CityView Magazine

44 April 2022 WIDU ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF PR AISE 'People are going to leave with an extra dose of hope' BY MICHAEL FUTCH FEATURE C ontemporary gospel music lovers have three good reasons to attend the 2022 WIDU Anniversary Festival of Praise. at's because Fred Hammond, Hezekiah Walker and Israel Houghton – a trio of Grammy-winning veteran recording artists – will headline the festival bill during its culmination at the Crown Coliseum on April 30. is will mark the first WIDU anniversary celebration since October 2019. Unlike years past, when it oen was staged as a three- or four-day event, this year's festival is one day. Concert-goers can expect to glean some inspiration from the show, according to the 50-year-old Houghton. "Certainly, everybody with me – between Fred Hammond and Hezekiah Walker – these guys are absolute killers, Mount Rushmore legends of gospel, so I love being the young gun," he said. "And people can count on songs primarily that they can sing along to. Hopefully, evoke some memories with the body of work in our careers. If anything, it's going to be inspiring. "If we do our job right," Houghton said, "people are going to leave with an extra dose of hope. We have a significant shortage of it, don't we?" Houghton, who has worked as a full-time musician for three decades, said he'll be playing a combination of vintage and newer material. "I'm fortunate and grateful I'm still writing songs and recording songs and releasing songs that are still connecting to people," he said. "Like anybody considered a legacy artist - somebody who's been at it for 20-plus years - if you have hits 20 years ago people are like, 'Just play those.' It's always a delicate balance now for an artist like myself. I go, 'I still feel like I've got something to say.' I'm still writing songs that I pray people are singing on Sunday morning in church, and I hope to add to the soundtrack of their lives." Houghton has recorded approximately 20 albums to date. He said he has just been notified that his new song "Broken People," from his latest recording, "Project LA: Alive in Los Angeles," has just hit one million views on YouTube. "We're very proud of that," Houghton The 2022 WIDU Anniversary Festival of Praise Where: Crown Coliseum When: April 30 at 4 p.m. Tickets: $20, $40 and $60, and available from the WIDU studios, 2520 Murchison Road; WIDU ticket outlets; the Crown Box Office; CapeFearTix.com; and Leisure Travel Services on Fort Bragg. Information: 910-438- 4100 The music festival will feature Grammy-winning artists Israel Houghton, Fred Hammond and Hezekiah Walker.

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