Fred Hammond's 'Everybody Get Up Tour' to Stop at Kimmel Center Tonight

Fred Hammond has assembled the biggest names in their musical genres with The United Tenors for the Everybody Get Up Tour in support of the recent release of soulful 70's inspired album, United Tenors: Hammond, Hollister, Roberson, Wilson. The United Tenors join forces with special guest Pastor Alyn E. Waller of ENON Tabernacle Baptist Church for one exclusive Philadelphia performance blending R&B and Gospel sounds in the KimMel Center's Verizon Hall tonight, September 29 at 7:30 p.m.

The United Tenors brings together R&B and Gospel vocal harmonies of Fred Hammond, Grammy Award winning, platinum-selling urban contemporary Gospel pioneer; Dave Hollister, R&B crooner who wailed on 2 Pac's classic 'Keep Ya Head Up' and as Blackstreet front man on 'Before I Let You Go;' Eric Roberson, the Grammy Award nominated Indie Soul King; and, Brian Courtney Wilson, the urban inspirational vocalist with the crisp rasp for an evening of Urban Adult rhythm that uniquely reinterprets '70s soul music to connect with audiences of today.

"I think it will remind people of a lot of the old throwback great R&B groups like Heatwave, the Dramatics, the Chi-lites and The Stylistics," Fred Hammond says. "It's a brand new sound that still feels familiar. When men sing together it's a very powerful moment, and we have that moment."

"When assembling the group, I didn't just listen to voices, but I also looked at character," Hammond adds. "I wanted to work with men who would work well together and complement each other. Personally, I have to put Fred Hammond's solo career and solo personae on hold for the sake of making this group successful. This is a bigger cause, so I have to step back now and sing background...and I'm happy to do it. And these guys feel the same way...they play their parts. There are no egos. I try to distribute the time people have on the mic equally, and it has worked."

Tickets are available for $35 to $45 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org, at the KimMel Center box office, Broad & Spruce streets (open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).

For the March 2013 album release of United Tenors: Hammond, Hollister, Roberson, Wilson (Verity Records), Hammond wrote three of the fourteen songs and co-wrote the remaining tracks with a variety of musicians -mostly friends with whom he's collaborated with over the years. They showcase a muscular vulnerability of submission to God on the first radio single, "Here in Our Praise," a mellow sing-along in which they sing in unison: "With our hearts Lord, we worship you and we won't be the same. In your power O Lord, we are changed! As we lift up your name let your presence reign over us as we worship you."

All of the men bring deep and varied musical roots to the ethos of the United Tenors. Fred Hammondentered the music business as bass player for the iconic `80s Gospel quartet The Winans and then co-founded Commissioned in 1982. Throughout the `80s, the band revolutionized Gospel music with urban beats and their unique vocal blend on signature cuts like "Running Back to You;" "Cry On" and "Ordinary Just Won't Do." In 1991, Hammond launched his solo career and became a leading pioneer of urban praise and worship music. It's a move that has earned him six R.I.A.A. gold or platinum CD certifications and scores of Gospel radio hits such as "No Weapon," "We're Blessed" and recent No. 1 hits such as "They That Wait" and "I Feel Good."

Dave Hollister started his career backing artists ranging from Father M.C. to Welsh sex symbol Tom Jones to Patti LaBelle before joining the New Jack Swing quartet Blackstreet, circa 1993. He remained with them through their biggest, chart-topping hits. By 1999, Hollister had gone solo and released his debut CD, "Ghetto Hymns," which featured the Top Ten R&B hit "My Favorite Girl." He went on to turn out a string of solid R&B standards and then, in 2004, accepted the call to ministry that he's said he was ducking since the age of 17. "I ran from it for a long time," he adds. "I finally decided to accept it once I came into the full knowledge of my relationship with God." He then released the acclaimed Gospel CD, "The Book of David: Vol. 1 The Transition" on Gospo Centric Records in 2004 and served as a staff minister at New Direction Christian Church in Memphis, TN for a few years.

Eric Roberson isn't a minister but he was spiritually touched by Commissioned music when he was about 11 years old. "Commissioned is the reason why I write songs," he says. He was in the basement ironing clothes for school and ran across a cassette of the group that his father had won at a family reunion. "I saw it and just put it in," he recalls. "It was some young guys and they looked kind of hip on the cover. And the music was just so beautiful, so cutting edge. The lyrics were so heartfelt and piercing that I found myself getting emotional. Musically, the lines - I couldn't duck it. I was relating to what they said so much. So I asked myself what do I want to do with my life? I said I want to do that. I want to be able to move people the way they moved me."

Roberson's wish has been fulfilled. The Rahway, NJ native has worked with or written songs for DJ Jazzy Jeff & Will Smith, Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Dwele, Carl Thomas and Vivian Green. He was a musical theater major at Howard University in Washington, D.C. when he snagged a recording deal with Warner Bros. Records. His 1994 debut single, "The Moon," hit the Billboard Top 100 R&B singles chart. After college graduation, Roberson worked with a who's who of the neo-soul movement and launched his own record label, B.L.U.E. Erro Soul in 2001. He's released seven albums through the company with 2011's "Mr. Nice Guy" being the biggest one yet - reaching #14 on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart. In both 2010 and 2011, Roberson earned Grammy Award nominations in the category of Best Urban/Alternative Performance, an amazing accomplishment for an independent artist.

Brian Courtney Wilson is an independent artist with major label success. The Chicago native was reared in church and sang in the Rock of Ages Baptist church adult male chorus, but drifted away from church life after graduating from the University of Illinois. He took a pharmaceutical sales job at Johnson & Johnson that led him to Houston, TX where his faith was revived after a visit to Windsor Village Church. Eventually, he became immersed in the local Gospel scene and was signed to Matthew Knowles' Music World label. His 2009 debut CD "Just Love" debuted at #2 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart and remained #1 on the Christian Music Trade Association's Inspirational Album chart for 52 weeks. The set was propelled by the Top Ten smash, "All I Need," which spent an astounding 92 weeks on Billboard's Hot Gospel Songs chart. It was followed by other Top Twenty hits like "Already Here," "Awesome God" and "Just Love." His 2012 sophomore CD "So Proud" debuted at #1 on Top Gospel Albums chart and spawned the radio singles "So Proud" and "He Still Cares."