March 25, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
The multi-Grammy nominated, Dove Award winning Gospel group The Isaacs will appear in concert at the Smithville Church of God on Sunday, March 27 at 6 p.m. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.
In the southern gospel music realm, The Isaacs, a family band based in Hendersonville, have been performing for 51 years. Mom, Lily, was born in Germany to parents who were holocaust survivors. Her three children make up the rest of the band. Ben Isaacs plays the upright bass, Sonya Isaacs Yeary plays the mandolin and Becky Isaacs Bowman plays guitar. All four are vocalists in the group.
The group has won 9 Dove Awards and their latest 3 albums have received Grammy nominations. They have been frequent guests on RFD network’s ‘Larry’s Country Diner’, and also appeared on the Gaither Homecoming Videos and Tours for over 20 years. In 2020 the Isaacs were inducted into the GMA (Gospel Music Hall of Fame) and after performing as guests for 25 years, the Isaacs were officially inducted as members of the Grand Ole Opry on September 14, 2021.
In an interview with WJLE this week, Lily said she and her family are thankful with all the opportunities they have had to entertain and minister to so many people over the years and credits award winning gospel singer/songwriter Bill Gaither for part of their success.
“The Gaither tour was definitely a blessing. Bill Gaither believed in us and we traveled with him for 15 years and did a lot of his videos and that was certainly an opportunity to get our faces out there worldwide because of his popularity. He pretty much took us under his wing and gave us that push and since then with all the opportunities we have had all I can say is we are so humbled that people have received us so well. Our main mission is for people to come to our concerts to hear something that will make a better day for them,” said Lily.
Becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry was also a dream come true for the Isaacs. “We have been going to the Opry for 25 years as guests and they have been so kind to our family and when they asked us to become a member it was a total surprise, and we were so emotional. We couldn’t believe it. The Opry just feels like family to us. We will be on the Opry Friday and Saturday night, March 25 & 26 before we come to Smithville,” Lily said.
Lily was born Lillian Fishman, in 1947, two years after World War II ended. Her parents – both Holocaust survivors from Poland – had met at a refugee camp in Germany. Her family later immigrated to the United States and became American citizens. Lily began her musical career as a folksinger in New York and then met her husband, Kentucky native Joe Isaacs. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the couple were married and started a band that they initially named the Calvary Mountain Boys. Eventually, they landed on the name, The Isaacs. Although Lily and Joe divorced after 28 years of marriage, she continued to perform with her daughters Sonya and Becky and son Ben for The Isaacs.
The Isaacs latest projects include ‘The American Face’ and ”Songs for the Times”.
“One of our newest projects is called “The American Face”. It was actually recorded in 2019 but once the pandemic started we weren’t traveling so we didn’t want to release that album at that time because we had a lot of money and time invested in it. We wanted to wait until we started traveling again. During the pandemic we recorded an album called “Songs for the Times” which is actually our most current. We recently won a Dove award for that album and have been nominated for a Grammy so we will be going to the Grammy Awards next week,” said Lily.
The Isaacs and its members have been invited to perform on many gospel, bluegrass and country artist albums and stages including: Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, The Oak Ridge Boys, Don Williams, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Trace Adkins, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Alabama, Craig Morgan, Josh Turner, Alison Krauss, Natalie Grant, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs, and many others.
The family also has a non-profit organization called The Isaacs Foundation that blesses the less fortunate in America. They also have a branch called the Fishman Isaacs Israel Initiative that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to bless Israel, specifically Holocaust Survivors, Israeli “Lone” Soldiers and orphans.