Opening for Sweet Honey in the Rock! Rehearsal at the Merrill last night....

Wow, what a privilege. Ten of us from Rock My Soul, combined with 10 members each from the Brunswick Naval Air Station and Women in Harmony choirs, rehearsed last night at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland. On January 18, as an opening act for Sweet Honey in the Rock, we'll sing 3 songs: "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired" by Rev. James Cleveland, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round," (a traditional spiritual turned Civil Rights song) and "Total Praise" (not sure who the author is). All are so inspiring! Everything came together last night--what a sound! Everyone is so excited; it is such an honor to be part of this concert, which will serve to raise money for the Portland chapter NAACP. Here are some photos of us rehearsing....

Kalli leading "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired"	Tracy and Brett, joking as always	Steve (left, on piano) and Kalli leading BNAS

I'm hoping we can get a grant to fund Steve and Kalli to come to some of our rehearsals and lead us in the near future. I love the way they teach everything by ear and feel. As Steve and I were saying last night, it helps us sing from the heart and not the head. Their approach reminds me of the one Sister Alice Martin used with our workshop in Omega a couple of years ago (see the July 2006 post on this blog). Very refreshing! I'm truly enjoying working with them--they're great guys.