McDGospel Jackson

image compliments of http://www.365black.com/365black/index.jsp

                                       

McDGospel Jackson
365 Black is a program by McDonald’s corporation to show a commitment to the African-American community.  It is to highlight, promote and celebrate our culture, our achievements and our communities every day of the year, as opposed to celebrating Black History Month in the shortest month of the year.  It is a place where our community can share, learn, search for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, education and meet people that have been affected by McDonald’s efforts. 

Gospel Tour in Jackson, MS

One of 365 Black’s campaigns is a Gospel tour sponsored across the country, which is marketed as Inspiration Celebration.  Well  maybe you’re not familiar with Jackson, Mississippi, but we’re kind of a black-sheep City, when it comes to attracting major Artists.  Well let me explain.  We are a last-minute market when it comes to purchasing tickets, so a lot of promoters are not comfortable waiting until collecting at the door to cover their expenses, or maybe not.  This is not the case for every Artist, but you have to be pretty special to sell out before the actual concert.  Recently we booked Elton John, which was very surprising and the tickets did sell out almost immediately.  Another concert is the American Idol concert.  It sold out in minutes due to the fact of a local Brandon native who was in the top 5, Skylar Laine, is on the ticket.  

Thanks McDGospel Jackson

Well thanks to McDGospel Jackson we recently had the pleasure of having a “free” concert featuring major national gospel artists:   :  Canton Jones, Byron Cage and Fred Hammond.  Of course the tickets went fast, because it was free!  This concert opened up a wonderful opportunity for a local group (they won’t be local long), Darius Brown and Freshwind.

Freshwind pictured alongside Byron Cage (Middle).  Leader Darius far right.

  

They had the honor of providing background vocals for Byron Cage.  The artist had the pleasure of hearing what Jackson has to offer and has shown an interest in using the group for future events in the Southeast if the opportunity presents itself.  Well, not to highlight any one particular person, because they are a group, but they are equipped with some heavy artillery.  They have some prolific singers with superior vocal talent, skill and range.  Congratulations Darius and Freshwind.  I can’t wait to see what’s next!  A special shout-out to my oldest Asia, and my Spain buddy Larry.  (Good evening this evening J)

Overcoming Perceptions

Perceptions

Overcoming perceptions are generally a common practice for the average individual whose reputation precedes him.  The perception could derive from a brief encounter, when the person is having a bad day.  It could even come from a generalized category from hanging with a certain crowd.  What about when it comes from the history of your state?

Mississippi 

Mississippi has it own pre-conceived identity.  Most are surprised that we can read, wear shoes, can speak intelligently and some even have a solid education.  Working for the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau, I’ve had calls from potential visitors and they want to know if it’s “safe” to visit.  Typically, I think they have concerns about crime, since there has been an increase regarding crime in the news.  Surprisingly, they can identify my voice as an African-American and they have concerns about racial harmony and want to know if a lynching is possible?  Seriously! 

Music in Mississippi

With all of these pre-conceived ideas about our state, it made me wonder how does it affect the music industry as it relates to our state?  Is the factor in securing viable artists?  Do they fear their safety as it relates to their ethnicity?  I guess it’s kind of like any other new thing you want to try, unless someone you know has tried, you may not trust what others are telling you.

I also thought about another pre-conceived ideas concerning music in our state.  We are known for the Delta blues.  Mississippi Mass has definitely made its mark on the gospel industry.  We have other artists such as the legendary Williams Brothers, Canton Spirituals, and Lee Williams just to name a few. 

Musicians in Mississippi 

I guess thinking about this topic, a flood-gate of thoughts rushed through my mind.  What pre-conceived ideas are there about musicians here?  I attended a concert this weekend featuring gospel artist James Fortune and Fiya.  They are an awesome group with major vocal talents.  They performed to tracks.  Did they have a pre-conceived idea about musicians here?  Did they not trust that they were capable of capturing the arrangement on their cd?  If they were in another city like, Detroit, would they have performed to tracks?  Well I guess, I’ll probably never know the answer to that, but the promoter hired a “house” band to fill in where needed.  Well, I won’t say that these were not good musicians, but I will say they did not help the case.  They didn’t seem sure of themselves and didn’t have a seasoned band sound.  So, I guess whatever James Fortune thought prior to coming was magnified by that experience. 

Music Album Credits 

Future promoters please don’t hire a band without experience and solid credits for artist of that caliber.  They are easily accessible through a simple Google search for album credits.  I’ve provided my husband’s.  They are not accurate and missing a lot, but that’s another blog.

It was not a good look and we really missed an opportunity to show what Mississippi has to offer.

(2012).  Giving Credits their Due.  Retrieved on June 3, 2012 from  
     http://albumcredits.com/Profile/732558