- Over the course of a half century,

Bill Gaither has earned countless awards

and launched the careers ofmany others along the way.

He's a Southern Gospel legend,

but he still says his lifeis about more than the music.

- [Andrew] Grammy-winner

and Gospel Music Hallof Famer Bill Gaither

has been in the musicindustry for over 50 years.

Along the way, he's met alot of wonderful people.

In his new podcast,

"More Than the Music," Bill introduces you

to some of these friends that he's known,

collaborated with, an been inspired by

during his amazing career.

- Bill Gaither joins us now via Skype.

Bill, welcome back to "The 700 Club."

- Terry, it's good to be with you.

- You've said that this pandemic

that we're all living through

has, quote, "gotten us out of la-la land

"and is helping us turn back to God."

In what ways are you seeing that?

- You know, Gloria's mother one time said,

"There are two times in life we get real,

"when a baby comes into this world

"and when we lose somebody at death."

She said, "Otherwise, wekinda live in la-la land,"

and I think that's true.

A lot of diversions, alot of those diversions

requires us to be withpeople and close to people.

I think this particular virus

has made us get back tothe important things.

I told Gloria the other day,"If I've gotta be quarantined,

"it's great to be quarantinedwith your best friend,"

and that happens to be the lady

that I've lived with for 57 years.

So that's not totally bad.

That part is good.

- Well you guys are quite a power couple.

You just launched the "MoreThan the Music" podcast.

Who are some of the featuredguests that you're gonna have?

- Well, from the verybeginning, Gloria's always said,

"Bill, where did you get allof these strange characters

"that you seem to attract?"

I just love life and I just love people

and they come from alldifferent aspects of life.

Some of the people that are onthe podcast are music folks,

people like our good friends Alabama,

who wrote "Give Me Some Mountain Music,"

and our good friends LarryGatlin and the Gatlin Brothers,

"All the Gold inCalifornia," folks like that.

But also, I love sports.

Paul Westphal is a dear friend of mine

who was just inductedinto the NBA Hall of Fame.

He was both a coach and a player.

And those are people who are well known,

but I got friends likethe county prosecutor here

who has an interesting life.

Grew up as an orphan here in our county

and a kid of the streets,

started boxing when he was young

and earned enough moneyto start going to college,

became an attorney at a placement

and finally the county prosecutor.

It's just a great story

- Wow.- of a kid taking the thing

that God gave him and tryingto make something out of it.

And those friends go all across the gamut.

Rory Feek,

the husband of Joey,- Yes.

- the story was pretty national.

She was from our little town here.

He's quite a writer.

And just some interesting people.

- Well it sounds like you're--- I love music,

I love music and what you can do in music,

but sometimes, you feel limited

- Yes.- because there,

there are something that can be said

that you can't say in music.

A lot of things can be said in music

that also, maybe it'sbetter than a sermon.

- (chuckles) Yeah, absolutely.

Well, you want people, I know,

to join you for these podcasts

to take away something that matters.

Sounds like you're gonna be talking about

just all aspects of life.

What do you want the takeaway to be?

- We're talking about life.

And I think, getting back to the pandemic,

I think we're coming to grips with things

that are really important,and that's relationships,

- Yes.- a chance

to expand your mind.

Gloria and I have donemore reading and thinking

and a chance to watch some good movies,

spending a lot of timewith our kids on the phone

and Skyping with them.

But I think to say, andas much as I love music,

there are times when I have to say

this requires more time thanjust listening to a song here.

And many of our songsare about relationships:

I repent for moments I have spent

recalling all the pain andthe failures of my past.

I repent for dwelling on the things

beyond my power to change,the chains that hold me fast.

I will go on.

The past I leave behind me.

And I think it's justgrappling with stuff like that

that can make a difference in life.

- Yeah, the philosophical questions

that we ponder in our quiet moments.

What's it been like for you to perform,

it's not really performing,you're being, in your podcast

as opposed to in front ofthousands and thousands of people?

That's what you're used to.

What's it like to be thereby yourself doing this?

- You know, what we dodoes depend on people

because, if that's not the case,

then it is just a performance.

And I think maybe one of the things

that separates a Christianartist from a secular artist

is it's gotta be more than aperformance in what you do.

And the other part is the participation,

and there's nothing asbeautiful as an evening,

coming and doing the best you can do,

rehearsing and having yourmusic down very, very well,

but to some way to connectand start feeling them.

See, 50% of communication iswhat we do from the platform.

The other 50% is what happens out there.

So to be honest with you,these are tough times

for artists because the feedback,

not feedback saying, "You'regreat, you're fantastic,

"that's a great high note,"but the feedback of saying,

"Yes, I agree with what you're saying,"

"loving God, loving each other,

"making music with my friends.

"Loving God, loving each other,and the story never ends."

And when you can get theminvolved and they're singing it,

that is really beautiful.

I'll be honest with you, I miss that part.

It's great to communicate like this,

- Yes.- but it's also great

to feel them breathe and feel them sing.

Corrie ten Boom one time said,

"I like all the great performing,

"but when the people, they sing,

- Yes.- "that's the best part," hey?

- It's that shared relationshipthat you're talking about,

and that's one of thereasons people love you

and Gloria so much becauseyou've always had that connection

with whoever you'reperforming to and with.

Thanks so much for being with us.

It's great to see you again.

I want to tell our audience,you can hear more with Bill

by listening to his brand new podcast.

It's called "More Than Music,"

and you'll always getthat with the Gaithers.

Bill, thank you so much for being with us.

- Terry, you're very kind.

Have a good day.

- Thank you, you too.

God bless you.