INTERVIEW: MLK inspires Damien Sneed’s ‘We Shall Overcome’ tour
Photo: Damien Sneed will lead the We Shall Overcome tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Photo courtesy of Michael Rubenstein / Provided by Cindy Byram PR with permission.
Celebrated musician Damien Sneed has crafted a 36-city tour that celebrates the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. The We Shall Overcome musical remembrance will play performing arts venues across the United States, including Jan. 17 in Red Bank, New Jersey, and Jan. 18 in Princeton, New Jersey.
The idea for the musical evening, which will feature gospel, pop, jazz and soul, came to Sneed thanks to his friend who performs at Ginny’s Supper Club in Harlem, New York. The suggestion was for Sneed to create a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the club.
“And we did the tribute, and then the next year, he invited the president of IMG Artists,” Sneed said in a recent phone interview. “And they signed me and asked me to do this tour, and now it’s here. It’s a reality, two years later.”
For the tour, Sneed will be joined by a variety of musical artists, each respected in their own right. Joining him will be vocalists Chenee Campbell, Markita Knight, Anitra McKinney, Alicia Peters-Jordan, Annalisha Jacobs, Tekesha Russell, Linny Smith and Aaron Chisholm. Special guest artists will be Camille Thurman, Patrice Eaton, Audrey DuBois Harris, Brandie Sutton and Kierra Hogan. On the instruments for the evening will be drummer Mark Clark, bassist John Matthew Clark and organist/keyboardist Marquéz Cassidy.
Sneed, a singer, pianist and composer, is the 2014 recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, which is presented annually to emerging black and Latino leaders in classical music. He has worked with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder and Eric Reed. He has performed at Carnegie Hall and recorded several albums in various genres, among many other career highlights.
He’ll bring this musical background to the We Shall Overcome tour.
“[The audience] can hear jazz, classical music, gospel, popular music,” said Sneed, who was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia. “I’m doing a tribute to Aretha Franklin, who I had a chance to work with the last three-and-a-half years of her career. They can hear a lot of songs of protest and reconciliation, a lot of American music, just giving tribute to people, to artists who have used their platform to speak out on coming together and unity and using music as a universal language to do so.”
Sneed has been personally inspired by King’s message, and this series of concerts marks the 35th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Many of the concerts will also take place during Black History Month and the early days of Women’s History Month.
“His message, his life, going to his birth home at Ebenezer Baptist Church, those are things I did a lot as a young boy growing up in Georgia,” he said. “I think what I’d like to leave them with is that with everything going on in the world that’s negative, the music that they will hear will allow them to really think about the idea of coming together no matter what our differences our, whether that be culturally or socio-economically. It doesn’t matter. We can come together in unity, and we can overcome things, not just civil rights. But also, for example, I was adopted, so I had to overcome dealing with rejection growing up, overcoming whatever difficulties we all may face in life. It happens to everyone, and I just think that this will be a great opportunity for them to be encouraged and to be lifted by the music and by the art itself.”
The music will change at each concert, and local choirs will be utilized on several tour stops. Sneed is trying to develop a different, organic musical experience.
“I have a large repertoire list that I will be pulling from for each area and for each market,” he said. “I start with spirituals and early classical music before that time period, starting from the 1800s with spirituals but all the way down to the ’50s, and then I start with music that was very popular in the ’60s and ’70s, some of the anthems like ‘We Shall Overcome’ and ‘Oh Freedom!’ And then I go all the way down to the Beatles and Aretha Franklin’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’ These are things that people are very familiar with, and then a few modern songs as well, so it’s a musical journey, to be honest.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. featuring Damien Sneed will be presented in theaters across the United States. The tour stops Thursday, Jan. 17 at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey, and Friday, Jan. 18 at the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey. Click here for more information and tickets.
