GOSPEL GREATS
Blind Boys of Alabama bringing holiday show to ABQ
Ricky McKinnie is drawn to music from the heart.
That’s part of the reason he’s a member of the gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama.
“Gospel is from the soul,” he says in a recent interview from Seattle. “That’s what makes this music different. For years, we have appreciated the listeners and those that come out and hear our concerts.”
The band formed more than 70 years ago.
The original members met as children while students at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind.
The school has helped musicians rotate into the band since.
There have been dozens of albums released — which includes two Christmas albums.
The group’s latest is 2017’s “Almost Home,” which was recorded in over four sessions helmed by four producers in four cities.
“We had quite a journey with this album,” he says. “There were a handful of artists who wrote for us on this album.”
Those artists include Valerie June, the North Mississippi Allstars, Phil Cook, John Leventhal, Marc Cohn and Ruthie Foster.
The group’s performance in Albuquerque will songs from “Almost Home,” along with selections from the group’s two Christmas albums.
“We have written some Christmas songs on our own,” he says. “The majority of the songs are traditional holiday songs with a Blind Boys of Alabama spin. We make everything our own.”
“Almost Home” grew out of the recognition that the band’s lineup was down to just two original members — longtime group leader Clarence Fountain and current leader Jimmy Carter. Fountain died on June 3.
Both men were born in Alabama during the Great Depression, and while Carter is still active and regularly touring with the group.
“These men were both raised as blind, African-American males in the Deep South during the Jim Crow years, and they were sent to a school where the expectation for them was to one day make brooms or mops for a living,” says Blind Boys manager Charles Driebe. “But they’ve transcended all that. The arc of their lives and of the band reflects the arc of a lot of changes in American society, and we wanted to find a way to capture their experiences in songs.”