STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Casey Motto’s search for an act to kick off The Argyros’ winter season couldn’t have landed on a better choice.
A sell-out crowd was already stomping in anticipation as the Blind Boys of Alabama took the stage, led by a stage manager as each singer followed, their hand on the shoulder of the man in front of them.
In moments their thundering harmonic power had the audience in their grasp as they sang the age-old spiritual “Wade in the Water.”
But Mott, the artistic director for The Argyros, reminded the audience that they’ve left their touch on the contemporary, as well. His favorite song of theirs, he said, is Tom Waits’ “Way Down in the Hole,” the theme song for the HBO’s series “The Wire.”
The Blind Boys of Alabama are the longest running group in American music with an 80-year odyssey that has taken them from Carnegie Hall to the White House. The American public got its first glimpse of the group in 1944 when six teenagers from the Alabama Institute for the Negro Deaf and Blind sang on a at Birmingham radio station WSGN.
Since, two of the original singers have passed away and another has retired. But the “newcomers,” such as Ricky McKinnie, who joined the group 35 years ago, say everybody continues to give all they have to give as they sing songs that touch the heart.
Prevailing against the segregated south, they’ve performed for three different American presidents and won five Grammy Awards, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
They infused The Argyros with a lively brand of gospel music that some call jubilee singing. They were backed by a band, but they could have easily carried the night on their own with their powerful voices and unflagging enthusiasm and energy.
And, by time they embarked on “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” the rumble of feet and bodies swaying in the tiered seating would have led an observer to conclude that the audience was already on their way to the mountain, some down in front dancing and waving their hands as if they were in a revival meeting.
You couldn’t leave without being uplifted and inspired.
Next up for The Argyros: 2024 Country Music Association Musician of the Year Charlie Worsham performing with his full band on Dec. 27 and 28. Hailey’s own singer/songwriter Axel Diehl will open for Worsham on Friday night. The Pisten Bullys will open on Saturday.