The Grammy-winning gospel group The Blind Boys of Alabama has been featured on national television and has collaborated with artists like Tom Petty, Kanye West and Ben Harper since its formation in 1939. Three of the founding members are still in the group, including lead vocalist Jimmy Carter. Carter recently chatted with Post reporter Jane Adams about the group's lifetime achievement Grammy, working with celebrities and singing at the White House. The Blind Boys of Alabama will be performing 7:30 tomorrow night at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
The Post: The group won a lifetime achievement award recently, how does it feel?
Jimmy Carter: We've had four Grammys before, but we never got a lifetime achievement award from the Grammy people, so we are very excited about that.
Post: As a little boy did you ever imagine you would be where you are today?
JC: When we started out we had no idea that we would end up like this; we are thankful to God that we did but we weren't in it for the money, we were in it just for the pure pleasure of it. But God has blessed us, and so, we are going to continue on 'til He says that's enough.
Post: How old were you when the group formed?
JC: Twelve, 13 something like that. It's been a long journey, but a great one. It has had its mountains, but we've climbed them.
Post: How old are you now?
JC: When people ask me that, this is my response, I am past 50. You got room to speculate.
Post: How did the group get its name?
JC: When the group started out there was another blind group out of Mississippi and so a performer in New Jersey found the two groups and he said, we are going to have a battle of music between the blind boys of Alabama and the blind boys of Mississippi
so the name stuck.
Post: At the core, what would you say The Blind Boys of Alabama is all about?
JC: We are about singing traditional gospel music. We try to bring hope to the hopeless and let them know that wherever Jesus is, there is life; wherever Jesus is, there is hope. We go to these concerts and we say, We want to make you feel something that you have never felt before and that's the spirit of God.
Post: What has been the most rewarding part about being in the group?
JC: I think I was born to sing. I've never gotten tired, I've never gotten discouraged or anything like that. I hope I can keep on, I'm not a spring chicken anymore, but I'm in pretty good health. As long as I can go, I am going to keep on.
Post: Memorable experiences with the group?
JC: We have had the privilege of going to the White House three times, and we sang for the president. We sang for the Clinton administration, the Bush administration and hopefully we might sing for the Obama administration... you never know.
Post: Your CD Down in New Orleans was made to help the situation in New Orleans. Why did you all want to get involved with that?
JC: We were thinking about people that were so devastated by Hurricane Katrina. We told them that we couldn't help them build their houses back because we didn't know how to use a hammer on a nail, but we could bring hope and encouragement to them through our music.
Post: What artists have you worked with over the years?
JC: We have worked with Ben Harper, Kanye West and many people like that. We were trying to bridge the generation gap. We were trying to get more of a young following involved in our music. And in order to do that, we got people that the young folk could relate to, and since we've done that, we found out there are more young people attending our concerts than ever before.
Post: Future plans?
JC: We are just going to see what every day brings. We are going to take one day at a time and whatever God blows our way, we are going to accept it and thank Him for it.
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Culture
Jane Adams
Q&A: The Blind Boys of Alabama
