Blind Boys of Alabama to perform at 2017 Freedom Fest at Hoover Met
The city of Hoover has lined up the Blind Boys of Alabama to perform at the fifth annual Freedom Fest Fourth of July celebration at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, city events coordinator Erin Colbaugh told the Hoover City Council tonight.
The council on Monday is scheduled to vote on a $16,500 contract with the group, which has won five Grammys and been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
If the contract is approved, The Blind Boys are scheduled to put on a 75-minute show beginning at 7:30 p.m. on July 4 and will be followed by a fireworks show at the Hoover Met.
City officials in past years has been able to feature a lot of up-and-coming musicians from Hoover and the surrounding areas for the city’s summer music festival, but they decided to up their game this year in connection with the city’s 50th anniversary and bring in talent that is internationally acclaimed, Colbaugh said.
The Blind Boys of Alabama are in demand throughout the United States and currently have tour dates booked this summer in Canada, the United Kingdom and Paris.
“We’re excited to have them perform,” Colbaugh said.
The Blind Boys of Alabama first performed at the age of 9 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939 as the Happy Land Jubilee Singers and became known as the Blind Boys of Alabama in 1944.
They have continued performing more than 75 years and recorded more than 50 albums, blending traditional gospel music with contemporary spiritual material by artists that include Tom Waits, Prince, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, K.D. Lang, Lou Reed, Willie Nelson and the Rolling Stones.
The group has appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Late Night with David Letterman,” “The Grammy Awards,” “60 Minutes”, “The Colbert Report” and their own holiday special on PBS. They also received lifetime achievement awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Two of the original members — Jimmy Carter and Clarence Fountain — still perform with the five-member group.
Gates will open at the Hoover Met for the 2017 Freedom Fest at 5 p.m. Families are encouraged to come early for a classic and sports car show and children’s activities that include inflatables, building station, face painting, balloon twisters and a photo booth.
The city also plans to bring back the ZOOperstars, a group of mascot-like characters in inflatable costumes who dance to music. They have been extremely popular each year they have performed at the festival, Colbaugh said. Their $3,700 contract also is up for approval by the Hoover City Council Monday night.
The Hoover Met officially seats 10,800, but nearly 12,000 people turned out for last year’s Freedom Fest, city officials estimated. Concession stands at the Met will be open.