While not the original focus of High Water Records, gospel quartets were a mainstay of the Memphis musical tradition. As such, they would come into the fold at High Water through one of the label's most important traditions: student participation and input. In this particular case, it was then graduate student Christopher “Kip” Lornell that had a keen interest in this field. He would help to bring in a number of gospel quartets for recording, all the while being able to tie the information in with his later doctoral dissertation.

These groups fit in well with High Water’s message, though, as many of the groups were regularly overlooked by other local record labels. On top of this, Lornell also chose to focus on the more traditional style of gospel quartet, which had largely fallen out of favor by the time High Water was founded. Thus, this area would prove to be another key moment for High Water to cement a tradition that may otherwise have been lost to time.

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