In celebration of drawing over 10,000 soul and R&B music lovers, from all over the U.S, to the largest annual Soul Music Festival in the SE region, the producers of the ATL Soul Life Music Festival are expanding on that successful concept. The 22-city NuSoul Revival Tour is boasting a lineup of some of the genres’ finest who have been quite busy in 2016. The tour kicked off last night in Raleigh, NC at the Duke Energy Center of the Performing Arts.
SobeSavvy was lucky enough to witness this great event. I was joined by my cousin who admitted, ” I came for Musiq SouldChild” ! Although I love ALL of the artists on this tour roster, I also could not wait for the headliner Musiq Soulchild to do his set. But before we get to that let’s talk about who was up before him.
Opening up on stage was beloved Grammy Nominated and; Multi-Award Winning Artist, Avery*Sunshine whose loyal fan base includes music icons Aretha Franklin, Baby Face, Teddy Riley, Jazzy Jeff, and Patti LaBelle. Avery has the vocal chords and stage presence that any real music fan could appreciate. The crowd included hundreds of folk who came there just to see her. She.is.amazing.Whether bllads or uptempo james Avery is a force to be reckoned with !
“First Couple of Soul”, Kindred the Family Soul came out first.Since their debut with Surrender to Love which charted #29 on Billboard R&B and received a Soul Train Award and a BET Award nomination, Kindred the Family Soul continues to show fans why they are fondly known as the First Couple of Soul. Their lead Single “Where Would I Be (The Question)” from their second album hit top 10 on urban AC radio and they celebrated critical success with the 2014-released, A Couple Friends. “Their albums are filled with a level of substance rarely found in popular music, and they combine that with great grooves and vocals. It is for that reason Kindred has been one of the most important acts of the 21st Century.
I had been wanting to see this husband and wife duo for forever and they did not disappoint. ” Far Away” was my favorite song of theirs and it just took me back to when I first heard it with my husband many moons ago. They were so energetic and just plain uplifting. The love they share in their union definitely came through with the warm interactions they had with each other on the stage.
Chester Jermaine Jennings better known as Lyfe Jennings took the stage and the crowd {ladies}went wild.The cautionary tale spinner who is well-known for his superior lyricism and signature ballads -Lyfe Jennings – has been delighting his fans since his critically acclaimed platinum-selling debut album, Lyfe 268-192 Jennings continues to raise his own bar. In 2013, he covered Michael Jackson’s classic hit, “Human Nature” exclusively for Grammy.com’s Reimagined series. And, in 2015, the raspy-voiced singer released Tree of Lyfe, which he has described as his most personal work to date.
His singing and acoustic guitar skills are a rare blend. I discovered my love of this artist some years back when I was mesmorized by his smash hit ” Must Be Nice” It’s now iconic music video which to date has over 44 million views stands as proof that he is a visual artist himself.. Judge for yourself below:
https://www.youtube.com%20/embed/GkpN3uiZ-Ew
When he sung Must Be Nice this arms were swaying and we all were harmonizing {some better than others} to the beat !
Finally, what alot of us had been waiting for..MUSIQ !! The man who has had two platinum albums, two gold albums, and seven hit singles, and continues to amass industry nods such as awards from Billboard, BET, ASCAP, BMI, and Soul Train.  was coming on stage.
He has also earned award nominations from MTV, the American Music Awards, the NAACP, and 11 Grammy nominations since arriving on the scene over 15 years ago. The singer who enjoys fusing soul, R&B, funk, jazz, and hip-hop has also enjoyed notable collaborations with Carlos Santana, Mary J. Blige, Ice Cube, tour mates Kindred the Family Soul, Ceelo, Bilal, Swizz Beatz, Estelle, and India Arie – perhaps some of them will make an appearance on the tour.
His appeareance last night followed an exciting 2016 which includes his seventh studio album, Life on Earth entering the US Billboard 200 at #27, his single “I Do” reaching #3 on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and performing in the highly anticipated musical adaptation of the cult classic, Love Jones.
Musiq took control of the audience and played a compilation of his many many hits. “So Beautiful” sounded so great. After so many years Musiq has not lost a step or a vocal chord. I simply loved it . Great night. Great company.Great Concert.
This tour is also a party for a cause , per their press release…The NuSoul Revival Tour seeks to send the message that “Good Music Still Lives! “while continuing to support artists whose music is the soundtrack, and in some cases, a blueprint of areas of our lives. It also seeks to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease which affects over five million individuals in the United States.
Here is a short video clip from last night’s concert in Raleigh of Kindred the Family Soul singing one of my favorite songs “Far Away”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQEqjncDLxK/
To the NuSoul Revival Tour, style:initial;vertical-align:baseline;font-weight:bold;font-size:13px;line-height:normal;font-family:"color:rgb(70,70,70);text-align:justify;”>
#NuSoulRevivalTour #GoodMusicStillLives
Coming to a city near you!
SobeSavvy 
This concert was on point! Sunshine Anderson did her thing! The comedian was hilarious!
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