16 UCW SEPTEMBER 4-10, 2019
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM
September is a busy month at the Giv-
ens Performing Arts Center in Pembroke,
with two first-rate performances. e
2019-2020 season opens with the Blind
Boys of Alabama on Sept. 12 followed by
Extreme Illusions & Escapes Sept. 20.
e Blind Boys of Alabama have been
singing together for seven decades. In that
time, America has experienced World War
II, the civil rights movement and the Sum-
mer of Love; the moon landing, Vietnam
and the fall of the Berlin Wall; John F. Ken-
nedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm
X; the invention of the jukebox, the atomic bomb
and the internet. And the Blind Boys have been there
through it all, influencing music in the South and
helping to shape musical culture that bridges two
millennia.
e original band members met as children at the
Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind and performed
their way to the White House, entertaining three
different presidents. e Blind Boys released their
debut single "I Can See Everybody's Mother But
Mine," in 1948. Since then, they've won five GRAM-
MY Awards, plus another recognizing them for their
lifetime achievement.
According to the band's website, e New York
Times said that they "came to epitomize what is
known as jubilee singing, a livelier breed of gospel
music," adding that "they made it zestier still by add-
ing jazz and blues idioms and turning up the volume,
creating a sound … like the rock 'n' roll that grew
out of it." TIME Magazine raved that "they're always
hunting for - and finding - the perfect note or harmo-
ny that lifts an old tune into the sublime," while e
Washington Post praised their "soul-stirring harmo-
nies" and "range of cross-genre collaborations," and
e New Yorker simply called them "legendary."
"When the Blind Boys started out, we weren't even
thinking about all these accolades and all that stuff,"
founding member Jimmy Carter told NPR. "We just
wanted to get out and sing gospel and tell the world
about gospel music."
e Blind Boys of Alabama will be at GPAC Sept.
12. e show starts at 7:30 p.m. Call 910-521-6361 or
visit https://www.uncp.edu/resources/gpac/profes-
sional-artist-series/blind-boys-alabama for tickets
and information.
Extreme Illusions and Escapes
fist came to GAPC in 2017. A rav-
ing hit two years ago, Josh Knotts
and Lea are back with brand
new acts. Winners of the 2016
Merlin Award and the 2016 Fair
and Festival Entertainers of the
Year Award, the pair will bring
Las Vegas-style performances to
the Sandhills.
e high-energy shows, skillful
escapes and large-scale illusions
keep audiences spellbound.
e Sept. 20 show at GPAC starts at 8 p.m. VIsit
https://www.uncp.edu/resources/gpac/profession-
al-artist-series/extreme-illusions-and-escapes to
purchase tickets.
Season tickets are available. Go for an upgrade
and join the Act 1 Diner's Club. e Diner's Club
includes dinner before specific performances, for
just $35.
Menus include dinners like port wine poached
pear, petite beef medallions with shrimp risotto,
grilled asparagus and a red wine demi-glace, and
New York- style cheesecake.
e dinners are served in the Chancellor's Dining
room in the James B. Chavis Center. Order meal
tickets at tickets.com, or call 910-521-6361.
Visit https://www.uncp.edu/resources/gpac/act-
1-diners-club to learn more about Act 1.
Blind Boys of Alabama open Givens' season
a STAFF REPORT
EVENT
e Blind Boys of Alabama released their first single in 1948.
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