Blind Boys of Alabama to Perform at Columbia Festival of the Arts, 6/19

The Columbia Festival of the Arts will present Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners and living legends of gospel and blues, Blind Boys of Alabama for one night only. Drawn heavily from their Grammy Award-winning album, Down in New Orleans, this jubilant performance will feature gospel standards and selections of Blind Boys of Alabama's latest album, I'll Find a Way.

This roof-raising musical event will be part of the Cross Currents CFA Summer Festival (June 12-27). Opening the concert will be Maryland's own Andy Poxon Band, a local favorite who has opened for Tommy Castro, Duke Robillard, Joe Louis Walker, Coco Montoya, and JD McPherson.

The performance will take place on Friday, June 19, at 8:00 p.m. at the Jim Rouse Theatre: 5460 Trumpeter Road, Columbia, MD 21044. For a complete 2015 Summer Festival Schedule, and to order tickets, please visit columbiafestival.org.

The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. Celebrated by The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) with Lifetime Achievement Awards, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and winners of five Grammy Awards, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 60 years. The Blind Boys are known for crossing multiple musical boundaries with their remarkable interpretations of everything from traditional gospel favorites to contemporary spiritual material by songwriters such as Ben Harper, Eric Clapton, Prince and Tom Waits. They have appeared on recordings with Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, k.d. lang, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, Susan Tedeschi, Solomon Burke, Aaron Neville, Ben Harper and most recently Justin Vernon, Patty Griffin, Merrill Garbus and Sam Amidon on their latest recording I'll Find A Way. The Blind Boys of Alabama have made appearances on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, The Grammy Awards, 60 Minutes, The Colbert Report and their own holiday special on PBS.

Founded in 1987, Columbia Festival of the Arts is Howard County's largest ongoing arts event. Columbia Festival of the Arts presents four weekend-long arts festivals throughout the year, comprised of both free and ticketed events, featuring world-class performances, exhibitions, concerts, family activities, master classes, workshops and community dialogues. The Festival brings together the arts community, businesses, local schools, and individuals to create events that shine a spotlight, not only on the arts, but also on the Howard County community as a Maryland showplace. For more information, visit www.columbiafestival.org.