The Singing Hambys

      The Singing Hambys are a family Southern Gospel group from the Cumberland Plateau in East Tennessee. The group is based in the small community of Helenwood, located between the towns of Huntsville and Oneida, about one hour northwest of Knoxville.

      The group consists of Allen Hamby, who sings bass, plays the bass guitar, handles the emcee work on stage, and does the booking for the group. Steve Hamby sings the tenor vocal part and plays acoustic lead guitar for the Hambys, as well as oversees the sound system, and writes many of the group's original songs. Seprena Hamby Daugherty, which is Allen and Steve's younger sister, sings lead and harmony vocals for the family, and her husband Tony Daugherty plays acoustic rhythm guitar, sings most of the lead vocals for the group, and also contributes many original compositions to the group's repertoire of songs.
      Also involved in the family ministry is Allen's wife Donna, who assists him with booking, mailings and everything that goes along with the road management of the group. Mary, which is Steve's wife, handles the product and accounting for the Hambys as well as sings lead and harmony vocals.
      Mary, Steve, Seprena, and Allen are the original members of the Singing Hambys, which began on March 7, 1987. They were asked to put a few songs together and fill in for a group that had cancelled at the last minute on a local concert. A minister at the concert asked them to come to his church the next weekend, and soon they were traveling every weekend, singing and telling folks about their precious Savior.
      Allen and Donna's son, Ryan, plays dobro for the group, and Staci Hamby, Steve and Mary's daughter, takes care of the group’s website and other behind-the-scenes tasks. Steve and Mary’s son, Jordan, played mandolin for the Hambys for several years before joining the bluegrass gospel group, Lakeside, in 2010, and, then, The Diplomats Quartet in 2013, as lead guitarist. The youngest members of the family are Jacob Daugherty, born in 1998, who now plays mandolin, Katelyn Hamby, born in 1999, and Makayla Daugherty, born in 2001. Jacob and Makayla belong to Tony and Seprena, while Katelyn is Allen and Donna's daughter. They sing at nearly every performance of the Hambys, and everyone always seem to enjoy hearing them sing.
     These children are the fourth generation of this family that has gone on stage to sing about Jesus. Historically, the family's singing heritage can be traced back to 1939, when Allen, Steve, and Seprena's grandfather, Ernest Hamby was a founding member of the Oneida-Winsett Quartet, who traveled for the R.E. Winsett Publishing Company and had a weekly radio program on WNOX in Knoxville, TN. He then started singing full time with the Favorite Melody Quartet, based out of Knoxville, and continued with them until his death in 1977. His son, a Baptist minister, named Alonzo Hamby formed a group with his wife, Gladys, and his sister and brother-in-law (Wilda and Carlie Hughett) around 1977, called the Trueway Gospels. The Trueways which would eventually include his sons, Allen and Steve, who joined in 1983, traveled and recorded gospel music until 1987 when the Singing Hambys began.
     The Singing Hambys continue to carry on this gospel music legacy which to them is more than just a family tradition. It is what they consider a calling on their lives to spread the gospel, to encourage the believers, and to bring glory and honor to Jesus their Savior.