Will Lane believes the latest life chapter is authored by God

By John Herndon, KentuckySings.com

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. – Will Lane could not have sung more appropriate lyrics than those of his first solo Friday night.

Oh yes, oh yes, I’m a child of the King

His royal blood now flows through my veins

And I who was wretched and poor now can sing

Praise God! Praise God! I’m a child of the King!

– Child of the King by Bill and Gloria Gaither

“I am not going to lie to you. I was NERVOUS,” Lane smiled a few minutes after his first concert as a member of the Mark Trammell Quartet. “At the same time, I knew God had me. He has continued to bless me more than I ever deserve and He gave me the strength to get through tonight.”

Praise God! Praise God! I’m a child of the King!

Will Lane knew. He just knew from experience that things would go well. 

“I could just feel Him with me the whole time,” he said following the concert at Sand Spring Baptist Church. “When you know God is in it, you aren’t going to worry about it. I just gave it over to Him and trusted in Him.”

It’s how Will Lane has lived his life. Never has that been more apparent than in the last month.

On June 27, Mike and Jordan LeFevre announced that the LeFevre Quartet, with whom Lane had been singing for about 2½ years, would be retiring and coming off the road.

The very next day, the Mark Trammell Quartet introduced Will as the new bass singer, filling the void left when Randy Byrd decided to come off the road in March. 

Four days later, Byrd would become Will Lane’s father-in-law.

So don’t try to convince Will, or anyone else who has had a part in his saga that the King has not been working in the lives of his children. They know He has.

“I had prayed about what I needed to do because I knew where I was at was definitely going to come to a close in a few months,” Lane said. “So I prayed about it and reached out to Mark and the Lord took it from there.”

Lane said the time frame between when he knew the LeFevre Quartet would be retiring and when he would be joining Mark Trammell was a few weeks.

“He was needing a bass singer and I was looking for a position,” Will said. “I could have gone home and worked a regular job but I don’t feel like God is done with me. So I reached out to Mark and I prayed about it and the Lord opened the door.”

And Trammell said he did the same.

“The greatest part of this was I had no idea this was coming,” Trammell said. “When this change took place, I laid it before the Lord and I prayed about it and said, ‘God I don’t want who I want. I want who you want.’”

Trammell is convinced Will Lane is that man. “(Randy Byrd) sent me a text message that said, ‘I know a really good bass singer that is going to need a job and he’s going to be my son-in-law. Will is the first person I have ever hired without an audition. He never did try out. We just talked.”

Lane believes it is an example of how God works in the lives of those who love Him.

We asked Lane if he was surprised that the LeFevres had decided to come off the road at a time when the quartet is one of the most popular in Southern Gospel. 

“Yes and no,” he said. “It was sort of a shock in a way but for everything there is a time and a season. God knows what He is doing. Mike wanted to be home more with his grandkids and Jordan with his kids. They are at that age where they wanted to be home more and I can’t blame them. I understand. It was sort of a shock but at the same time, I get it and I understand.”

Lane, who had also spent time as the bass singer for The Anchormen and Driven Quartet, said he is scheduled to sing with the LeFevre Quartet in its final appearance at the National Quartet Convention on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Now, Will has the opportunity to share God’s message in song with the Mark Trammell Quartet, a group he’s always admired. “He’s a good man,” Lane says. “Great songs. Anointed. It’s just pretty awesome to be a part of it.”

And Trammell is thrilled to have Will Lane singing the low notes. “Tonight was his first night with us and he did a wonderful job. The sky is the limit for him.”

At the end of Friday’s set, Trammell told the Sand Spring crowd that Lane had not rehearsed with the group until arriving at the church building earlier that day. But the concert went off flawlessly.

“He’s very much a natural bass singer,” Trammell said. “He’s no stranger to quartet music and he’s no stranger to singing harmony. He is a very smooth bass singer but he also has a lot of authority in his voice when he takes the lead on a song.

“I am thrilled to have Will with us. He loves the Lord, he loves his family and he loves this music. He believes this is a calling for his life and He is going to keep doing this.”

Will’s excitement is apparent on stage and his smile says he’s letting God lead for the future.

“I am taking one day at a time and I feel like God has placed me here,” Will says. “Sometimes you don’t know why. Sometimes you don’t understand why God places you in a certain place. I believe God placed me with the LeFevre Quartet in the time that I was there. Like I said, there is a time and a season and there is a reason. He has led me here. I am just thrilled to see what the future holds for the Mark Trammell Quartet and I am just thrilled to see what God is going to do through each and every one of us.”

Praise God! Praise God!  I’m a child of the King!

All in the Family

Will Lane and Misti Byrd were married on July 2 and are now living in the small town of Lula, Georgia, about an hour northeast of Atlanta.

“We had a beautiful wedding,” Will says. “Everything went smooth, praise the Lord. We went to Disneyland on our honeymoon.”

Misti is the daughter of Randy Byrd, who sang bass with Mark Trammell for many years. 

“That is a little interesting,” Lane laughed. “He was here for seven or eight years and he came off the road.”

MTQ was never without a bass singer

While lineup changes are common in Southern Gospel music, seeing a major group like the Mark Trammell Quartet go almost four months without a full-time bass singer is a bit unusual. Trammell said he received 31 resumes and demo tapes for the position before Will Lane became available.

Trammell was able to call on some old friends to fill the void created when Randy Byrd decided to leave the road. 

“From the last week of March until this week, we were without a bass singer,” Trammell said. “A gentleman that we know and have great respect for, Keith Inman, who is a brother to Clayton Inman of Triumphant Quartet, is a fine bass singer in his own right. He was kind enough to help us fill in the gaps in the interim. We didn’t have to do without a bass singer in that time period.”

Greater Vision baritone Jon Epley can also sing bass and filled that bass spot for a few dates as well.