By Beverly Richards,
Special to the AFRO
Q: Tell me about your musical upbringing and how it influenced your sound.
A: My great-uncle raised me, and he was a Southern Baptist minister. So, of course I was raised in the church, and I learned a lot about leading choirs because I was the accompanist from the age of 11. With four choirs, you learn a lot about what actually reaches the hearts of people.
Q: When did you know you had a gift?
A: It’s very normal to be in the choir from the time that you can stand on your own and sing. And people in our churches respond instantly. You do that over and over again as you grow up and you go to sing in choirs and stuff at school, and people respond. Then they request that you come and sing here or there.
And I love that feeling of what the music does for people. And, talking to you and saying how they love not only your voice and your gift—your talent, but also the feeling it gave them, the strength it gave them.
At one point, you know, I thought I’d become a teacher. But that didn’t last long because it was just a wonderful feeling to perform, this thing that goes from your heart to others is such a great feeling when you sing a song.
Q: What’s the driving thread between your singing R&B, soul, and gospel?
A: That’s a great, great question. No one has ever asked that question before. I think songs that are stories about authentic life. The gospel songs were songs of people crying out to God or songs of assurance, hoping that we’d be okay in tough times, or that God would deliver us, or that He will bring us peace.
And basically, the music that I sing is all about real life and real people, which is why I could never understand people being upset. Particularly people in the Christian world during the years that I went through singing songs of love
Q: Is this your first time in Frederick Maryland?
A: I think it is.
Q: Are you excited about the show?
A: I’m very excited. I love performing arts centers.
Q: What can the fans expect? What’s the line up? And will it include Everything Must Change and Holy is the Lamb?
A: See, she’s already putting in her request. Your favorites. I’m really proud of those songs. I like to sing music that has longevity, and I think that those songs are such. I remember years ago when my gospel record came out and I was speaking to a lady, an operator in the Caribbean, and she mentioned Holy is the Lamb. I went, “Wow!” It showed me how music really gets around. And when I went to South Africa, they knew every word.
Q: What’s next for you? What are you looking forward to?
A: Well, I have a couple of Christmas shows coming up; and we have another gig on the East Coast. I have some things next year at the top of the year coming up. In fact, I have a concert here in my home city of Kansas City that I’m really looking forward to. And I’m just still trying to wait and see which direction I go, because I know that something has to give.
I have to figure out if, if I’m doing another record, it’s not the same as it used to be because people don’t buy them the way they used to buy them, you know? But I’m looking forward to some more experiences. I really want to travel. I’m going to explore some possibilities with my husband. We want to do some things like regular folks, just take some time and do the simple things in life. Maybe travel a little bit by car and see some things that I haven’t seen in our own country. I’ve seen a lot of the rest of the world, but there’s so much that I haven’t seen here.
Help us Continue to tell OUR Story and join the AFRO family as a member – subscribers are now members! Join here!