Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises
Take a trip with the Morning JoyRide®️ as Melody discusses the humorous side of real issues facing families today.
Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises
Southern Gospel Gold’s Beloved Host Signs Off: A Tribute to Grey Hager
After nearly 30 years on the air, Grey Hager—the gentle voice behind Joy FM’s Southern Gospel Gold—is signing off. In this heartfelt conversation with Melody, Grey reflects on his unexpected journey into radio, the classic gospel music that became his ministry, and the legacy he leaves behind for listeners who love the heritage of Southern Gospel.
We're glad that you're with us because on this episode of Quirks, bumps and Bruises, I sit down with Gray Hager, host of Southern Gospel Gold, that you hear on Saturday evenings from 6 to 8 pm. We're going to talk about Gray's 29 years of hosting that show, what it meant to him, to his heart and to the Joy FM listening audience, and he'll give you an update concerning the future of that show. So we're going to play that interview that we had, each individual break in its entirety, as you heard it on the morning joyride. Well, good morning and welcome to the joyride melody along with you. But I have such a special person in here with me today and many of you know who this is going to be because you love him as much as we do here at joy fm and it's mr gray hager good morning, gray, good morning and, as they say on tv, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1:we are glad that you're here, and if you don't know who that voice is or you're like, I think I know that voice but I can't place where I've heard him. Well, you have heard him every Saturday evening 6 to 8 pm on what is called Southern Gospel Gold and we call him the legendary Gray Hager around here, and I guess a good way to say it. We take you back to the glory days of Gospel Radio, right, gray?
Speaker 2:Yes, ma'am, I was thinking, coming in today, about how we started out with all kind of cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes and things like that that don't exist in Gospel Music Radio anymore.
Speaker 1:It has changed, so let's just go back. Gray, how long have you been with Joy FM?
Speaker 2:Well, I started back in 1996, and I fought it tooth and nail. I thought the last thing I ever want to do is be on radio. So my son worked at the Claremont station. That was the only one we had back then. He worked on the weekends and he was going back to college. So he kept saying Dad, you need to apply for this job. As I mentioned, I fought it tooth and nail to get him to shut up. I said, ok, I'll apply, thinking they're not going to hire me. So I did that and of course the gentleman said well, when can you start?
Speaker 1:Oh wow. That's so funny because you said 1996?.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep.
Speaker 1:I came along more than 10 years later, in 2007, and I fought it tooth and nail too. Yes, I would never, really, yes, I would never. What Radio? So it's so interesting, isn't it, how God places things in our path.
Speaker 2:It is totally unprepared for what we're expected to do.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and we're going to talk more with Gray about just that. Here coming up on the Morning, joyride, it's Melody along with you, but Gray Hager. He is the host of Southern Gospel Gold that you hear on Saturday evenings from 6 to 8 pm. And I'm learning some things already about Gray, starting with this ministry in 1996. Now, that was when Joy FM first came on the scene, right.
Speaker 2:That's exactly right Around 1997, I believe Rodney Baucom was the first manager, mm-hmm, and he stayed for probably 10 years or so he did. And then Daniel Britt yes, and Daniel and the stations had grown all during this period of time from one station here in Winston-Salem to over 30. Now, of course, john Long is our manager at this time. Yes, we worked with a lot of great people over the years. I can't name everybody, wouldn't even try to attempt it, but people like Wanda Taylor, oh yeah, been some great people, yes.
Speaker 1:And well, you're included in that, gray for sure. I will tell you this about Gray Everybody loves Gray, I don't care who it is you talk to. At Joy FM, past, present and even in the future, they're going to say Gray Hager is one of the nicest people we know. And that is absolutely the truth, gray, you are so loved here and have done such a good, good job with Southern Gospel Gold. Now, when, gray, did you start that actual show?
Speaker 2:It was in 1998. It was in February of 1998. Rodney Baucom came up with the idea of Southern Gospel Gold and we wanted to kind of keep alive the old songs and the legendary voices in Southern Gospel music. And we've played a lot of records over the years.
Speaker 1:Yes, you have and we've played a lot of records over the years. Yes, you have, and there's getting ready to be maybe a little change with that, with you, gray, and we're going to talk about that in just a moment. Coming up on the Morning Joyride, stay with us. It's Gray Hager. You know him, the host of Southern Gospel Gold that you hear on Saturday evenings 6 to 8. And I'm Melody and we're here just having a conversation, gray and I, about the ministry of Southern Gospel Gold, and you said you started in 1998, and here we are in 2025, gray, I can't even figure out how many years that is.
