Blind Boys of Alabama to Perform for the Obamas

From a press release:

BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA TO PERFORM AT WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESIDENT AND MRS. OBAMA

Concert Airs on PBS February 11th

Also Features Bob Dylan, John Legend, Seal, Jennifer Hudson, John Mellencamp, Natalie Cole and Smokey Robinson

Fairfax, VA (January, 2010) — The Blind Boys of Alabama have been invited to perform at a special concert at the White House on February 10th. “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement,” will be held in the State Dining Room, and is timed to celebrate Black History Month.

The Blind Boys will join hosts President and Mrs. Obama as well as music superstars Bob Dylan, John Legend, Seal, Jennifer Hudson, John Mellencamp, Natalie Cole and Smokey Robinson on the bill. Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah will emcee the entire event. The concert will be the White House’s first music event of 2010, and is the latest concert in a music series started last year by Michelle Obama. It will be streamed live online at whitehouse.gov and broadcast on PBS on February 11th.

The event is a particularly poignant one for the Blind Boys. “Our group started singing together in Alabama in the late 1930s, and we lived through the dark days of segregation,” says Jimmy Carter, the band’s leader and one of its founding members. “That’s why it is a great pleasure and an even greater honor to sing on this program.”

The White House concert adds to an already remarkable year for the legendary gospel group. The band opened 2010 with a series of concerts in China, then flew to New York last week where they were joined by Lou Reed for a blistering performance on the “Late Show with David Letterman.” Their rendition of “Jesus,” from the Blind Boys’ current album Duets, marked the first time the unusual collaborators had performed in public together.

The Blind Boys are also featured in the new documentary film which relates to the subject matter of the White House show. Soundtrack for a Revolution tells the story of the civil rights movement through the music which accompanied the struggle. The movie is on the short list in the Best Documentary Film category for the Academy Awards.

Soundtrack features the Blind Boys as well as the Roots, John Legend, Wyclef Jean and many other performers interpreting the music of the Civil Rights Movement. In its review of the film, the New York Times noted that one of “the best musical performances belong[s] to…the Blind Boys of Alabama.”

The group will be touring the rest of the spring, including upcoming concerts in Morristown, N.J. (with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band), at UCLA’s Royce Hall (with Allen Toussaint) and at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, punctuated by their induction into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Montgomery, AL on March 25.

The Blind Boys of Alabama Tour Dates Include:

February 20 Springfield, IL University of Illinois – Sangamon Auditorium*with John Hammond

February 21 Wiliamsburg, VA The College of William and Mary Kimball Theater

February 25 Chico, CA California State University, Chico Laxson Auditorium

February 26 Reno, NV Knitting Factory

March 4 Santa Barbara, CA Lobero Theatre

March 6 Los Angeles, CA UCLA Live

March 7 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up

March 19 Franklin, NC Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts

March 25 Huntsville, AL The Alabama Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

April 23 Tampa, FL Skipper’s Smokehouse

April 24 Wellington, FL Wellington Community High School Theater

April 25-26 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

May 16 Gulf Shores, AL The Hangout Music Festival

June 12 Fès, MOROCCO Festival de Fès