Amen to That concert returns for second year

“When we sing, we got feeling; we got rhythm; we got movement,” said Charles Dale. “We feel that connection with God.”

It’s something Dale hopes people will experience when they attend the second annual Amen to That concert, part of Black History Month at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

This year’s concert is set for Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. at the Muscle Shoals High School auditorium and will feature five performing groups, as opposed to last year’s nine.

“It was good, but it was so long,” Dale said.

The Gospel Imperials will headline the show, preceded by performances by Howell Sledge, the Rev. Jerry Reeves and the Galilee Missionary Baptist Church Choir, the James Brown Gospel Choir and Russellville’s own St. Paul C.M.E. Church Gospel Choir.

Emcee for the event will be Dr. Eric Kirkman.

Dale said the gospel show will evoke a sense of the past and where a lot of musical tradition, and especially black musical tradition, originated.

“We think about the hard times: slavery and what we were going through with ‘the master,’ when the master was watching over us and had whips and abuse on us,” Dale said. “We think about all that kind of stuff. Our trust was in God, that God was going to make a way for us and see us through.”

Tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for ages 6-18. Tickets are available at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, 617 U.S. Highway 72 in Tuscumbia, or by calling 256-381-4417.

“We want to continue to promote the concert,” Dale said. “We’ve got a commitment from other professional groups and individuals who said next year they are willing to make an appearance and be a part of it.”

Proceeds will benefit the Alabama Musical Hall of Fame.