STEADFAST, named by Jim Gabehart’s mother, Lola, began in 1982 as a traditional four-piece bluegrass band. Jim & Valerie were in college at the time, but that didn’t stop them from playing engagements throughout West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
As the group gained momentum, it expanded to five members (and on rare occasions six), playing hundreds of fairs, festivals, concerts, contests, clubs, colleges, conventions, weddings --- you name it, they played it. The group played a fairly traditional bluegrass format, but with female vocals (Valerie, as well as Kathy Basham, Jim’s sister), their music seemed more palatable to the non-bluegrass crowd, which gave the group opportunities to open for Country stars like The Judds, Roy Clark, Charlie Daniels, Ricky Skaggs, Exile, Confederate Railroad, Eddie Rabbit, Shelly West.
Even after having children, the group kept on chugging along, but juggling jobs, family responsibilities and a busy music schedule became more difficult in the late 1990’s. Although, Jim & Valerie were saved and baptized in 1981 before they were married, after Jim rededicated his life on Mother’s Day 1996, he and Valerie became members of Middle Fork Baptist Church, beginning a wonderful journey in a new direction.
This lead to an expansion and reorganization of STEADFAST in 1998 to incorporate a group of musicians who blended bluegrass, gospel and acoustic country into a unique musical experience. This configuration only lasted a couple years, due in part to the difficulties of maintaining a six-piece group with such diverse material combined with Jim & Valerie’s desire to play a bigger part of their children’s varsity athletic experiences and focusing on singing gospel music closer to home.
By 2006, STEADFAST had become a full-fledged gospel quartet and began work on an all-gospel recording. Over the past eight years, Jim & Valerie’s bluegrass performances have been primarily select private engagements, but when their daughter, Amy, left home to attend West Virginia University, they found themselves suddenly with more time on their hands and a renewed interest in pursuing music more seriously. Jim’s sister, Kathy, is a central part of STEADFAST’s gospel sound, but has serious family commitments in the form of three grandchildren, with two more on the way, and a consequent inability to travel or increase her time commitment to music. Jim & Valerie’s interest turned to reorganizing a bluegrass band. Jim & Valerie had become aware of Corey Hensley from his gospel performances and after retiring from the road as a Southern Gospel performer, and beginning his family, he began playing occasional bluegrass gigs with Jim & Valerie over the past couple of years. The final piece of the puzzle came when Brandon Shuping decided to return and although Jim & Valerie will continue to sing occasional church appointments with STEADFAST, they look forward to seeing new places, making new friends, and playing their brand of bluegrass music for years to come!