Palmetto State Quartet

The Palmetto State Quartet was a professional Southern Gospel quartet that originated in Greenville, South Carolina, in the mid-1940s. In 1988 they received at a Singing News Fan Awards ceremony the Marvin Norcross Award for contributions to Southern Gospel over their career. Their song "Knock, Knock, Knock" was dubbed "number one radio single" by Singing News magazine in 2004.

The Palmetto State Quartet has had many members from many different backgrounds, some of which would become resourceful voices in the mainstream gospel music world. Quite famously, Hovie Lister joined the quartet for two years before bringing back his signature Statesmen Quartet the following year. Former member Jack Bagwell died on July 21, 2025.^[1]

The Palmetto State Quartet began in 1946 with original members Jamie Dill (Piano), Woodrow Pittman (Lead), Clarence Owens (Tenor), Malone Thomason (Baritone), and Paul Burroughs (Bass). Soon after they started, the group was signed to do a thirty minute program which would air live on WFBC Radio in Greenville, South Carolina.

Between 1968 and 1971, while the quartet was going through some personnel changes, they did not tour as regularly as normal. The major blow occurred in 1987 with the death of original pianist Jamie Dill. Group ownership was then taken over by Jack Earl Pittman.

In 1989, the legendary Hovie Lister joined the group as pianist and Woody Beatty joined playing the keyboard synthesizer. Beatty switched to piano when Lister went back to his signature Statesmen. When Bagwell, Pittman, and Harold Gilley retired from the group in 1997, Beatty became the group owner. Subsequently, his son Kerry Beatty became the group owner when Woody retired in 2002.

Larry Strickland became the owner of the group when Beatty left in 2009. In early 2012, Strickland re-branded the group as a more country-styled vocal band, akin to Diamond Rio or Lonestar. By early 2013, they went back to being a traditional quartet, and sought to change their name as the group had not been based in South Carolina for some time. They held a write-in contest to solicit ideas for a new name, but shortly after the contest closed, Strickland announced his resignation and the disbanding of the Palmetto State Quartet. The remaining members did record one album under the contest-winning name, Glass Temple, but did not continue as a group after that.

Tenor

• Leon Sutherland (1946–1949)
• Clarence Owens (1949–1960)
• Claude Hunter (1960–1963, 1970–1985)
• Jerry Hovis (1963–1970)
• Eddie Broome (1985–1993) (formerly of Dixie Echoes)
• Brion Carter (1993–2002)
• John Rulapaugh (2002–2006)
• Wesley Smith (2006–2008, 2011) (went on to Dixie Echoes and Dailey & Vincent)
• Jeremy Calloway (2008–2009)
• Robert Fulton (2009–2011) (went on to Gold City)
• Jeremy Easley (2011-2013)

Lead

• Woodrow Pittman (1946–1954)
• Jack Pittman (1954-1960?) (at some point Pittman & Bagwell switched parts)
• Jack Bagwell (1960–1968, 1970-1997)
• Harold Schronce (1968–70)
• Kerry Beatty (1997–2009)
• Paul Lancaster (2009-2013) (formerly of Karen Peck and New River, The Nelons and later The Booth Brothers)
• David Staton (2013)

Baritone

• Malone Thomason (1946–1952)
• Jack Bagwell (1952-1960?) (at some point Pittman & Bagwell switched parts)
• Jack Pittman (1960–1967, 1970–1997)
• Laverne Tripp (1967–68) (went on to the Blue Ridge Quartet)
• Jerome Bush (1968–69)
• Milton Sigmon (1969–70)
• Tony Peace (1997–2004) (went on to The Kingsmen Quartet)
• Rick Fair (2004–2008) (formerly of The Statesmen Quartet)
• Brian Beatty (2008–2009)
• David Darst (2009–2012)
• David Staton (2012-2013)
• DaRon Maughon (2013)

Bass

• Paul Burroughs (1946–1955)
• Ellison Jenkins (1955–1961)
• Ken Turner (1961–1968) (went on to The Dixie Echoes and The Blackwood Brothers)
• Joe Divine (1968-1969)
• Chuck Bright (1969-1970)
• Cliff King (1970–1976)
• Jerry Trotter (1976–1979)
• Joel Duncan (1979–1994)
• Harold Gilley (1994–1997)
• Jeff Pearles (1997–2003) (went on to The King's Heralds)
• Jason Brooks (2003)
• Aaron McCune (2003–2006) (went on to Gold City, Dailey & Vincent, The Oak Ridge Boys, among others)
• Burman Porter (2006–2008)
• Larry Strickland (2008–2013) (sang with and filled in for JD Sumner) (husband of Naomi Judd)
• Mike Allen (2013) (Gaither Homecoming regular)

Piano

• Jamie Dill (1946–1968, 1970–1987)
• Charles Abee (1968–1969) (went on to The Kingsmen Quartet)
• Carroll Melvin (1970)
• David McAbee (1987–1989)
• Hovie Lister (1989–1991) (would bring back his signature Statesmen Quartet the following year)
• Woody Beatty (1989–1999)
• Jerry Kelso (1999–2001)
• Andrew Ishee (2001–2006) (formerly of the Kingsmen Quartet and would later serve The Oak Ridge Boys)
• Bryan Elliott (2006–2008) (went on to Gold City)
• KC Martin (2008–2009, 2012-2013)
• Mark Carman (2009–2010)
• Mark Willett (2010–2012)

Various

• Charles Waller (1983–1997, Manager/Promoter)
• Eddie Broome (1984–1985, Bass Guitar/Vocals)
• Louie Sprouse (1986, Bass Guitar)
• J.J. Jennings (1987, Bass Guitar)
• Michael W. Carman (2008-2011, Road Manager)

https://www.sghistory.com/index.php?n=P.PalmettoStateQuartet