Mercy River Boys

The Mercy River Boys began their musical career in the spring of 1979. They toured for six years blending contemporary country music and four-part harmony to perfection. It was a mix of southern gospel with a modern country twist. Some folks called it "Country music with a moral message." They performed in country music venues breaking out of the "traditional gospel" genre.


The MRB was nominated for the Grammy Award in 1980, and won a Dove Award. As one editor wrote, “They changed the music scene by creating a new genre, Christian Country Music.” In 1985, the band went their separate ways. Emory Atkins, Danny Hollis, and Ronny Ricks formed a new CCM band, Paradise. Wayne Christian became a politician. Gary Goss began a lifelong career performing with Johnny Rodriguez. Emory moved to Nashville and became a music producer. In 2015, all eight of the original members were inducted into the Texas Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In 2020, a greatest hits compilation was released on Englewood Records. For the past twenty years, several bands have performed as the Mercy River Boys. None of them are associated with the band and have no legitimate claim to the name (see Wikipedia).


The original eight members are Emory Atkins, Wayne Christian, Gary Goss, Danny Hollis, Rusty Oxford, and Danny Smith. The final four members in 1985 were Emory Atkins, Danny Hollis, Chuck Long, and Ronny Ricks. Danny and Emory still record for Englewood Records and have music available on Spotify.