CEA Artist Series features Grammy Award-winning Fairfield Four, Tuesday, Oct. 24
Lacey Klotz |
Lipscomb University’s School of Music welcomes Grammy Award-winning a cappella group Fairfield Four to campus for a special concert on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Ward Hall, as part of its CEA Artist Series.
General admission for the show is $20 for adults and $10 for students. Lipscomb faculty and staff are eligible for a discounted rate, and Lipscomb students are eligible for free tickets, courtesy of the School of Music. To purchase tickets, call the box office at 615.966.7075 or visit www.lipscomb.edu/music and select Artist Series tickets.
Best known for their appearance in the 2000 drama O Brother Where Art Thou, and often dressed in the trademark combo of work dungarees and tuxedo jackets, The Fairfield Four is made up of tenors Bobbye Sherrell and Levert Allison, baritone Larrice Byrd and bass Joe Thompson.
What started as a trio in 1921 at Nashville, Tennessee’s Fairfield Baptist church is now a legendary gospel quartet that has helped to revitalize and preserve the oldest style of traditional spiritual and gospel singing by keeping the traditional styling of Bessemer Sunset Four, the Birmingham Jubilee Singers and the Famous Blue Jay Singers with Silas Steele.
In 1989, the Fairfield Four received the National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for the Arts, were featured in 1997 on John Fogerty’s “A Hundred and Ten in the Shade” from Blue Moon Swamp, and in 2003 appeared on Dolly Parton’s “There Will Be Peace in the Valley for Me” from her studio album For God and Country.
The Fairfield Four has received several honors including three Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Gospel Recording "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" in 1997, Album of the Year for the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack recording in 2001 and Best Gospel Roots album "Still Rockin' My Soul" in 2016, as well as two Lifetime Achievement Awards. The a cappella group was also inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999. The critically acclaimed group released its latest album Still Rockin’ My Soul! in March 2015.
Lipscomb’s School of Music is housed in the George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts and has a reputation for excellence in both contemporary and classical training. Students in both programs benefit from Lipscomb’s commitment to mentoring in the classroom, the private studio and the rehearsal hall. Classical music students sharpen their skills with some of Nashville’s finest artists, and contemporary students make connections in Nashville’s professional music scene from day one.
For more information, visit https://music.lipscomb.edu or contact the School of Music at 615-966-5929.