GoodNight might have different organizers this year, but it's still an annual tradition for many of the musical groups on its lineup.
Among the nearly 30 acts playing at 13 venues in Charleston will be Gospel Brass. Band director Dick Stockton said the group has performed at the New Year's Eve celebration for the past 13 years.
A music teacher in Kanawha County schools for more than three decades before his retirement, Stockton is involved in the Charleston Metro Band and the Kanawha Valley Community Band, but there's something unique about Gospel Brass, he said.
"It's something a little different," he said. "You have a totally brass sound; we don't use woodwinds," which eliminates the need for microphones.
The roughly 18-member band includes trumpets, cornets, tubas, trombones and flügelhorns. While it generally plays music that's spiritual, inspirational and patriotic, "we do vary the styles a lot," Stockton said. "A lot of times, we do jazz-oriented stuff."
The band, formed in 1993, doesn't play as many shows as it did in the past, but GoodNight is still a customary performance.
"[It] gives us a chance to play for the public and, hopefully, people will like what they hear and ask us to play at their place," Stockton said.
The band usually performs at churches and Salvation Army functions.
Gospel Brass will perform at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Capitol Theater.
For those partial to vocalists, the Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus will perform in the St. Marks United Methodist Church sanctuary at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. With more than 25 singers ranging in age from 20 to 86, the chorus does nearly 50 performances each year, member Bill Hairston said.
But its rehearsals are about much more than music, he said.
"We are a spiritual support group for each other," Hairston said. "They can see that when we're doing our music - they can see that connection we have with each other."
When he first saw the chorus perform 12 years ago, Hairston "had a call right there to become part of that ministry."
Started nearly 20 years ago, the chorus has performed at GoodNight for 15 years, mixing classic hymns, such as "The Old Rugged Cross" and "This Little Light of Mine," with more contemporary tunes.
"A lot of times, we take hymns and put them back together in different styles," Hairston said.
For 20 years, GoodNight was organized by Charleston Community Music Association. After that group disbanded in April, Craig and Amanda Hinchman partnered with FestivALL's board of directors to continue the event this year.
The schedule is as follows:
Municipal Auditorium, 293 Virginia St. E.
6 p.m. River City Youth Ballet
7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Craig Hinchman Trio
8 p.m. Roger Rabalais. Americana singer/songwriter
First Presbyterian Church, 16 Leon Sullivan Way
6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Jonathan Tucker with Mark Scarpelli: "An evening of Josh Groban"
7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Ryan Hardiman with Mark Scarpelli: "Moonage Daydreams: The Bowie Songbook"
Kanawha United Presbyterian Church, 1009 Virginia St. E.
6 p.m. and 8 p.m. West Virginia Youth Symphony
7 p.m. Mountain State Brass Quintet
St. John's Episcopal Church, 1105 Quarrier St.
6 p.m. and 8 p.m. St. Cecelia's Chamber Players
7 p.m. and 9 p.m. The O'Daugherty Family Singers: George, Sallie, Tom & Devin with Buddy Griffin "A Salute to Patriotism"
Baptist Temple Fellowship Hall, 209 Morris St.
6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Presby Pickers
7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Appalachian Celtic Consort
Baptist Temple Sanctuary, 209 Morris St.
6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Charleston Civic Chorus: "Seasonal Choral Classics"
Capitol Theater, 123 Summers St.
6 p.m. Gospel Brass Band
7 p.m. Charleston Metro Band
8 p.m. Kanawha Valley Community Band
Christ Church United Methodist, 1221 Quarrier St.
6 p.m. and 8 p.m. womanSong
7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Kanawha Kordsmen Barbershop Quartet
St. Mark's United Methodist Church Chapel, 900 Washington St. E.
6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Almost Heaven Chorus
7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Rose Fisher
St. Mark's United Methodist Church Sanctuary, 900 Washington St. E.
6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Martin Luther King Jr. Male Chorus
7 p.m. Appalachian Children's Chorus with 25th Anniversary Alumni Chorus
9 p.m. Jimmy McKnight
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1600 Kanawha Blvd. E.
6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Almost Heaven Dulcimer Club
7 p.m. Mark Hornbaker's Academy Singers
Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1114 Virginia St. E.
7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Ralph Mills: "Organ Blast"
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.