The Statesmen

Among the most enduring and impactful ensembles in Southern gospel, the Statesmen shaped the genre through their theatrical stage presence and syncopated keyboard work, paving a path for today’s upbeat contemporary Christian music. Pianist Hovie Lister assembled the quartet in 1948, bringing together lead singer Mosie Lister (unrelated), tenor Bobby Strickland, baritone Bervin Kendrick, and bass Gordon Hill. Despite repeated personnel shifts across the decades—among the former members was the renowned Jake Hess—Hovie Lister remained the central and longest-serving figure; the group ranked among the earliest Southern gospel quartets to incorporate piano, and his expressive, ragtime-tinged approach moved the style beyond its earlier stiff backing, even as an ordained minister he recognized the need to modernize the music for postwar listeners, especially younger ones. In the ensuing years the Statesmen issued more than one hundred recordings on RCA, their roster at different points encompassing Rozie Rozell, Doy Ott, Buddy Burton, Jim Wetherington, Tommy Thompson, and Denver Crumpler, while Lister continued as a core member well into the twenty-first century.