The Chuck Wagon Gang, set to appear at the Thomasville Municipal Auditorium on Friday at 7:30 p.m., has entered its 73rd year of singing old songs, and singing them the way “Dad Carter” taught his kids.

While time has brought much in the way progress and development in our time, the Chuck Wagon Gang, in its third generation, has continued to strum and sing its way into the history books as being the oldest mixed quartet that has continuously recorded what has come to be known as “grass roots” gospel music.

“This is the first first non-bluegrass or non-bluegrass-gospel concert we’ve had,” said Len Robinson, who books acts for the “Another Night of Blugrass” concert series. “The Chuck Wagon Gang is a crowd pleaser, though. They are always well received at bluegrass festivals.”

Over the years, the Chuck Wagon Gang has managed to record more than 750 songs and sell nearly 40 million records worldwide. Much of those songs and records were recorded with Columbia records, now Sony Music. Many of the songs recorded in 1936, the group’s first year, are still being sung in concerts across America today.

“They just have a very distinctive sound,” Robinson said. “The original Chuck Wagon Gang was part of the Southern gospel tradition, joining quartets like The Blackwood Brothers and The Statesmen. They are different from anything you’ve heard.

“It’s like Louis Armstrong. As soon has he opens his mouth, you know that’s ‘Satchmo.”

The great Chuck Wagon Gang standards, classics and most-requested songs are still featured at today’s Chuck Wagon Gang concerts and their simple approach remains intact. There can’t be a Chuck Wagon Gang concert without “The Church In The Wildwood,” “Higher,” “I’ll Fly Away,” Echoes From The Burning Bush,” “Heaven’s Really Gonna Shine,” “We Are Climbing,” “I’ll Meet You In The Morning,” “Looking For A City” and others in this vein. But as with any singing group, new songs, new recordings and freshness must prevail.

At any given concert, folks share their childhood stories of how their dad and mom used to turn on the old battery-powered radio, tune in the Chuck Wagon Gang program and quietly listen to the songs that inspired their lives back in the “good old days.” Now as senior adults themselves, they say those same songs are what inspires and uplifts them as they are transported back to a more simple life every time they listen to Chuck Wagon Gang, whether in concert, video or CD

The purpose of the third-generation Chuck Wagon Gang is to not only preserve and continue the grand legacy of the group, but to be a relevant and viable ministry of the Gospel through song. While the music certainly has its entertainment value, the real impact is the spiritual message of hope and grace for the listener. The style and sound of the Chuck Wagon Gang is intact, but the message is pertinent for today.