Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/674818
MAY 4-10 2016 UCW 23 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Fayetteville's CONCERT CONNECTION ANSTEAD'S TOBACCO CO. 320 N McPherson Church Road • 864-5705 May 21 Blackwater Jazz Trio BIG HARRY'S 3030 Fort Bragg Road • 484-9842 May 7 Keith Norman Band May 14 Bob Steele Band May 21 Khaos May 28 River Road HUSKE HARDWARE HOUSE 405 Hay Street • 437-9905 www.huskehardware.com May 6 Tommy King May 7 Tommy King KICK BACK JACKS 5081 Morganton Road. • 223-7676 Friday Live Music LUIGI'S 528 N McPherson Church Road. • 864-1810 www.luigisnc.com May 6 Quilted Sky May 7 Fore on the Floor THE CROWN COMPLEX 1960 Coliseum Drive. • 438-4100 www.crowncomplexnc.com May 6 Kem and Kenny "Baby- face" Edmonds May 20 Jeezy and Kevin Gates July 15 I love the 90s August 17 Boz Skaggs ROCK SHOP 128 S. King St. • 321-ROCK www.therockshoplive.com May 7 Timothy Wells Music May 13 OTEP "That makes 4." That's the text I sent my boss last week when I finally received my downloadable tracks from iTunes after pre-ordering (months in advance, I might add) emerging Christian artist Jordan Feliz's debut album, The River. It had been four — four consecutive times I'd played that record within a 2.5 hour period, and I didn't plan on stopping there. I have yet to take it out of my car's Cd player. Feliz has taken the industry by storm, with his first single released to radio, "The River," sky-rocketing to number one on basically every chart available to mankind for Christian music rankings. He'll be sticking around for a while. Right out of high school, Feliz toured as the front man for a West Coast buzz band, A Current Affair, receiving quite a bit of exposure. They performed on Warped Tour and other high profile gigs before dissolving. However, heavy metal was never his passion — he grew up listening to R&B artists, naming Sam Cooke and Earth, Wind & Fire as some of his favorites. After leaving his job as a worship leader in California to move to Nashville, Tennessee, Feliz landed a record deal with Centricity Music, joining artists like Aaron Shust, Lauren Daigle and Unspoken. His music brings the rich influence of '70s sensibilities into a modern pop context — most of his music is intentionally uncluttered, free of production tricks and excessive instrumentation. His bread and butter are the arrangements, giving his stunningly smooth, soulful voice center stage. From the soul-driven, funk influenced "The River," to the laid back groove of "Simple," and soul-bearing, stripped-down "Satisfied", Feliz offers a wide range of theologically sound pop tunes that make the listener feel so good that they must keep the album on repeat. "If my record has a theme, it's probably summed up in the [song]'Simple'. I really just wanted this to be a project that people would smile when they listened to it. I wanted to write songs that would make people feel loved," Feliz says. "I want them to feel good. Whatever the complications of life that we might be going through at any given moment, our relationships with Jesus don't have to be difficult. We have a tendency to make it so much harder on ourselves than it really is. We think God can't love us because we're struggling with something or we messed up somewhere. But it's not that complicated. God loves us. Our ransom has been paid. The emotional baggage we carry around doesn't change the truth. We belong to God and He loves us. It really is that simple..." Depth and a funky pop sound? A winning combination in my book. After my initial gushing text to my boss that day, I received this in return: "I heard a Jordan Feliz song I didn't really like, then I realized it had moved on to another album." Bravo, Jordan Feliz. Bravo. One to Watch: Jordan Feliz by LAURA BOARTS LAURA BOARTS, Christian 107.3 WCLN Music Director. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200