Donnie Seabolt

Don Seabolt was born in Calhoun, Georgia on July 30, 1944. "Donnie" learned to sing at a young age while picking cotton on his daddy's cotton farm with two of his sisters, Ruth and Jean. 

In his teen years he joined the FFA quartet at his high school. The young men would travel and compete against other FFA groups from all over the state, and for two years in a  row they won the award for being the top FFA quartet in Georgia. In Donnie's senior year he entered the competition in the solo division as well and won the award for the top soloist in the state. 

After high school, he began traveling with a regional group from north Georgia called the Peacemakers. For about five years he worked a full-time job and sang all over Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama with the group. 

As the 60's gave way to the 70's, like most young gospel singers, was itching to sing full-time and found out that the Downings were auditioning singers for an opening in their group. After arriving in Nashville and singing for them, they informed him that they loved his singing, but they were looking for someone with a lower voice and he sang too high! However, they mentioned to him that the Prophets Quartet was in need of a lead singer and they thought he would be the perfect fit to sing under their sky high tenor "Big Lew" Garrison. They were correct, and the Prophets hired Donnie shortly thereafter. During his time with the group they recorded three albums and thrilled audiences at some of the largest gospel music gatherings in the country. 

It was at one of these events that the Prophets were on the same program as the Blue Ridge Quartet. During sound check prior to the concert, LaVerne Tripp was checking his microphone and singing a country song. Donnie was standing on the side of the stage and recognized what he was singing and stepped up to a mic and began to sing harmony with him. The two sounded so good together that they decided to sing another one! Evidently, Donnie made an impression with the Blue Ridge because it wasn't long before they informed him that Fred Daniel would be coming off the road and they wanted him to be their new tenor singer. 

Donnie is best known for his time with the Blue Ridge from 1971-1978, and his flying leaps from the stage. He is pictured on the cover of "Energy" doing just that. In addition to singing, Donnie also wrote many of the Blue Ridge Quartet songs, such as There's Just No Way, Happy, I'll See You In Heaven, Safe In The Arms Of God, Things Are Gonna Be Different, When He Opens Up The Book Of Life, I'm Part Of The Family Of God, I'm Depending On Jesus, He's A Good Man, I'm Depending On Jesus, I Found Peace In The Old Rugged Cross, Already Mine, A Kid's Song... the list goes on and on... He also recorded two solo albums while with the Blue Ridge.

Sadly, for Blue Ridge fans, Donnie left in 1978 to start the Donnie Seabolt Band, where he continued to sing and tour until 2002. 

In his over 40 years of singing, his songs climbed the charts in both the Singing News and Cashbox Magazine. He also had his songs recorded by other well known Southern and Black gospel artists such as the Cathedral Quartet, The Hoppers, and The Dixie Hummingbirds. In 2009 he was inducted into the Pennsylvania Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and in 2016 he was inducted into the South Carolina Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame. 

He and his wife, Karen, live in Simpsonville, SC, with their son, daughter and son-in-law, and two grandchildren. 

Thank you, Donnie, for all of the love shown to us Blue Ridge fans over the years, and we pray you know how much you mean to us!  And thank you also, to Scott Jacobs for helping with a lot of the information to make this tribute possible!

Blue Ridge CD #9