The late Charles B. Feltner inducted into the Ohio Gospel Music Hall of Fame

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, OH, August 31, 2011: The Ohio Gospel Music Association has announced that the late Charles B. Feltner is the first person to be inducted into the Ohio Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Feltner was born February 20, 1929, in Hazard, Kentucky, where as a youth he began singing gospel music. After moving to the Dayton, Ohio area, he joined Dall Miller and formed the Southern-Aires Quartet. He sang with the Southern-Aires approximately twenty years where he developed his song writing abilities. Feltner composed many enduring songs, some of which were recorded by national artists such as the Cathedrals, the Kingsmen, the Dixie Melody Boys, the Happy Goodman Family, the Florida Boys, and the Booth Brothers. Feltner’s many songs include a number one hit on the 1978 Gospel Music Charts, “I’ll See You in the Rapture,” which also garnered a Dove Award nomination and which has been translated into several foreign languages. Sadly, Feltner passed away in September of 2005.

Feltner will be the first inductee into the recently formed Ohio Gospel Music Association’s Hall of Fame. An award ceremony is planned for SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2011, at 2:00 PM,where a plaque will be unveiled and a presentation will be made to surviving members of Feltner’s family. The plaque will be permanently displayed at the home of the OGMA, which is currently located inside the Coming Together Center, 4302 North Dixie Drive, Dayton, OH 45414. The ceremony will be open to the public and there is no charge to attend.

The Ohio Gospel Music Association originated in 2009, when the Reverend Kenny Shiveley suggested the need to recognize persons responsible for advancing gospel music in the State of Ohio.  Reverend Shiveley contacted a group of Ohio-based gospel music singers and musicians, and meetings began to create the OGMA. In November of 2009, the OGMA was incorporated as a nonprofit organization.

The purpose of the organization is “honoring those gospel music performers, songwriters, broadcasters, and promoters that are prominent in the history of gospel music in the State of Ohio.”