An Evening
with Melinda Doolittle
and Point of Grace
A Benefit Concert for the
Boiler Room Theatre
April 12, 2010 - 7 p.m.
Boiler Room alumnist and American
Idol season-six
finalist Melinda
Doolittle returns to Franklin for a one-night-only
spectacular concert event with all proceeds going to the
Boiler Room
Theatre.
With a critically-acclaimed
debut album (Coming Back To You) released in 2009,
Melinda Doolittle is
forging
a career
as one of today's most gifted vocalists.
Doolittle's debut album recalls the
magic and luster of R&B's classic artists with the
lush instrumentation and supple production style of today's
pop-soul renaissance. Unveiling a timeless collection of
songs tailored around a voice The New York Times has
hailed as one of the most "phenomenally gifted" in
years, Coming Back to You's 13 songs reach back and propel
you forward,
sublimely blending old-school musical values with an on-the-block
emotional currency that only Melinda Doolittle can deliver.
Featuring production by Grammy-nominated producer
Mike Mangini and recorded with top caliber musicians from the American
musical epicenters of Nashville and New York City, Coming
Back to You soars as a soul-baring tour de force with the
singer transforming these lively soul, jazz, pop and R&B
stylings into an evocative and affectionate treasure trove.
In its review of Doolittle's album,
Entertainment Weekly said, "Doolittle
channels Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin over live-band
arrangements that feel
fresh-faced and old-school
at the same time..."
Doolittle will once again share her
blessing with her
theatre home by performing a benefit concert
featuring the gospel group Point of Grace and some surprise
guest stars in an unforgettable
evening of music in The Factory's beautiful 1100-seat
Liberty
Hall.
Melinda appeared in BRT's productions
of The 1940s Radio Hour (2001), Nunsense (2004),
How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2005) and Big
River (2006). She returned to Franklin to
perform a benefit concert for BRT in 2007 and delighted
fans in Liberty Hall garnering standing-room-only attendance.
Doolittle achieved national acclaim as the season-six third-place
finalist on the 2007 season of FOX TV's American Idol.
Raised in St. Louis, MO and Tulsa,
OK, Doolittle studied music at Belmont University in the
storied music citadel of Nashville.
She would eventually perfect her craft as a back-up singer
for stars such as Michael McDonald, Aaron Neville,
CeCe Winans and Gospel group Anointed, slowly building the necessary
vocal confidence to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.
"I
watched these artists and they instilled in me what to
do in front of a live audience and taught me so much about
what
it takes to be a singer. I look back on all of this as
preparation for where I'm at now," Doolittle says.
But
nothing could have braced her for the wild roller coaster
ride of American Idol. Doolittle became a household
name as a finalist on the popular show's sixth season,
garnering
millions of votes every week. Plucked from obscurity
on her
very first audition, she stood out as something special
right from the start.
"I went with 3 other friends.
I didn't even want to go," she said. "16,000
people showed up. I thought it was hopeless. We got
there at 4:45 in the
morning and didn't audition until 12 hours later." She
and her three friends sang together. Only she was chosen. "I
still to this day have no idea how that happened. I'm
just very grateful."
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