The Carolina Crossmen make their home in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina. They started singing together in 1993. August, 2020 made 27 years of singing for the Carolina Crossmen. Two original members remain, Carroll Blanton (Lead) and Daniel Fiskeaux (Pronounced “Fisko” – Baritone). Tenor, Jon Welch, celebrated 9 years with the group also in August, 2020. For 17 years the Carolina Crossmen hosted the Cullowhee Valley Singing, bringing well-known, highly talented, southern gospel groups to western North Carolina. Originally a quartet, the group became a trio in 2013 and are currently planning to continue as a trio.The group’s newest album “What a God” is the third project as a trio and was released in early 2018. The guys are excited about the new music produced by Crossroads with vocal work and final mix completed with Arthur Rice of the Kingdom Heirs producing for the second time. The other trio albums include “Everyday Life” and “I Have a Story to Tell”.
Carroll has been singing every weekend for the past 35 years He has also been writing songs since he was 16 years old, with several songs recorded by other artists. Carroll is married to Cheryl, a retired elementary school teacher, and they have one daughter, Samantha, who is a youth leader. The Blantons attend Ochre Hill Baptist Church. Carroll handles the group scheduling as well as the product table and emcee duties. Originally the group’s tenor singer, Carroll has been singing the lead for the past few years. Carroll works full-time at the NC DOT mechanic shop in Sylva, NC.
Daniel is the group perfectionist! He loves tinkering with our sound equipment, and works tirelessly to improve the group’s sound and make it consistent for each concert. Dan is married to Kim, whom he met at a Carolina Crossmen rehearsal (thanks to Cheryl). They have been married since 1995 and have two sons in college, Jacob and Jared. The Fiskeaux family attends Ochre Hill Baptist Church. Dan earned his Masters degree in Construction Management as of December, 2015 and works full-time as a construction project manager at Western Carolina University.
Jon is the newest member of the group. He is from Kansas City, Mo. After attending college in Greenville, SC he married Melissa who is from Georgia. The Welch’s moved to western NC in 2008 from just north of Atlanta, Ga. Jon was introduced to the Carolina Crossmen by former bass singer, Carl Scott, as they attend church together at Victory Baptist in Sylva, NC. Jon keeps the website and facebook page updated and contributes to other activities of the group in addition to working full time. Jon is an entrepreneur and has started small businesses included Perfect Touch Surface Solutions (for deep cleaning tile & grout, carpet and hardwood floors) and Workplace Solutions providing document scanning and shredding services and technical support. Jon and his wife, Melissa, were married in 2006 and have two young boys, Riley and Reese.