EVENING SHADE — Virginia Tipton has been singing since she was a little girl, and about 50 years ago, she and her husband, Jack Tipton, began singing in their church.
The couple were asked to minister in music to other churches and events in and around Batesville.
Jack, who died in 2009, and Virginia raised three children — Sharon, Lesa and Dan — in Batesville and attended Harbor Lights Temple, a small Pentecostal church.
Dan and Lesa sang together in church, but their adult lives took a different direction when their bands began playing in bars and clubs.
After Dan and Lesa rededicated their lives to their faith, they began a Christian ministry through their music. The Tiptons are a family musical group comprised of Virginia, Dan, Lesa and two friends, Jamie and Dennis Esteb. The group released their first CD, Oh Bless His Name, in February 2010.
“After losing Jack in 2009, I was in a state of depression, not knowing what to do with my life,” Virginia said.
“Traveling and singing with my children for God’s glory has given me a new purpose of life in my later years. What joy it has given me, and for that, I’m so thankful.”
Jamie summed up the group’s musical style as a melting pot of all different kinds of musical influences.
“If I had to label our music, it would be Southern/traditional/country gospel,” Jamie said.
Dan added that The Tiptons are not entertainers or performers as much as they are ministers of God’s word.
“God has called us into this ministry, and it is a privilege to represent him and do his work,” Dan said.
The group has been asked to take that Southern gospel style to Dollywood and Silver Dollar City, and to participate in Gospel Days at the Louisiana State Fair.
“Being with The Tiptons has been somewhat like going back in time, in some ways,” Jamie said. “We all were in church together when I was younger, and music was the center of our lives even then. It’s been so great to be able to travel and minister in music and song with Virginia, Lesa and Dan. … I lost my Momma in 2005 to Alzheimer’s, and I believe God let me be with Sis Virginia as a second momma to me. That’s what she feels like to me. Thank you, Jesus!”
The Tiptons have had three CDs, beginning with the first one that was released in 2010.
The second CD, Strong Enough to Lean On, was released in 2011, and the third CD, Down on My Knees, was released this year.
For more information on The Tiptons, visit the thetiptonfamilysingers.com.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.
Three Rivers, Pages 119 on 07/29/2012