Speaker 2:Well, it will be 29 years when we sign off on August 2nd.
Speaker 1:All right. So, yes, you just heard that he said signing off on August 2nd, and so, Gray, tell us a little bit about you coming to that decision, and you know just a little bit about what you're going to do as you move forward.
Speaker 2:Well, I had a birthday not too long ago and I got to thinking well, I'm getting kind of old Me too, gray, me too. So also I've been having some health issues and I've decided I think the Lord has kind of made the decision easier to kind of step away. It's a good time 29 years and we've had some great times over the years and getting to know all the people, incredible people to work with.
Speaker 1:Anyone that doesn't work in a christian environment has no idea how much money it is to to come to work and to meet the people and socialize with them it is, and it is a blessing to work with like-minded believers, isn't it that that love the Lord and love this music and just want to share it with as many people as we can and that's why we're here is to share the hope and the love of Jesus through this quirky kind of music that we call Southern Gospel. The lame Melanie Ball oh, you are so sweet, gray. I just remember the first time I met you and I thought that is like the sweetest man and we have always just loved having you come in, gray. You come in every you know, about once a week and we're able to see you, and I don't get to hang out with you near as much as I'd like to because my schedule is always so crazy and wonky, but I just know that you have been a blessing to so many through the years, and in just a moment coming up, I want to talk to you a little bit about some specifics of that.
Speaker 1:Before we do that, though, you made the comment about you know when God is telling you it's time and he did that to me when I was in church ministry work a couple of years ago just knowing it's time and it's hard, it's hard to give something up that you love. It's really hard to do and I know that you love it and you're gonna I'm gonna cry that you love what you do and it's very apparent and how you do it. So I know making that decision for you has been, has been difficult?
Speaker 2:yes, it has, and, like I say, there's incredible people that you work with here, as well as the listeners that let us know from time to time that they enjoy the program and get a lot out of it. It seems like we play the correct song at the proper time. Oh yeah, of course we have no control over that, nope.
Speaker 1:But the Lord does, doesn't he? Yes?
Speaker 2:He does.
Speaker 1:So it's Melody, along with you on the Joyride with the one and only we call him around here, the legendary Mr Gray Hager. You hear him every Saturday evening from 6 until 8 pm, Southern Gospel Gold. Now, Gray, tell us kind of what birthed, so to speak, this program. What made you come to the idea of you know what we need like a couple of hours a week where we play just some of the old Southern gospel music? Was it because you love it so much, or did somebody put that idea in your head?
Speaker 2:Well, going back to a cold winter night when my wife was watching cooking shows and I decided to go in the bedroom and tune the radio down to try to find some good gospel music, and unfortunately there wasn't any at the time. I wanted to hear some of the great old songs from years gone by and there wasn't. So you sort of need to be careful what you want, because you might get it.
Speaker 1:You might get it. You might get it, I know. So you just had that desire to to have a place to kind of uh catalog some of the older music, because here on regular joy fm radio that you hear, you know, during the week we're constantly getting new music from artists all the time and so we keep that going in rotation, you know. But we wanted a place where we could just have that older Southern gospel music, and you were the one to kind of begin to put all that together right, well, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of funny because the music that we play isn't really timeless. A couple years ago, tribute Quartet recorded a song. You might help me remember the name of it. It was the number one song. It was an Arthur Smith song and I'm thinking you know this song came out back in the 1950s. Tribute Quartet brought it to number one. So that kind of insinuates where we need to be as far as what we're thinking about, yeah, that sort of thing.
Speaker 1:I kind of think about the inspirations now, how they're doing just that, you know, and they do it so well and you know, just kind of carrying on the real tradition of the old inspirations, and really I mean they're knocking it out of the park.
Speaker 2:They are. They are so good. But also the Chuckwagon Gang also is carrying on the tradition of that group as well.
Speaker 1:And I'm thankful for that and you know, because I feel like where we are with Southern Gospel now is built on that foundation. Without the songs that you hear on Southern Gospel Goal, we wouldn't be where we are right. That's exactly right. And so we don't want that heritage of music to just go by the wayside. It's kind of taking church pews and hymnals out of the church. Now you know you don't want the old hymns to go away. You know you want them to always remain a part of Christian music and so we definitely want that to continue happening with these older songs.
Speaker 2:yeah, we want to know who the statesman quartet is right. The blackwood brothers happy goodman family, yeah, yeah well when we come back.
