When the radio is tuned in to Southern gospel, there’s no mistaking the message of the music. The singers, usually assembled into quartets, harmonize about going to heaven, loving Jesus and trusting God.

The verses seem to speak directly to listeners.

While more contemporary songs in the genre “go around the elbow to get to the thumb,” Southern gospel tunes convey themes about faith and Scripture more candidly, said Ed O’Neal, member and manager of the North Carolina-based Dixie Melody Boys.

“Southern gospel is more straightforward. It’s more direct,” he said. “It’s part of the message I like to present.”

O’Neal and the Dixie Melody Boys will be among the performers at this year’s Glorybound Gospel Jubilee, which runs Thursday through Sunday at Blue Hill Fairgrounds.

The annual event includes some of the biggest names in Southern gospel, including soloist and songwriter Mark Bishop, who had two No. 1 songs last year and hit the charts this year with “Jesus Listens.”

He previously performed with his father and brother as The Bishops, a group highly recognized by the industry until its retirement in 2001.

“The people really love him and he loves coming up here,” said jubilee organizer Rick Kelley of Hampden. “All the groups, they love coming to Maine. They love the people, how the people receive them.”

The largest event of its type in the Northeast, the jubilee draws an audience from across New England and Canada.

Other performers at the festival will include:

. Brian Free and Assurance, which won a 2006 Gospel Music Award for best recorded song of the year.

. Kevin Spencer and Friends, a popular trio that performs nearly 300 concerts each year and appears on various Christian television shows.

. Monument Quartet, an up-and-coming Tennessee group nominated for the genre’s Horizon Group of the Year award.

Monument Quartet made its debut at last year’s jubilee, and Marshall Pugh, the group’s tenor, said the guys are looking forward to returning to Blue Hill for another show.

“It’s a very special date for us,” he said. “And it’s gorgeous up there.”

Now in its eighth season, the festival is expected to attract its largest crowd so far. In 2005, its highest one-night attendance topped 1,200 people, making it New England’s largest Southern gospel music event.

“I look for it to double this year,” Kelley said.

The jubilee is a labor of love for Kelley and his wife, Retta, who over the years have used their own money to fund the gap between what the festival makes and what it costs to produce. The Kelleys also perform with their daughter, Dawn, as a group called Glorybound.

“It takes a lot of work” he said. “But when you see a soul saved, it’s all worth it.”

Retta Kelley said she and other fans appreciate the candor of Southern gospel music.

“It’s like talking to people in song,” she said. “It has a message for people, whether that is salvation or gospel or something else.”

The jubilee draws mostly an over-40 crowd, but she has noticed more and more young people attending in recent years.

“Young people today are searching for something,” she said. “They want music that comforts them and makes them feel good about themselves, makes them feel they are not alone.”

Those who aren’t familiar with Southern gospel may be surprised to learn how popular it is. The Radio Book, considered a reference guide to radio markets in the United States and Canada, reported 285 U.S. radio stations that listed Southern gospel as their primary format in 2005.

Pugh has also noticed younger faces in the crowds at Monument Quartet’s shows. He attributes that to the relative youth of the group’s members, who range in age from 24 to 40, and to Southern gospel’s tendency to speak frankly about religious themes that are often glossed over by other forms of Christian music.

“The lyric is what makes the difference in this music,” he said during a phone interview while on tour. “It doesn’t sugarcoat anything. The ultimate goal is to be able to share the gospel with [listeners] in a subtle way. If they aren’t Christians when they come, we want them to want to be Christians when they leave.”

The Dixie Melody Boys’ membership has changed over the years, but the group has always included younger performers, which helps draw younger listeners, O’Neal said. At 56, he is the oldest member of the quartet. The group’s lead singer, Donald Morris, is 19, and the remaining two are 37 and 23.

O’Neal said he is looking forward to visiting Maine for the Blue Hill show. “We can’t hardly wait,” he said. “We love it up there. It’s a beautiful part of the country.”

If you go…

What: Glorybound Gospel Jubilee

Where: Blue Hill Fairgrounds

When: June 22-25

Cost: $15 per night and will be

available at the gate. Admission includes free camping. Children under 12 are free. For information, call 862-4258.

Schedule:

7 p.m. Thursday: Karen Peck and New River, Kevin Spencer and Friends, Journey Home and

Glorybound.

6 p.m. Friday: Dixie Melody Boys, Kevin Spencer and Friends, the Mark Trammell Trio, the LaClaires and Glorybound.

6 p.m. Saturday: Mark Bishop,

Brian Free and Assurance,

Monument Quartet, the Libby Trio and Glorybound.

10 a.m. Sunday: Nondenominational worship service with Pastor Ron Libby of Soul’s Harbor Ministries, songs performed by Higher Ground.