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<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\n\u201cI never even thought of leaving,\u201d says vocalist Jimmy Carter, the sole founding member still touring and recording with the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Grammy-winning gospel supergroup that formed in 1939. \u201cWhen we started we were determined to go all the way. And when I step down, I\u2019ll pass the torch behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s impossible not to connect the tenacity of Carter and the group to their aptly named new release I\u2019ll Find a Way<\/i>. Produced by Bon Iver\u2019s Justin Vernon, the album spans a wide array of gospel-inspired numbers, from Nina Simone\u2019s performance of \u201cTake Me to the Water\u201d to Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cEvery Grain of Sand.\u201d<\/p>\n
After 70 years, Carter looks back at the group\u2019s modest ambitions. \u201cWhen we started, we had no idea we\u2019d ever get this far,\u201d he says of the group that was formed by members of the Glee Club at the Alabama Institute for the Blind in Talladega, Ala., when Carter was just 12. \u201cWe were just really young guys singing in a quartet,\u201d he says. \u201cWe were fans of the Golden Gate Quartet\u2014they were our idols. We wanted to be like them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the years since, the Blind Boys\u2014who have released more than 60 albums\u2014have blazed their own musical path rooted in gospel but often flavored with country, blues and even hip-hop. The creative spark was obvious from the start between Vernon and the group that has collaborated with everyone from Tom Waits and Lou Reed to Willie Nelson, Ben Harper and George Clinton. \u201cI will tell you that Justin knows our music and was so sincere about wanting to work together,\u201d says Carter. \u201cHe had terrific faith that we could bring something special to these songs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vernon chose the songs and worked with friend and collaborator Phil Cook to select the backing band, with the Blind Boys approving each step of the process. The album boasts high-wattage guests including Shera Worden of My Brightest Diamond, Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, and Casey Dienel of White Hinterland\u2014and each added a certain spice to the album. \u201cPatty Griffin, she impressed me very much,\u201d said Carter of her contribution to the song \u201cJubilee.\u201d \u201cThat is a very uptempo song, and to hear her sing all those words that fast, real uptempo, you can\u2019t help but be caught up in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the Blind Boys are all well \u201cover 50,\u201d says Carter with a laugh, they\u2019re excited to tour behind this album. \u201cWe\u2019re not spring chickens but we love what we do, and that keeps us going,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m sure some kind of tour will be distilled, and I\u2019m looking forward to that. Whatever works out, we want it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Nancy Dunham<\/p>\n
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Blind Boys of Alabama Seven decades in, the gospel giants still find a way to inspire\u00a0 \u201cI never even thought of leaving,\u201d says vocalist Jimmy Carter, the sole founding member still touring and recording with the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Grammy-winning gospel supergroup that formed in 1939. \u201cWhen we started we were determined to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[7303,7299,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11310"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11310"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11313,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11310\/revisions\/11313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}