianist before I had to turn it off. I’ve been speculating with musician friends all day as to whether or not the pianist was supposed to modulate, or if he/she was doing it as a practical joke.

    I’d love to hear someone speak authoritatively as to whether or not this is genuine.

  7. How could this not be legit? It’s the same quality I remember growing up. Where’s his website? I want to get MP3s and CDs to distribute as gifts. What more could anyone want?

    1. BTW, I got a link to this video off to the Gregory Brothers. This one has all the makings of a viral video.

    1. You’re allowed to invite Him in, just not to recognize that He’s actually there right now.

    2. I think I remember someone sounding like this in our IFB church growing up Connie? 😀 I believe it is fake because we never clapped in church, only shouted “Amen”.

  11. it almost looks green screen, cause it looks like he is obviously not sitting on the chair, but when he gets up, nothing is there.

    i am weirded out by this.

    1. At 2:31 he moves the stool behind the pulpit.

      The heads look like kids. Maybe it’s just some silly youth thing.

      1. Stan – my thoughts exactly, that it is a youth event of some sort. All the heads look like teenagers. No bald heads, no gray hair.

  12. My take is that he’s performing for some kind of youth activity, probably with groups from more than one IFB church. That would explain the casual attire and his ability to act casual and goofy on stage.

  13. I woke my little girl up with this video. She asked me why he sang like a girl. When he said he sang with that song with that group, did he mean in the audience? I don’t think he could sing with any Professional group.

  14. I’m guessing the video is real, but that it is intentionally bad. Probably a youth group “skit” or parody, I think.

    Doesn’t make the guy any easier to listen to, though. 😯

  15. “some hooligans managed to get into a Baptist church somewhere when nobody else was around and shot this video as a spoof.”

    Whoa, boy….breathe, BASSENCO, breathe. . . Darrell, that came across almost as a challenge. No, no, no breaking and entering. You’d have to do it when the church doors were legally open….But could a person get into the church long enough to film a spoof and then get out….ohhhhhh….I think I just found a possible life’s purpose…..

    2. Oooooh… 😈 I would pay actual dollars to see you do something like this at Mt. Calvary. 👿

      *nudge*nudge*

        1. I attended hat-church pretty faithfully every Sunday night during grad school (I switched over when the church I was attending established a SEPARATE PM service for BJU students as if we weren’t worthy of mingling with their regular members.)

        3. Er, no. 🙂 I attended a grand total of twice before I decided I hadn’t attained an appropriate level of spirituality to enjoy a 2+ hour evening service. 😆 Wearing a hat was the best part of the whole experience! I got to daydream about being a regal Victorian-era heiress instead of paying rapt attention to the one-word per three second serm- uh, soliloquy. 😳

        4. Forgive my shallowness, but I like a pastor that gives a decipherable *outline* so I can take *notes* 🙄 Post-hat-church conversations are a riot: everyone claims the Reverend Speaker made a different number of points. Some hear four, some hear six, some eleven…

  17. I would have to say that video was intentionally bad. Some skit for a kids night. It did manage to wake our dog, she looked at me and walked away.

  18. That was awful! I had to turn the sound down!

    I have to admit Brian Free is an acquired taste, it took me some time to get used to his high voice but he does have some great songs. This guy though! Oh was that an earsore! 😯

    1. Drinking the koolaid makes Brian Free sound better. Actually, it makes everything sound good. 😆

  19. Lol my wife was also awakened and wondering what the h#ll I was listening to. 😀

    That’s def a skit or something…the sound quality of an acoustic piano even with a microphone in it would be just a bit different. That one sounded recorded.

    You can see the barstool legs so he was intentionally doing what he was doing…who brings a bar stool with them to just sing?

    Those are the things I noticed besides the blood dripping from my ears.

  21. This video was all over my Facebook wall a few weeks ago. I too suspect that it is a fake. But: At my church, Brian Free was a favorite group, though they refused to play his CDs in the church and if they needed to play his songs, they would play a recording of someone else singing it.

