This is as official as it gets, folks. 
There have been some questions raised regarding the mysterious disappearance of four Square Pegs. Until now there has been no public explanation. Here’s the official word from the SPA:
There was no schism, no fighting, no bickering, no row, no squabbling that prompted the quiet departure of Sandra, Billy, Katy and Matthew from the SPA. This was purely a professional, career-path decision on their parts. Here’s the gist of it—the growing attention given to SPA is predominately among a Christian-based listening audience and media; naturally so, since the majority of the group have established themselves there. The four who opted to step out of the public presence of SPA did so due to their desire to continue to develop their careers in the general market without confusing people regarding their “genre”. Granted, this can be an unfortunate reality when it comes to the world of music.
So, during a SPA family meeting on the Gullahorns’ back porch, the decision was made, among all the original members, to adjust the public representation of the SPA. The meeting was full of thoughtful discussion and good humor. We love one another and highly respect one another’s music. We, the nine remaining Pegs, wish Katy, Matthew, Sandra & Billy all the best in their endeavours, wherever their paths may lead. I have no doubt you, as indie-music fans, will continue to support them as well as you have supported us from Day One.”
So there you have it. We’re not going to scrap anything we have on the site for Billy, Katy, Matthew, and Sandra—no point in doing that. We’ll re-organize things a bit—something that I’ve been thinking of doing anyway, and something that I bet Chris has been looking at from time to time, too—but what we have will remain available. We hope that you’ll understand that we’ll necessarily focus on the nine Pegs here, because that’s our raison d’être. [If you wanted to launch a fan site around Billy, Katy, Matthew, or Sandra, we'd give you a hand. We love 'em that much.]
Please leave any questions or comments that you might have below.
July 28th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
So is the requirement for being an SPA member a lack of popularity or a floor of album sales? It would seem that the continued support of these artists as their careers become more ‘mainstream’ would only help SPA. I could be entirely wrong about this. Please tell me why.
July 28th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
David: I don’t understand your comment at all.
July 28th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
It’s cool, I think I misunderstood the post. Basically I was trying to say, is the reason the above mentioned artists are no longer apart of SPA because they are more ‘popular’ than they once were.
July 29th, 2007 at 7:48 am
No, I don’t think that’s the case at all. It has everything to do with outside forces trying to push them into a mold—a square peg into a round CCM hole, if you will—into which they really don’t fit. Many folks were trying to make the SPA a group of Christian artists, rather than a groups of artists who are friends and Christians. There’s a subtle difference there, but one that’s lost on a culture that seeks to make snap decisions so as to better market to and patronize everyone.
July 29th, 2007 at 8:52 am
You give me too much credit… I haven’t thought about it much at all yet. But I will.
August 1st, 2007 at 10:53 am
So does this mean SandraMcCracken.org is back on the table for you, Geof?
August 1st, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Probably. That stuff just takes time and effort, and I don’t have a whole lot of either right now.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:56 pm
You should probably adjust your Who We Are page to say “nine” rather than “thirteen.”
And then please add these four Pegs Emeritus to your friends list!
August 31st, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Jon: None of us SPA.net have any admin powers on squarepegalliance.com. They’re both good suggestions, but not ones that we can do.