The Dixie Melody Boys are an American Southern Gospel

Southern Gospel

Southern Gospel music—at one time also known as "quartet music"—is music whose lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music...

 quartet from Kinston, North Carolina

Kinston, North Carolina

Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 23,688 at the 2000 census. The population was estimated at 22,360 in 2008. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791 . Kinston is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks...

. They have been active for over 45 years.

The group was founded in 1960 by Avis Adkins; Ed O'Neal, their bass singer, joined in 1961, and subsequently became the group's leader and manager. Under O'Neal, the group became something of a revolving door of singers who would go on to have significant careers in the field of Southern gospel, including McCray Dove with the Dove Brothers, Rodney Griffin

Rodney Griffin

Rodney Griffin is a Southern Gospel singer and songwriter currently performing with Greater Vision. Griffin was named favorite songwriter in the Singing News Fan Awards every year from 1998 to 2011. He was also named Favorite Baritone in 2006...

 with Greater Vision

Greater Vision

Greater Vision is a Southern Gospel trio founded in 1990 by Gerald Wolfe, Mark Trammell, and Chris Allman, and often accompanied by pianist Stan Whitmire . Over the last several years, this trio has consistently been named Southern Gospel's favorite trio of the year in the Singing News Fan Awards...

, Harold Reed with The Kingsmen

The Kingsmen Quartet

The Kingsmen Quartet is an American Christian music group.-Musical career:The Kingsmen are a Southern Gospel vocal quartet based out of Asheville, North Carolina. Many legends of Southern Gospel have been members of The Kingsmen...

, Derrick Selph of Brian Free and Assurance

Brian Free and Assurance

Brian Free & Assurance is a Southern gospel and CCM group.Brian Free formed his own group in 1993 after performing with the Gold City Quartet from 1982-1993...

, Dustin Sweatman of Mark Trammell Quartet, Bryan Walker, who went on to become a contestant on Season 9 of American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

 and then later joined The Perrys

The Perrys

The Perrys are a professional Southern Gospel quartet based in Gallatin, Tennessee. The group formed on December 25, 1970 with Randy Perry and his sisters Debbie and Libbi in Georgia. In the mid 1980s, the group signed with former pianist for the Happy Goodman Family, Eddie Crook on his Morning...

, and Devin McGlamery with Karen Peck and New River

Karen Peck and New River

Karen Peck and New River is a southern gospel trio based in Gainesville, Georgia.-Music career:The youngest of three daughters, Karen was exposed to the traditional sounds of gospel music at a very early age...

.

The group has had more than twenty hits in the Southern gospel field, including "Antioch Church Choir", "I'll Be Living That Way", "Don't Point a Finger", and "When the Son of My Life Goes Down". The group has released a large number of albums and numerous VHS

VHS

The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 videos and dvds.

Ed O'Neal has received the Marvin Norcross Award and was inducted into the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame

Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame

150px|right|thumb|Entrance.The Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame is a site operated at Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, by the Southern Gospel Music Association. It was established in 1997...

 in 2004.

On January 1, 2011, The Dixie Melody Boys became the latest inductees into the Christian Music Hall of Fame.

Members 1986-present

Current members

• Ed O'Neal - Bass (1961-present)
• Steven Cooper - Baritone (2007-present)
• Donald Morris - Lead (2009-present)
• Matt Felts - Tenor (2010-present)

Former members

Baritone

• David DeLawder 1986-1987
• Nathan Widenor 1987-1991
• Bill Bass 1991-1992
• Rodney Griffin 1992-1993
• Jamie Bramlett 1994-1995
• Dave Needham 1995-1997
• Craig Singletary 1997-1998
• Kenny Cook 1998-1999
• Derrick Selph 1999-2003
• Dustin Sweatman 2003-2004
• Andrew King 2004-2007
• Bryan Walker 2007
• Steven Cooper 2007-present

Lead

• McCray Dove 1986-1998
• Jamie Caldwell 1998-2000
• Devin McGlamery 2000-2004
• Dustin Sweatman 2004-2006
• Donald Morris 2006
• Bryan Walker 2006-2007
• Rob Shelton 2007-2008
• Joe Kitson 2008-2009
• Donald Morris 2009-present

Tenor

• David Walker 1986-1988
• Ernie Haase 1988
• Derrick Boyd 1988-1993
• Harold Reed 1993-2004
• Dan Keeton 2004-2007
• Jonathan Price 2007-2010
• Matt Felts 2010-present

Piano

• Bobby Ledford 1986-1989
• Dwight Young 1989
• Steve Wood 1989-1992
• Eric Ollis 1992-2004
• Dustin Sweatman 2004-2006 (played and sang)

Instrumentalist

• Larry DeLawder 1986-1995

Other former members

• Avis Adkins
• Henry Daniels
• David Kimbrell
• Greg Simpkins - piano
• Phil Barker - tenor
• Ralph Walker - tenor
• Jerry Kelso - piano 1978-1985
• Jeff Knight - piano, tenor 1985-1986
• George Shambaugh - guitar 1986
• Darren Humphries - drummer
• Allen O'Neal - baritone, guitar
• John Jarman - lead
• Del Martillmon - baritone
• Tony Brown - piano
• Craig Hamm - lead guitar 1983-1986
• Frank Sutton - tenor, bass guitar
• Olan Witt - drummer 1983-1985
• Kent Humphries - lead

Discography

• Favorite Instrumentals of the Dixie Melody Boys (196?)
• Refreshing (1976)
• Are You Ready for Gospel (1977)
• Sending Up Boards (1978)
• The Sing-Sational (1979)
• Live! (1980)
• Just As We Are (1981)
• Antioch Church Choir (1982)
• More Than Just Good Ole Boys (1983)
• Too Much Thunder (1984)
• Streetwise (Benson RO3899, 1985)
• Back Home (1988)
• Ridin' High (1989)
• On Fire (1990)
• Dynamic (1991)
• Gonna Praise the Lord Live (1992)
• No Compromise (1993)
• Masterpiece (1994)
• Old Time Religion (1996)
• 100% Pure Southern Gospel (1997)
• Live in Music City (1998)
• Heading Home (1999)
• Quartet Classics (2001)
• Request Time (2001)
• Vintage (2002)
• A Seat in the Heavenly Choir (2004)
• Like Never Before (2005)
• Live at Pigeon Forge (2005)
• Hymns (2006)
• Traditions (2006)
• Smooth and Easy (2006)
• Serenade (2008)
• Back to the Good Ole' Days (2008)
• Singing the Classics (2009)

In 2004 and 2005, the group released seven compilation

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

albums, entitled Historic Journey vols. 1-7.