    I remember that at my fundy church after Saturday night prayer meeting, the pastor allowed us to stay in the church as long as we locked the doors when we left. We would make CDs and even record fake “revival services”.

  22. Singing with a gospel quartet for five years, the only argument that holds any weight at all with me is the “canned applause” argument. I noticed that, too, but the rest of it I can completely see happening in real life because I’ve witnessed similar things in my time.

    Also, watching this just after taking a dose and a half of NyQuil is not recommended. I was literally curled up in a fetal position and twitching by the time this video was done.

  23. Sadly, this is a real guy, that is his real voice. He sends demos to all major southern gospel groups trying to get a job as a tenor singer. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.

    1. Seriously? So this is like one of those people who try out for American Idol, and everyone wonders why no one stopped them… For the record, I hate reality TV.

    2. Seriously? SERIOUSLY??? He thinks he’s good & sends demos to legitimate groups?

      BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Mark is right; the IFB needs Simon Cowell. Now that is reality tv I’d actually watch. 😀

    3. That video has the same canned applause sound effect as the first one. It’s hard to tell which was worse. Even if it was a skit, I don’t see how anyone in the audience could stand more than one dose of that in a night.

  26. I vote parody. I agree with those who say it’s probably a skit at a youth meeting. I used to go to a week long youth rally at an IFB church in N.C. and every year the goal was to make the skits more outlandish and cheesy. I have to admit at this particular gathering, it was often entertaining and creative but had no Gospel effectiveness. This video actually made me want to hunt this guy down and have his vocal cords cauterized.

  27. I’ve been in churches that allowed people to perform who really had no business singing in public. All I can figure is “we” don’t want to offend them, and “They’re doin’ it fer Jesus” so we let them.

    At least I know better. Last time I sang out loud in church, 37 people changed denominations.

  28. I think it’s real. I’ve suffered through enough bad performances in my lifetime to know that these things exist. Doesn’t seem to be forcing it, seems to be attempting to sing the song that is not at all in his range.

  29. Looks like all of the videos are from the same service. Nothing I see in the videos make it seem fake. Dress standards are more casual down south…where he’s obviously singing at.

  30. This is absolutely real. I traveled in a Southern Gospel group for several years and this guy is a legend among groups of that genre due to his cover songs, especially this one. He is convinced he’s amazing. He’ll be sure to tell you if you ever meet him. The church where this was filmed has been desperately trying to get James to take these videos down. It was filmed without permission from the MOG or deacons by some of the youth staff. By the way, they’re no longer at the church.

    1. “He’s convinced he’s amazing.” A worship service is supposed to be about how amazing Christ is, not ourselves. Even if he could sing, he should follow the example of John the Baptist and seek to decrease that Jesus might increase.

      1. Agreed. But, (how do I say this sensitively without sounding insensitive or demeaning?) he probably doesn’t get things as quickly as others do and may not totally be at fault for his misconceptions.

  31. If it is a “skit” than it must have been a really long and not funny skit because according to the guys channel posted above he has like five songs on youtube that he did that night. Listen to just a sampling and you can tell this video is legit. This guy apparently doing some kind of “youth concert” and all those poor teens had to suffer through at least 5 songs. Concluding with the grand exit of “looking for a city.” Ouch!! And yes, the chearing and clapping is canned, probably added later along with the graphics. This guy is your standard bad american idol contestant, who is all about himself, who no one had the guts to inform him that he stunk.

  33. I know folks who call that kind of piano playing “honky-tonk” and do NOT appreciate it being played in church.

    If my parents had been sitting in this audience and this were presented as legitimate not a comical skit, I’m almost 100% sure they would have gotten up and left (my dad has left services before). They would have considered this sort of performance a mockery of God’s house, disrespectful at the least, bordering on profane at the worst.

    (As a piano player, I’ve got to say that I would have declined accompanying this “singer”.)

    1. You’re right PW! I got pulled aside and “counselled” in the pastor’s office for playing a church hymn with the same “evangelistic style”. That’s the kind of stuff I used to LOVE playing though…memories.

