The Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Show

Go Tell It On The Mountain,
The Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Show

Fully Reserved Seating.

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Sony Masterworks announces the release of the Blind Boys of
Alabama’s new album, I’ll Find a Way, produced by Justin Vernon (of Bon
Iver) and available on October 1st, 2013.  A unique collaboration
between one of popular music’s longest-running acts and one of its
fastest-rising stars, it is a powerful collection of gospel and
spiritual songs new and old, featuring some of the Blind Boys’ most
fervent vocals as well as contributions by a new generation of Blind
Boys fans –  Sam Amidon, Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, Merrill
Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Casey Dienel of White Hinterland, Patty Griffin,
and Justin Vernon himself.

I’ll Find a Way represents a strong new chapter for the
Blind Boys of Alabama, whose career stretches back more than seventy
years. Formed in the late 1930s at the Alabama Institute for the Negro
Blind in Talladega, the group has harmonized throughout the turbulent
twentieth century and well into the twenty-first: from Jim Crow through
Civil Rights and into the Obama era. They have, however, enjoyed some of
their biggest and most rousing successes in the last ten years, during
which they’ve won five Grammys, four Gospel Music Awards, and multiple
invitations to sing at the White House.

For I’ll Find a Way, their ninth studio album of the
twenty-first century, the Blind Boys of Alabama – which includes Jimmy
Carter, Eric ‘Ricky’ McKinnie, Joey Williams, Tracy Pierce, Ben Moore,
and newest addition Paul Beasley – decamped to the wintry wild of rural
Wisconsin to record at Vernon’s April Base studio. Known primarily for
his work in the indie and folk realms, the Bon Iver frontman proved a
perfect fit to work with the Blind Boys, exhibiting a deep knowledge and
appreciation of gospel music.

Vernon and old friend and band mate Phil Cook (Megafaun,
The Shouting Matches) corralled a lively backing band for the album and
hand-picked a range of songs for the Blind Boys to sing. Some numbers,
such as “Take Your Burden to the Lord And Leave It There,” have been
sung for nearly a century now, while others, like “I Am Not Waiting
Anymore,” were penned only a year or two ago. The result of this unique
collaboration is a collection of rousing tunes that address life’s most
desperate hours but also savor the triumphs and reassurances of faith.

One of the band’s own stories of trial and triumph involves
Clarence Fountain, a founding member of the Blind Boys and the group’s
leader for many decades. Serious health problems requiring weekly kidney
dialysis have prevented him from touring with the other members of the
group. When he couldn’t travel to the Wisconsin sessions, the Blind Boys
found a way to include him on the album, recording his robust bass
vocals in Birmingham and adding them to the mix.

“That’s an important part, that bass under everything,”
explains Carter, the group’s current leader and standout tenor. “He gave
those songs a true Blind Boys bottom. We wouldn’t want to do a Blind
Boys project without including Clarence. He will always be a Blind Boy
even if he’s not out on the road with us.”

A strikingly and confidently diverse album, I’ll Find a Way
features an array of guest vocalists representing a whole new
generation of artists who find contemporary musical inspiration in
America’s gospel past. The daughter of two musicians who played in a
Pentecostal church, Shara Worden of Detroit-based My Brightest Diamond
lends her soaring voice to the title track (originally written and
recorded by the Motown session musician Ted Lucas). Casey Dienel of
White Hinterland sings lead on the Blind Boys’ glorious cover of the
Chi-Lites’ “There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated at the
Conference Table),” whose luxuriant string arrangement has been replaced
with a stoical beat, quietly ascending keyboard theme, and stirring
saxophone solo courtesy of Minneapolis musician Mike Lewis.

In addition, I’ll Find a Way features cameos by Merrill
Garbus of tUnE-yArDs (“I’ve Been Searching,” whose lilting reggae
rhythms make it the album’s most adventurous track), Patty Griffin (the
barn-burning closer,“Jubilee”), and Sam Amidon (a spiritual version of
the band Field Report’s song, “I Am Not Waiting Anymore”). Another
highlight is the cover of Bob Dylan’s “Every Grain of Sand,” which is
recast as a soul-searching duet between Carter and Vernon. “Jimmy and I
are coming from such different places,” says Vernon, “and yet we’re
singing about the same thing. There are two perspectives in that song,
and they’re colliding.”

Whether backing up a guest artist or tearing through an old
gospel standard, the Blind Boys show their inimitable range throughout
I’ll Find a Way, starting with the very first track, a cover of “God Put
a Rainbow in the Cloud.” The song is a country music chestnut, best
known as a hit for Kitty Wells, yet Carter, an avowed fan of country
music, knows the song through legendary bluegrass picker Ralph Stanley.
“I Shall Not Be Moved,” an anthem during the Civil Rights movement and,
in Cook’s view, “the trunk of the gospel tree,” stomps nimbly, thanks to
the Blind Boys’ spry vocals and the studio band’s crackling
country-gospel accompaniment. “Take Your Burden to the Lord And Leave It
There,” a tune penned by the African American minister and composer
Charles A. Tindley, jogs by on a light shuffle, as though newly relieved
of all woes and worries. It recounts not the arduous journey to
salvation, but the ecstatic relief of finding it.

The centerpiece of I’ll Find a Way, however, may just be
“Take Me to the Water,” featuring newest Blind Boy Paul Beasley. Based
on a performance by Nina Simone (one of Vernon’s favorite artists), this
version features a steady pace and a rich bed of harmonies, as Beasley
pleads and testifies gloriously in his stately falsetto. Just days
before this recording, he had made his live debut with the Blind Boys,
but initially had some trouble with this tune. After some encouraging
words from Carter, Beasley not only nailed a heart-stopping performance,
but reduced everyone in the control room to tears. What you can’t hear
on the final version is his small audience erupting into shouts and
applause on the other side of the glass.

Just as “Take Me to the Water” moved the musicians to
tears, so too will this album move the listener. This is the exuberant
power of gospel music, which requires its performers to give themselves
wholly to the songs. The Blind Boys have been doing that for nearly
three-quarters of a century now, and even into their seventies and
eighties – despite all obstacles – they don’t plan to stop any time
soon.

“It’s not just singing,” explains the 82-year-old Carter.
“We’re bringing the message to the people, and that message is the good
news of God. We sing from the heart, and what comes from the heart
reaches the heart. If you have any feeling in you, you will feel the
Blind Boys.”

Sony Masterworks comprises, Masterworks, Okeh, Portrait,
Flying Buddha, Sony Classical, RCA Red Seal, and Masterworks Broadway
imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.SonyMasterworks.com.

Tracklisting:

1. 
   

   God Put A Rainbow In The Cloud

   
   
2. 
   

   I’ll Find A Way (To Carry It All) feat. Shara Worden of My
   Brightest Diamond

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