A milestone is a marker, a place where one looks back and charts the moments and memories that have meant the most over the years. This month, we are featuring an individual who has been in Gospel music for 15 years. While we recount those moments, we will see a set of milestones come full circle in the story of Josh Feemster, lead singer of Gold City.
Josh Feemster is an Alabama native, whose love of music began at a young age watching his family’s involvement with the Follower’s Quartet. At the age of nine or ten years old, Josh joined his family on stage playing the drums. As a child, Josh was also put on the stage to sing as one of the “Little Followers” with a few other children during their programs. “But I didn’t like doing that,” Josh shares. “I didn’t like singing as a child, I just wanted to play drums. It wasn’t until I was 15 or 16 that I got interested in singing again, and that’s really when it all started for me.”
It was during those early teenage years that a big change came for Gospel music that Josh would later become an important part of Josh’s story. It was an evening at the Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama. That night, the iconic lineup of Gold City would transition from Brian Free, Ivan Parker, Steve Lacey and Tim Riley to Jay Parrack, Steve Lacey, Mark Trammell and Tim Riley…and Josh Feemster would be watching the whole night unfold from the balcony. “I just remember sitting in the balcony looking down and that whole thing. It was just a really neat experience because you had both of those groups and I remember sitting there thinking if there’s any way I could ever do that, that’s what I would want.” In the years that followed, Josh would go on to sing locally with regional groups until the age of twenty.
Milestone #1
F
ast forward a few years to the year 2000 and a man named Gary Jones, known for playing piano and producing for Gold City, was looking for a lead singer for his new group, Mercy’s Mark. “Mercy’s Mark was my first experience in a professional singing group,” says Josh, “and working with Gary was a big turning point in my life. He was always my favorite producer and I learned so much from him as a singer. Gary was never a guy to show you the technical side of singing, but he would pull it out of you in the studio. He would get you to places vocally you didn’t really even comprehend. Early on, he did that with me.”
“I remember being in the studio the first day and we had been recording some upbeat songs I was familiar with. But then there was a song called “In Awe” that was a very emotional song. It was getting late and I wanted to try and tackle it, but it wasn’t coming. I wasn’t singing it the way Gary wanted it and I was so frustrated. So Gary said, ‘Hey, let’s take the rest of the night off and we’ll come back tomorrow and work on it.’ But I said no, I was so stubborn and wanted to do it that night and he gave me about two or three more tries and then I was ready to call it quits for the night. We went and got something to eat and on the way back to the hotel Gary encouraged me and said, ‘Man, listen, you’re overthinking everything. Tomorrow you’re going to walk in there and nail it.’ And that’s exactly what happened. When I heard the playback, I thought, ‘Is that me?’ Because it was such a different and heartfelt sound than I had ever done before. Gary really, really taught me so much from his producing and how to sing, and I’m eternally grateful for that.”
Milestone #2
Josh stayed with Mercy’s Mark until 2007 and then made the decision to come off the road. During Josh’s time with the group, he started working with a vocal coach in Nashville named Brett Manning. Though his time on the road was complete for that season, Josh kept studying voice with Manning. “Brett kept expanding my range.” Josh explains. “He kept pouring into my high-end range and opened it up.” Which led to the next milestone in Josh’s life – singing tenor with Legacy Five.
This discovery came along during a recording session. “I was going to record a solo album of just hymns and classics,” Josh explains. “Gerald Wolfe was going to play the piano and it was just piano and voice. Well, Gerald went in to do the tracks and he said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were a tenor now?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m not.’ Because I was thinking of a tenor as Brian Free or Ernie Haase. Next thing I know, Gerald is calling Scott Fowler and Scott is coming over to the studio and starts recruiting me to come sing with him. At first I didn’t think so, but their music was in a range that I could sing and the Lord just worked it out for me to go do that.”
“During my time with Legacy 5, we did so many neat things. One of them was a trip to Israel around 2018. Before we went, I had never thought about going to Israel, but it was a trip of a lifetime. To stand on the Mount of Olives looking down at the Eastern Gate and then sing ‘The Easter Gate.’ That was pretty cool. And there were so many things Legacy 5 did that I look back on and think, wow, that was really special. My first weekend out with them we sang at First Baptist Atlanta, and there’s Dr. Charles Stanley, sitting on the front row. Then we went to Dr. David Jeremiah’s church in San Diego. These are legendary figures of the faith that you get to mingle with and it was very neat.”
Milestone #3
Josh sang with Legacy Five until 2019 and came off the road to work at his church as a worship minister and teach voice. In 2023, God was opening doors that Josh had not even thought of in 20 years. First, came the call from Daniel Riley to see if Josh had any vocal students that could become Gold City’s next lead singer. “The timing was interesting,” says Josh looking back. “Two days before Danny texted me, I had resigned from leading worship at the church I was at and I was no longer teaching voice. I messaged Danny back and said, ‘I think I can go help you out for a little while until you find the right guy.’ So I went out with them and it was magic the first night. When we got back on the bus, I went to change clothes and Danny told me, ‘Please tell me what I have to do to get you to do this.’ I told him, ‘It’s not up to you, but I will pray about it.’”
As you can tell from the current line up of Gold City, the Lord worked it out, and great things have been happening for Gold City. “It’s really neat to see the excitement for Gold City again like it they had when I was growing up,” shares Josh. “And it’s not because I’m there, but because of the way it all came together for everyone in the group.” The current line up of Gold City reflects the iconic Gold City sound like never before. Their song, “Rise Up,” which was released as a radio single last year was the most played song for all of 2025. The quartet could not find themselves in a better place. Yet, even with that excitement and success, the thing that keeps coming back to Josh Feemster is a moment that happened two decades ago in Birmingham, Alabama. “I was out walking one day when I got a notification that the performance of ‘There Rose a Lamb’ from Pillars of Faith Live was just posted on Gold City’s YouTube page. At that moment it was like the Lord told me, ‘I told you I would do this for you.’ Here I was, 20 years later, I had moved on and never thought about singing with Gold City. So, it’s just that reminder not to give up on your dreams, ever. And even if you do, God can still give them to you when you least expect it.”
What a story of God’s goodness. I want to thank Josh Feemster for taking the time to share these moments with the Gospel Music Roadshow. We are thrilled for what the Lord is doing in his life and ministry and wish him many, many more years to come with Gold City.
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Milestones | 10 Years | Chris Parker
Milestones | 5 Years | Terry Wooten
CD Review “Hope In A Manger” By Gold City