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Gospel Songfest set for June 14 at Grotto

By KARA KOCZUR, Globe staff reporter
(Email Kara)

WEST BEND – For the tenth summer in a row, the Grotto of the Redemption will hold its Gospel Songfest, full of music, food and fun on June 14.

This year the Songfest, which draws between 300-500 people annually, will shorten its hours and run from 4 to 7 p.m.

“Over the years we’ve learned that people typically don’t come for an entire day, so we shortened the time, hoping that people will come and plan to stay and listen to all three groups,” said Rhonda Miller, director of the Grotto. “In the past we’ve done things like five and six groups, but realistically it’s a big time commitment to expect people to spend the whole time with you.”

Miller said she likes having different styles of music, as well as varying sized groups, so the three-hour time slot will be filled by music from Pure Faith, SoundTrack and the Redemption Singers.

Pure Faith is a duet made up of David Redenius and Stacey Schnuckel. The pair has performed together since 2006, though they began writing songs together in 2005. Pure Faith will release their third CD this summer, titled “A Matter of Time.” They have performed at the Albert City Threshing Festival, RAGBRAI, music festivals in Iowa and Minnesota and area concerts. 

SoundTrack is a contemporary Christian music group from Ames, whose mission is to help people feel the presence of God at Mass and special events. The group is called SoundTrack because it believes that music should enhance the Mass, not be the focus of it, just as a musical score adds to a movie.

The Redemption Singers is a group of eight women from West Bend. They got together in 1999, when they formed an ensemble to sing a song at a child’s graduation Mass. Deciding their sound was “not too bad,” they recruited another alto and began singing at other events. The members’ jobs range from the medical profession to education to homemaker. The Redemption Singers, who have performed at the Songfest numerous times, believe that “singing is praying to God twice” and enjoy sharing their gift with others.

“The Redemption Singers is a group of local gals and they have a lot of local appeal,” Miller said. “They’re a very talented group of women. Any time that they can perform at the Gospel Songfest it’s a bonus and a plus for us.”

Another bonus of the Songfest is that it gets people to come to the Grotto again. People would visit the Grotto each year when it was under construction, Miller said, but with increasingly busy lives, not as many make a visit a priority. The Songfest gives people a reason to come back.

“Plus, we have such busy, hectic lives, it really is a nice way for people to come and kick back and relax and be grateful for a slowdown and listen to some great music in the meantime,” she said.

Like previous years, the Knights of Columbus will be providing a burger and beans barbecue for $5. There is no admission fee for the Songfest, though there will be freewill donation boxes.

The Gospel Songfest will go on, rain or shine.

“If it does rain,” Miller said, “we’ll have it inside the Catholic Church with beautiful acoustics.”