What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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6 WHAT'S UP! JULY 17-23, 2022 COVER STORY Word Of The Day: 'Harmony' Josh Groban brings eclectic mix to AMP MONICA HOOPER NWA Democrat-Gazette H armony means more than arranging pleasing sounds to Josh Groban. The 41-year- old singer named his latest album and current tour after the concept. "Every song, every note, that was played on this album had to be done in harmony with each other and with the world that was going on around us and to be able to make such beautiful noise with all the things that were in our way," Groban says. "It just felt like a word that represented what we were trying to achieve with what we love to do on this album and what we're trying to achieve when we get out and play this summer. It's a way for all of us to get together and experience that again. It felt like a word that represented that to me. "The songs were chosen, arranged and duetted during a time we all were basically isolated. We had to just do it from our home studios," or in studios 10 feet apart from one another, he says of his ninth album, which features duets with Leslie Odom Jr., Sara Bareilles and Helene Fischer. "There was a lot of time during the process when we didn't even know if we'd be able to finish the album [or] if we ever would be able to tour the album," Groban says of recording during the pandemic. "Every musician that we worked with, every singer that we worked with, came at it with a sense of purpose, of gratitude, of feeling like we have to find ways to continue to feel good doing what we love. And that thing is music." The album, "Harmony," opens with a cover of the Frank Sinatra tune "The World We Knew," a fitting opener as the world slowly emerges from covid quarantines. It also includes originals and covers such as "The Impossible Dream," "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," "It's Now or Never," "Both Sides Now," "Celebrate Me Home," "I Can't Make You Love Me," and others. There are also two original songs. A special deluxe version was released at the beginning of the year, but just as Groban and company were ready to hit the road, the pandemic tried to disrupt their plans. "I had to jump right into the tour when we started in Detroit because after outrunning it for two years, I finally caught covid about two weeks before the tour started, which means I had to miss all the rehearsals," he explains. He adds that even after overcoming the virus, he was still suppressing a cough for the first two shows but felt "excitement and gratitude" for being able to tour again. "We're hitting a groove now where the love out there has been so amazing," he says. When ask if his audience has changed, he says: "It's a different world now, and people are, I think, equal parts excited to get out and to see live music and experience that again, and also I think — rightfully so — still a little anxious and a little gun shy. I think that anybody that was kind of already on the fence about being an introvert in their life squarely got put in place, me included." He adds: "I think to be able to do these shows and to be able to kind of heal with everybody — and I say it in my shows that we're still waiting for the dust to entirely settle psychologically — we've all been through and are continuing to go through so much stress and trauma. Music can help with that, but it's baby steps getting back into the routines that we all know and love. And this is a great step forward to be able to do these shows — and the fans have been incredible." Joining him on the road is one of his favorite bands, the Preservation Hall "We're hitting a groove now where the love out there has been so amazing," Josh Groban says of his "Harmony Tour." He's happy to "be able to do these shows and to be able to kind of heal with everybody." Groban's tour stops July 21 at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers. (Courtesy Photo) FAQ Josh Groban's 'Harmony Tour' WHEN — 7 p.m. July 21 WHERE — Walmart AMP, 5079 W. Northgate Road in Rogers. COST — $35 to $224 INFO — waltonartscenter.org/AMP FYI — Joining Groban will be the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Eleri Ward and violinist Lucia Micarelli. Take our poll, be entered to win two tickets! nwaonline.com/717groban/