      If he’d have sang like that during practice I’d have told him to take a hike as well. 😉

  34. Is this church one of those who attack contemporary music as too repetitious, too performance-driven, too man-centered, and too focused on entertainment? Would this church judge a congregation of believers who were swaying and clapping and raising their hands while singing “How Great Is Our God” as “worldly” or indulging the flesh?

    If so, how ironic.

  35. I’m voting real. Every reason Darrell gives is valid for why it’s not real, but James Youtube channel sadly confirms, in my opinion, that he was being sincere. The other thing to me that makes this look genuine is the long piano playing at the beginning where he misses the verse. Sure, that could be faked as well, but it just doesn’t seem like it to me. He seems to genuinely be frustrated that the pianist started at the verse, which he didn’t know, rather than right at the chorus. I originally saw this a few weeks ago and had similar thoughts about it’s genuineness, until I saw portions of his other videos. He’s the real deal unfortunately. 🙁

  36. I wonder if the guy singing has publicly responded to any of the criticism that he has received.

  37. I think I sound better than that and I sound really bad. It literally hurt my ears and I can’t imagine people willingly 😯 sitting through that sound more than one time. Where is the guy with the cane coming from the side to get him off the stage? I will never click on another video of this guy again. 😥

  38. Ok, it appears this guy is for real…

    My question is, what kind of sadistic youth leader invites this guy to “bless” the youth group? 😯 As if the Fundy dress code isn’t punishment enough, those poor kids were forced to sit & listen to this guy massacre multiple songs?

    Just plain wrong. 😡

  39. Having been in a church where Bryan Free came every Labor day and assaulted our eardrums, I can safely say: This guy is a better singer than Bryan Free. Of course…. so is my pet iguana.

  40. I believe the fact that we can argue forcefully on both sides of the video’s reality is just proof of Darrell’s genius in posting this under the heading of Poe’s Law – not that any of us needed to be reminded of his awesomeness, just sayin…

  42. I was “saved” at Gospel Light in Salisbury and yes, Brian Free and Assurance plus his old group, Gold City were definitely big in the fundie circles in the area. I think it’s real. Sad, but real.

  43. I know for a fact that this is a real attempt at singing but it was not done during a church service or anything. It was done as a joke because this guy thinks he can really sing. This church is doing everything in their power to have it taken down. It was done without the churchs leaderships permission.

  45. Frankly, I’m surprised that there was even a suggestion that this was fake. If you watch the other videos posted, you can see it was a “concert” of sorts…probably a youth gathering or a special Sunday evening service. Corny stuff like this happens all the time in small-medium sized suburban churches.

  46. I did not read every comment, so someone may have already guessed this… If it is not real (I can’t imagine), then it is most likely a youth rally skit.

  47. As an officially approved judge of all such things fundie (PK, Bible college grad, college tour group leader) I can say without a second guess that this is totally and completely real. I have personally experienced numerous such attempts at “special music” during my 20+ years of fundie experience. My guess is that this is the Wendesday night prayer meeting (for which all such pitiful special music is typically regulated).

  48. alright, here is the TRUTH concerning this video. just to verify what I say, here are some facts to back up what I am saying. I was married in this church. My wife grew up in this church. I still have extended family in this church. That being said, here is what happened.
    This was filmed at a youth event. The young man “singing” does love to sing. However, he is not the one that filmed this nor the one that set up the youtube page. Someone has put these videos out there to humilate James. This is not recent. It was filmed years ago.

  49. This vid is as real as it gets.

    I’m not sure about humiliating James. It would seem he loves to put himself out there and sing with all his might. . . . . he has sung with the Crabb family singers before.

    (Heard from Jason Crabb himself on the Rick and Bubba Radio Show yesterday)

    Seems this situation is the same in most churches. As long as he’s doing it for the glory of God it doesn’t matter how good it is, its good enough for me. . . . .

  50. SO, who is Poe? and what is his “law”? I also wonder if this is genuine (if so, I feel sorry for those in the audience) If it is staged, I’d actually feel better about laughing at this guy…since he did it for that purpose…if it’s staged, he’s as good an actor as he is bad of a singer.

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