Trenton’s Levitt AMP music series showcasing local talent
As the fifth Levitt AMP Trenton Music Series arrives Thursday night, a local songstress deserves special mention.
Wow, what a performance delivered last week by Ladybug McRae, a 15-year-old singer from Trenton with poise, charm and a voice that belies her youth. McRae warmed a crowd before Philly-based Hardwork Movement delivered a performance that showcased every aspect of their impressive repertoire of sound, vocals and showmanship.
Through four weeks of music, it’s either Asbury Park’s Quincy Mumford and The Reason or Hardwork Movement leading the best of show competition.
McRae emerged onto the Trenton scene in a major way in 2017 during the filming of a still in the works documentary directed by Alcee Walker.
Ladybug laughed about an observation that she sounds like an old soul.
“It’s true. And that would be because of my father (Maurice) and the music I grew up listening to. I love Aretha Franklin and I’m a huge fan of Teena Marie,” McRae said.
Told that “Lady Tee” performed here for the Trenton Jazz Festival in 2008, McRae sizzled. “Yeah, I know. I would have been just four or five years old but that would have been special.”
The Teena Marie thoughts brought back memories of special events this city once hosted, including Heritage Days, a world-class cycling race hosted by CoreStates Bank and then Wachovia Bank and recently canceled Trenton Half-Marathon aka the Trenton Double Cross.
Levitt AMP Trenton Music Series delivers established music groups as headliners with under cards like McRae. The Thursday night party at Mill Hill Park attracts a diverse group of patrons who sprawl on blankets or rest in beach chairs. Guests made McRae feel comfortable.
“It’s really special to perform in front of people from Trenton. I do like traveling but this city holds a special place in my heart. I love it here,” McRae said.
“I’m really busy right now between performing, writing songs and poetry, attending high school and we’re in the final stages of completing the documentary about young African American females pursuing music careers. Then there’s a lot of rehearsals.”
McRae said her overactive life leads to staying up until earlymorning hours. “Sometimes until 4 or 5 in the morning,” she noted. “But I think that’s what a lot of young people do. Actually, those times of the day seem to be my most creative.”
Tim McRae, her uncle, a local restaurateur and food truck owner, joked about his niece’s potential.
“She’s a young Whitney Houston,” he said. “Now, all we have to do is make sure she stays away from somebody like Bobby Brown.”
The Levitt AMP Trenton Music Series continues Thursday with blues/rock band The Silks hailing from Providence, R.I.
“I never wanted to be a solo artist, with a backing band,” says The Silks front man, Tyler-James Kelly. “You can always get pros who can play behind you. But it doesn’t have the organic feel of a band. I don’t know what it is about playing with these cats. But we all totally lock in when we play. At the end of the day, we’re just a bunch of animals who want to rock..”
Trenton’s own Ernie White Band kicks off the music show at 5 p.m. before The Silks play until 8 p.m.
The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation named Trenton, NJ as one of 15 small to mid-sized towns and cities across America to win a Levitt AMP Grant Award of $25,000 in matching funds to present a free concert in Mill Hill Park.
Presented by the Trenton Downtown Association these concerts receive support from New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co. and the NJ State Council on the Arts.