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Blind Boys of Alabama, aiming for the heart

By Steven Horowitz

Jimmy Carter, lead singer of the gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama, has been performing with the group since its founding back in 1944, if not earlier as part of the school choir from which the band emerged. But he won’t tell you how old he is.

“Let’s just say I am past 50,” he laughs over the phone. “You can speculate from there, but I never tell anybody my age.

“What I can tell you is that I am not ready to retire,” Carter says. ”What I love most is singing in front of a live audience. I love people and I live to mingle. I don’t ever plan to stop.”

The Blind Boys of Alabama will perform at the Englert Theatre Sunday, with local bluesman Kevin “B.F.” Burt opening the 7:30 p.m. show. Tickets, $34 to $38 or $10 for children under 12, are available online, by calling (319) 688-2653or at the Englert box office, 221 E. Washington St.

Carter says the group will present songs from its latest album, Duets, some Christmas tunes and some old traditional gospel ones.

“Even atheists like the religious tunes,” Carter notes. “There is a little piece of God in everyone’s heart that responds, because what comes from the heart reaches the heart. We give the audience encouragement and let them know that God is alive and life is a gift, all you have to do is accept it.

“When we give a concert, we begin with ‘Good evening. We are the Blind Boys of Alabama, blah, blah, blah,’ and then we tell them that we are hear to make them feel something they may have never felt before: the spirit of a living God.

“And then we tell them we expect a noisy crowd, because the gospel is good news,” Carter adds. “We expect people to shout, dance, clap and stamp their feet. If you feel the spirit of the Lord you have to let it show.”

Carter admits that his faith has deepened over the years. “As time goes on I have learned to really, really trust God. I am blind, and God has sent me so many beautiful people to assist me and blessed me in too many ways to count.”

Among Carter’s more worldly successes are the five Grammy Awards won by the Blind Boys of Alabama, including one for lifetime achievement. The group has also been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

“When we started out, we had no idea how far we would go,” Carter says. “We feel humbled to be loved by our fellow musicians and our fans.”

Many of these artists appear on Duets, including reggae artist Toots Hibbert, hard rocker Lou Reed, Soul legend Solomon Burke, Western Swing band Asleep at the Wheel, blues rocker Bonnie Raitt, alternative folk rocker Ben Harper and many more from all facets of the popular music scene on the 14-song collection.

“Everybody we’ve sang with we have become friends with,” Carter says.”We had Randy Travis on the Duets disc, but what I would really like to do next is make a complete country duets style record, with old timers like George Jones, Loretta Lynn, and Merle Haggard. I love country music.”

Above: Blind Boys of Alabama lead singer Jimmy Carter.