Debbie, Bob, and I saw Rock My Soul at the Dance Hall in Kittery, Maine on Aug 16, 2024. They're a choir of about 20 singers aided by a band (guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard). This is how the group was described on the venue's website:
"Roots-based, raise-the-rafters Rock My Soul comes to The Dance Hall! Join us for a spirit-soaring evening of spirituals, Civil Rights songs, soul, blues, pop, and Americana. Hear all flavors of American music influenced by the African American tradition, and learn about how they all connect."
The group had a great spirit and the audience was really into it. On the one hand it's somewhat problematic that every member of the chorus and band and the conductor (and nearly all of the audience) was white. But on the other hand, why shouldn't white people have the right to sing this music, and have it be meaningful and inspiring to a white audience...?
The highlights of the concert were solos by a woman in the choir who had a strong voice and a deep feeling for the style. She was thrilling to hear and I got excited every time she stepped up to the mic. Another woman did many solos but wasn't as impressive. Her vocal stylings and use of gesture gave me the feeling that she carefully rehearsed them at home in front of a full-length mirror.
The other standout was the dude on electric guitar. He was BOSS. The choir did "Oh Freedom!", a spiritual with the refrain "And before I'll be a slave / I'll be buried in my grave." The choir sang it a cappella and I'd love to hear them do it with the guitar player doing a sort of free cadenza over it. That would be beautiful, meaningful, unexpected.
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