Speaker 1:I want to talk to gray about some of his very favorite older southern gospel songs. Stay with us here on the morning joyride with melody. Well, good morning and welcome to Joy FM. And we are having some fun this morning with Mr Gray Hager, such a sweet, sweet man who loves the Lord and loves Southern Gospel music, but really loves the older Southern Gospel music. And you hear Gray on Saturday evenings from 6 to 8 on Southern Gospel Gold here at Joy FM.
Speaker 1:And so Gray has announced today that he's going to be retiring from doing that show, which breaks our hearts. But we certainly understand it. The Lord always has a way, I think of just in your spirit, when you know that it's just time, and so it's hard to do, it's hard to walk away from something that you really love. But when the Lord is saying it's that time, then we have to be obedient to that, and I feel like that's where Gray is in this process right now. But, gray, I want to ask you because, oh, my goodness, the songs that you have played over the last 29 years, by the way, 29 years y'all doing this the songs that you have played, is there just a favorite? Is there a favorite song, or is there just a favorite group that it will just always hold a special place in your heart?
Speaker 2:well, yeah, uh, there's been a lot of group. We tried to make it to where it was something for everybody. We played some of the songs in the 50s and 60s as well as up to the early 2000s, and Candy Payne was the music director for a number of years here at Joe FM and we got to thinking, well, maybe we could take this second hour of the program occasionally and play just all the same groups, and we'd have some of the groups that I enjoyed, like the happy goodman family. We play nothing but that their music as well as that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the singing rambos and, um, oh, I don't know there's. I guess my favorite group of all time is the statesman quartet. Oh, okay, they had jks and hovey lister and the big chief and the way out and the Rosie Roselle a number of people in that group that made great music and still today I enjoy hearing them.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I agree with that. And there's just something about that music especially when you're older, like I am, and you are great and you grew up hearing those songs it just brings that sense of nostalgia back to your heart you know it is, but I enjoy today's gospel music as well.
Speaker 2:I try to go to every concert I can get close to oh.
Speaker 1:I know, I don't care where we are, I'll look out there and there's Gray. I know when it's in your blood. Gray it's in your blood. Gray it's in your blood isn't it yeah, it's funny because you know I love music, all kinds of music, being in the world of music at my church and being a worship leader for a long time, and in fact you've been to my church before to see uh patriotic uh celebrations that we would do.
Speaker 1:You like sandy, oh, sandy patty, still to this day, is one of my favorite singers, right? But, um, you know, I, I love it all and uh. But sometimes we have people coming into the station that maybe their preference is more of the contemporary christian music, but nine times out of ten, because they're in the building and they're hearing it, and they'll say something like you know, that just takes me back. I mean, that just does something to my heart and they don't even really realize it right away. But there's just something about this music. I always say there's no fluff in it. You know you're talking about Jesus with Southern Gospel music, there's no doubt. There's no doubt it's meaty, it's just full of Jesus.
Speaker 1:You know, and I always say, along with hymns, that those songs can convict our hearts like nothing else. And you mentioned, right song at the right time, at the right place. We have story after story after story where these songs have ministered to someone's heart at just the perfect time. Even our hearts, right, gray? Oh, yes, when we're going through hard times, even our hearts as well. So hopefully you've been listening here this morning on the Joyride because we have Mr Gray Hager along with us Southern Gospel Gold, saturday evenings, 6 until 8 pm Just a great place to go to hear some of that old Southern Gospel from years past that still touches our hearts in such a big, big way. And, gray, you have decided that. You said you had a birthday recently and you decided that the Lord was kind of saying to your heart it's time to let go, time to retire after 29 years of Southern Gospel Goal here on Joy FM, and I know that you are going to be missed by, oh, my goodness, so many people. In fact, if you would like to call in and wish Gray well, I'm sure he would love to hear these voicemails from you and you can do that at 888-985-6936.
Speaker 1:So, gray, from the Joy FM team here, I hope you know how much you're loved. I hope that you won't be a stranger. Just because you're not going to do this show don't mean you can't come visit anymore. Oh, I'll be here, don't make me come get you, gray, I will come to your house and get you and we would love to just make sure that we stay a part of your life and that you stay a part of ours, because you are so very appreciated here, you're so very loved and you mean the world to us. So, gray, this coming Saturday, august the 2nd, this coming weekend, will be your last show as the host of Southern Gospel Gold. Again, that's this coming Saturday, august the 2nd, from 6 to 8 pm, be sure and tune in. And so, gray, each and every Saturday evening, when you end your show, you say what?
Speaker 2:May your spirit be filled with the gospel and your heart stay pure as gold.
