Between Us

Around the time humans started dipping their fingers in ochre and telling stories on cave walls, a group of shamans forged flutes from bone and drums from animal skin. Those shamans were, by definition, healers, and the sounds they made with their flutes and drums were part of the therapeutic benefits they offered to their fellow early men. Many thousands of years later, after World War I, musicians followed in the shamans’ footsteps by performing for wounded soldiers in military hospitals. Music was seen as a valuable path out of the darkness. A century later, that conviction still holds.

Music as healer. As peacemaker. As the sonic mapping of our past journeys and the hopeful anthem for what is ahead. And something happens when we give over to the feeling, the rolling current of emotions a song can evoke, especially up close and personal.

Sidebar: I came late to the game of appreciating and following Tiny Desk Concerts — a video series of live concerts that feel impromptu where musicians gather around a desk to perform intimate arrangements of their work. The vibe is private and playful. It’s unpretentious and reveals what I can only imagine is the soul of an artist who would be performing no matter if they hit it big or not. Because they must. Because music isn’t their choice, it’s their calling. They can no more resist it than will themselves to stop breathing.

Well, tonight you are going to be up close and personal with such an artist — a prolific entertainer with stories that sweep the globe but is decidedly homegrown. Atlanta’s own Adam L. McKnight delivers a powerful message: When we choose love and raise our voice to unite a community, surely peace and joy will conquer hate and strife. And I believe him. McKnight draws inspiration from gospel-style compositions just as effortlessly as he evokes rhythmic-pop celebration in this evening of eclectic musical storytelling.

And while the stories are uniquely Adam’s, the journey is all ours. It is a journey that reminds you to hold onto the good and let go of the bad. A journey that promises redemption before we ever asked. It is a journey of Love. And what a gift it is.

Tinashe Kajese-Bolden

BOLD Associate Artistic Director

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