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The Valdosta Gospel Music Explosion returns this weekend with plenty of hometown flavor and a welcome home for one gospel performer.

The annual music event is heralded this year as being a homecoming concert for Devin McGlamery.

A member of Karen Peck and New River, McGlamery was born and raised in Valdosta. Many folks may recall him as a child performing at local churches and area events. He started singing publicly at the age of 5.

In his early 20s now, he lives in North Carolina with his wife, Karen. Prior to joining New River, McGlamery performed with the Dixie Melody Boys.

“This is Devin’s annual return home when everyone can come out and hear him perform,” says Calvin McGuyrt, the Explosion’s organizer.

McGlamery and Karen Peck and New River arrive in Valdosta on the wave of the latest hit, the group’s No. 1 gospel tune, “Hold Me While I Cry,” McGuyrt says.

It is the latest success for the group.

The name of Karen Peck has become synonymous with Southern Gospel Music. She has garnered an unprecedented 11 Favorite Soprano Fan Awards from the readers of The Singing News Magazine, Southern Gospel Music’s leading fan and trade publication.

She grew up singing gospel with her sisters and, in 1991, formed Karen Peck and New River. The line-up has changed a couple times through the years until settling on the current group of Karen, Susan and Devin McGlamery.

Meanwhile, Calvin McGuyrt’s The Georgians will also play the Explosion and has made its debut on national charts. The Georgians’ song “Old Fashioned Way,” written by McGuyrt, is scheduled to be listed in The Singing News in late March, McGuyrt says.

The Georgians is a group known for its tight harmonies. The group brings the old-time tradition of the barber-shop quartet to the old-time tradition of gospel music to create a dynamic new sound that is tremendously upbeat.

The group’s origins are more than 50 years old. McGuyrt was raised on the shape-note singing of his father who taught the musical style in several schools. His father was also the leader of the Stamps Melody Quartet, according to The Georgians’ history.

Upon his father’s retirement from the group, Calvin McGuyrt became its leader. In 1955, McGuyrt changed the name of the group to The Georgians. For several years through the late ’50s and ’60s, McGuyrt and The Georgians traveled throughout the nation performing their brand of barbershop-quartet harmonies applied to gospel music. Yet, the life of a musician on the road is difficult, and McGuyrt left full-time touring. He became a minister of music, led a 70-member church choir, became involved in several endeavors, but he never forgot The Georgians and his days of touring and singing.

In 2002, McGuyrt said he felt compelled to revive The Georgians, and the group has been regularly performing and recording during the past five years.

VictorySong, a local gospel group of Jonathan Montgomery and sisters Tracy Jones and Marie Dukes, is also scheduled to perform at the Explosion. The group has recorded CDs of original material since forming a few years ago.

VictorySong started through its members each belonging to Victory Baptist Church. They had all sung throughout their lives. Upon first working together, they knew their voices worked and worked well together.

Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office’s Capt. J.D. Yeager is also scheduled to make an appearance, McGuyrt says.