Gospel dinner theater series debuts at Jim Oliver’s Smokehouse

Mark Bishop, one of gospel music’s top singers and songwriters, has been tapped for the first show of the inaugural season of the Smokehouse Gospel Music Dinner Theater series.

The s eri es debuts tonight, July 14, at Jim Oliver’s Smokehouse Resort in Monteagle, Tenn. Aimee’ Garner, a gospel singer from Ringgold, Ga., will open the show.

The series, which features a second concert in July then continues monthly through October, is built around entertainment by some of gospel’s top artists to be enjoyed over a homecooked buffet. Future concerts will be headlined by The Troy Burns Family, The Williamsons, Tammy Jones Robinette and The Lore Family. •••

Roger Spears, executive producer of Harmony Road TV, says talks with Smokehouse owner J. D. Oliver have been ongoing for a while “to find the best way to present a regular gospel concert series at the restaurant.”

“The music room at the restaurant is perfect for this type of event, providing a nice intimate setting for both the artist and concert goers. And the food is wonderful,” Spears adds.

Regular viewers may recognize the Smokehouse as the site of several Harmony Road TV programs, a 30- minute Southern gospel video program available to more than 90 million homes nationwide on multiple networks, stations and media platforms.

Formerly of The Bishops, an award- winning family gospel group, Mark Bishop embarked on a solo career in 2002 that has brought him multiple nominations and awards in a broad range of categories. He is one of a select few soloists who have been invited to sing on the main stage of the National Quartet Convention.

Thirty of his compositions have landed in Singing News magazine’s Top 40 Radio Airplay Chart, including 26 Top 20 songs and three that hit No. 1, including “You Can’t Ask Too Much of My God,” which also was named Song of the Year by the Southern Gospel Songwriters Association.

In 2000, he won a Gospel Music Association Dove Award as producer for Bluegrass Gospel Album of the Year for The Bishops’ “Kentucky Bluegrass.” He was voted Soloist of the Year at the 2005 Singing News Fan Awards.