REPRINTED & EDITED BY PERMISSION FROM SGML article originally published June 2005

One of the busiest regional southern gospel groups certainly has to be Holy City, based out of Charleston, South Carolina.  During the first year Holy City booked over 80 appearances, and since then they have gone on to do over 400 dates in their first four years.

Holy City originally began as a trio in October, 2001.  At that time, Mike Bolen (lead), Gene Haselden (baritone), and Karl Rice (tenor) began practicing and then conducted their first public performance in January of 2002.  For the first year or so Mike had the additional responsibility of running sound and, as he puts it, juggling remote controls.  “One of the most important decisions I made with this group was to hire my good friend Rod Person to run our sound.  Rod had run sound for my previous group and for Chapter IV until that group folded.  When I found out he was available I was real quick to give him a call.  Rod knows sound and we needed his expertise,” Mike adds.

Holy City is also so blessed that our soundman, Rod, is married to the very lovely and talented Elizabeth Pearson, who has filled in for Holy City as the Alto/Soprano while we are looking for a male tenor.  Elizabeth's range, vocal style and spirit has made her a crowd favorite everywhere the group goes and while we still are looking for the right male tenor to sing with Holy City, Elizabeth fills the part in a way that is a blessing for each of us as well as everyone that hears Holy City Quartet.  Elizabeth is featured a number of times in concert and on our latest project and we encourage you to get to know this lady as she travels with her husband and the rest of the guys from Holy City.

In November of 2004, Holy City finally became a quartet. One of the original goals for the founding members was to establish a group based on tight harmony and then find a good solid bass singer to complete a quartet.  Mike says, “So many times I got frustrated wanting to be a quartet but nothing would work out.  Then it all finally clicked when we found Roger Wendel.”  In November of 2005, Roger moved on to start his own quartet and once again the search for a Bass began. The search did not take long since one of the first contacts was with Mark Fink, who had just moved to Charlotte NC a couple of months prior. While the drive was a concern for both Mike and Mark, they decided to give it a try. Today, Mark is proud to be the bass singer with Holy City Quartet and looks forward to a long and rewarding stay. Holy City has just completed and released their sixth music projects and example clips of this latest effort can be found on our "Our Music" page.  The first four projects were all recorded as a trio, including Good Ol' Church Songs, which was recorded with just a piano background.  The project, Around The Cross, is their first recorded as a quartet and the solid four part harmony is continued in their latest release titled "Special Edition".

Like most regional SG artists, the majority of Holy City's singings are held in church settings.  This is not a fact that bothers them, however, as it makes their mission of singing and spreading the word of God through their songs easier.  Their travels have taken them throughout the southeastern region and through many doors in order to share their ministry.  Mike offers, “Getting in churches is not an easy thing to do but we have used the good old word-of-mouth method to spread the word about Holy City.  Record deals, promoters, agents, and all that kind of stuff are great...and I believe there are some real good ones in the SGM industry.  If, in the future, the Lord wants to lead us in that direction to be able to witness to more souls, I would be the first to step out and sign up.  I believe if we stay in His will and look to Him for our direction, God will look out for Holy City.  For now, though, we appreciate organizations like SGML who are willing to help us get our name out there and save our money and time to focus on our ministry needs.”

The group's appearances have not been limited to church singings, though.  They have sung in many different types of places and in front of crowds ranging in size from 12 to 4000.  During their first year, Holy City was asked to sing at a wedding reception held at one of the beautiful gardens in the Charleston area.  Ice sculptures, a multitude of flowers, and huge oak trees filled the gardens.  Mike explains, “The lady asked us to set up under one of the big oak trees and just begin singing when people started showing up.  Well, we got set up just in time for another truck and trailer to pull up under this same tree.  It was not another group, but the bartender and all of his alcohol for the outside bar.  Forgive us Lord!”

Another service fondly remembered was held in a large Baptist church on a Sunday morning.  Approximately 350-400 people were in attendance and the service was going quite well.  When the invitation was given, a well-dressed gentleman came forward.  The group all noticed the congregation had a funny expression as this man walked toward the altar.  Then another man and a woman came down.  “The pastor was receiving the people so we had no idea what was going on.  When the first man was introduced, the pastor introduced him as being the chairman of the deacons and that he had come to give his heart to the Lord as he was tired of playing church.  WHAT A BLESSING!” Mike relates.  It was announced that the other man was also a deacon and the woman was a deacon's wife.  All of them had decided it was time to quit playing church and start serving the Lord.  Mike adds, “This one service was worth the years of ministry I have been involved in.  To be involved in a service and used by God to help change people's lives...that is the reason we sing. This is what our ministry is all about - winning souls for Him.”

The members of Holy City admit that it takes everyone involved to make their ministry a success.  To their wives and children they say, “Thanks for allowing us to follow God's call on our lives.”  Even Mike's parents, Mary Ann and Paul Bolen, play an integral part in their success.  “They travel with us every weekend.  Mom takes care of all of our clothes making sure they are cleaned and pressed, and she takes care of all the product table, too.  Dad is the official mechanic and picture taker.  He has gotten a crash course in 8V-71 engines and buses in the past year,” Mike laughs.  The guys all admit to being just simple people like most everyone, but they are using their God-given gifts to help spread the word of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.  Mike had this to offer in closing, “To all of you we ask that you pray for Holy City as we travel each weekend.  We say a huge "THANK YOU" for all you are doing in helping us meet our ministry's goals.”