Ernie Haase

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Ernie Haase

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Genre = Christian
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Associated_acts = Cathedral Quartet
Old Friends Quartet
Ernie Haase and Signature Sound
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Ernie Haase (born 1964) was the tenor vocalist with the Cathedral Quartet from 1990 through 1999.

After the Cathedral Quartet retired, he had a solo career for several years. In addition to his solo concerts, he performed from 2001 through 2003 with Jake Hess, Wesley Pritchard, and George Younce in the Old Friends Quartet.

He founded a new southern Gospel quartet, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, in 2002. Though Haase sings many solos in Signature Sound songs, other quartet members are frequently featured on solos and have become recognized in their own right.

Haase's trademark song is "Oh, What a Savior". This song served as his unofficial audition to the Cathedral Quartet in 1990.

A prominent Hall of Fame basketball coach once stated, "A team is developed to achieve what one person cannot accomplish alone. All of us alone are weaker, by far, than if all of us are together." That same Hall of Fame coach also stated, "There are five fundamental qualities that make every team great: communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring and pride. I like to think of each as a separate finger on a fist. Any one individual is important, but all of them together are unbeatable." That sentiment is shared by Signature Sound team leader, Ernie Haase, who hails from Evansville, IN, a state known for its rich basketball history. Haase, an avid basketball fan who often refers to himself as a player/coach, has built his award winning Signature Sound on many of the same principles renown basketball coaches have built championship teams.

THE TEAM

Signature Sound burst onto the Gospel music scene with energy and excitement, just a few short years ago. A 10-year veteran of one of the greatest quartets in Gospel music, The Cathedrals, upon launching his own quartet, Haase wanted to create a team that was all 21st century in image and attitude, yet whose stage performance and musical material borrowed liberally from the great quartets of the 1950s, such as the legendary Statesmen. It's most evident, with the assistance of lead singer Ryan Seaton, baritone Doug Anderson and bass Tim Duncan, Haase has achieved this task. Honors and awards have flowed their way in bunches. After less than a year on the road, the talented quartet earned the honor of Horizon Group of the Year by subscribers of The SInging News Magazine, Southern Gospel Music's leading fan and trade publication. Additionally, the group garnered the coveted Favorite Group of the Year Award in 2006 by that same publication. Members of the Gospel Music Association also honored them with mulitple Dove Award nominations in 2006, including a nomination for New Artist of the Year, as well as Southern Gospel Album of the Year for their self-titled, debut release. Signature Sound's debut video release also garnered the group even more notorieity, as it soared to the top of Billboard Magazine's Music Video Chart, debuting at #3, and achieving Gold sales status by RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). COMMUNICATIONHaase and the members of Signature Sound believe a major factor in the success they have been blessed to achieve lies in their ability to effectively communicate with each audience member. "We try to make them feel like they are a big part of what we do, and they are." Haase shares. "Just like a home crowd can serve as the 'sixth man' in a basketball game, we are energized by the response of the crowd. We have the responsibility to communicate a very important message to them, and it's important that we can see they are getting that message. It's the message that changes lives. It's the message of the Gospel." Just as it is important for the group as a whole to communicate with each audience member, it is also vitally important that each team member communicates with each other, both on and off stage. "We're still growing together," Haase conveys, "but we recognize the importance of communication. If one of us has a burden, we share it. If we have something great that happens, we share that, as well. We work together, and we know communication is just one aspect of teamwork." TRUSTAnother aspect of teamwork is the mutual trust of each member. Trust must be developed among every member of the team if success is going to be achieved. "We are brothers, not physically, but spiritually. With that brotherhood comes trust and respect. These guys are some of the best friends I have in the world, and I know I can trust them both on and off stage, and I know they trust me. They trust me to make the right decisions. They trust me to be honest with them and tell them when they are doing right, as well as when they are not. Additionally, I want them to be honest with me and lift me up when I'm doing good and give me constructive criticism when I need it. They have a lot of confidence in my abilities, just as I have confidence and trust in them." COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITYWith that trust comes collective responsibility. Great teams win and lose together. They are one unit and, as Haase explains, each member accepts responsibility for the role he must play to insure success. "We all know the roles we play," Haase states, "and we know the abilities we have and what our gifts are." Just like a basketball team practices and prepares for every game, Signature Sound, under Haase's leadership, prepares for each concert. "We work on the fundamentals of what we do," Haase explains. "We work on the song selection, the harmonies, the movements, and we practice all the time. We love what we do, and we want to be the best we can possibly be. Just like any basketball team strives to be number one, we want to be number one, and do our best for the One we represent."

CARINGThe One they represent, Christ, demonstrated great acts of kindness while He walked upon the earth. No one cared anymore for others than Christ himself. As He displayed, the concept of caring is not singular in description. Christ knew that caring can be a powerful motivational factor on any team. He showed this in the care he gave to His disciples - His team. "When you are a part of a team, you are a part of a family," Haase conveys. "Each one of these guys know that I care about them as a person. I care about the job they are doing on stage. I care about the team. I care about the team's performance, and I care about us being the best we can be. I'm going to care about them because I care about my job, and I care about the people I work with and the individuals who sit in the audience each night. Those individuals need to know that we care, and we do." PRIDECaring about the job one does and doing that job as well as it can possibly be done are the true characteristics of pride. A wise scholar once stated that everything we do has our own personal signature on it. Thus the premise for Signature Sound. Each member of Signature Sound believes that his own personal signature is on everything this team does. This is one reason Ernie Haase & Signature Sound has become a great team. It is a team that was developed to achieve what one person alone could not accomplish. Two individuals are better than one if the two act as one. If two acting as one are better than one, just imagine what an entire team, acting as one, can do for the cause of Christ? That's one image Ernie Haase & Signature Sound hopes to see become a reality.