Pardon my absence, but I’ve been up to my eyebrows in music.

Just this last weekend I had the great privilege to produce and direct a concert of Inspirational music for TMC Youth, an organization dedicated to opening up the horizons of spirituality for the youth of today.

In a 3-day weekend gathering of over 200 young people from mainly the East coast, but also from as far away as Africa and Europe, my task was to put together and spearhead an hour and a half of Inspirational music entertainment for their Saturday night blow-out.

For this I chose 5 artists, led by emcees Julia Wade and Tyler Neale, a talented stand-up comedian from Los Angeles.  The two kept the evening’s activities focused and the audience giggling at the daffy air-headed antics of Ms Wade, Watchfire Music’s best selling artist.  Tyler Neale also regaled us with his hilarious monologue on “What if the Bible were first published in today’s market.”

Besides the giggles and outright guffaws, the audience soared through the evening on the wings of 5 terrific musical performances given by some very special young artists.

We kicked it off with Michelle Armstrong, a twenty-something firecracker of a chanteuse whose voice and self-accompaniment guitar playing took the evening immediately to just the right tenor.  She was joined by vocalists Margaret Dorn (Watchfire Music Artist) and NY Studio superb vocalist La Tanya Hall on her closing song, “I’m Looking For Water” – a song that still soars through my mind constantly 3 days after.  Together the three ladies sent chills through the audience with their tight vocal harmonies.

Next up was a terrific duo that I’ve been watching for several years now – The Clements Brothers – two male twins with movie star good looks and voices to match.  What most impressed me, however, besides their sweet Everly Brothers meets Simon and Garfunkle sound was their musicianship.  Both brothers, George on acoustic guitar and Charles on acoustic bass play their relative instruments extremely well to round out a complete package of great music entertainment.  Stay tuned to these guys.  You’re sure to hear a lot more from them.

Julia Wade followed the Bros. with her debut of “Woman On A Train” the musical telling of her deeply personal story of a chance meeting with an 80-year old stranger traveling NYC to Boston.

Then she rocked the house and showed off her ever-widening range of vocal ease with Twila Paris’ Christian anthem, “God Is In Control.”  What will this amazingly versatile vocalist lay upon us next, heavy metal?

Starting out with Michelle Armstrong and the Clements Brothers’ two acoustic sets settled the audience into a peaceful and almost prayerful tranquility, but they were awakened dramatically by Ms Wade’s new version of the Christian standard setting the tone for the rest of the evening.

What followed was newcomer Megan Neale’s resounding declaration to her contemporary audience of “You Got It”.  She was joined by NY Session Singer and keyboardist Bobby Douglas in a duet that gathered momentum from Wade’s kick off into high gear.

Megan Neale then followed with a deeply moving ballad of her own penmanship, her new release, “Broken Feet”.  This song has HIT written all over it.  She then ended her set with a rousing rendition of Lennon and McCartney’s classic, “Got To Get You Into My Life” which had the audience rockin’ along right with her.

We then turned to the immeasurable talents of Jenny Burton, another Watchfire Music artist to finish us off – and finish us off she did. Where has this lady been for the past 4 years?  We’ve missed her dearly and can only say, “Thank God she’s back!”  Missing not a step, she showed us once again why she was one of NYC’s top tickets for ten years in the late 90s and early 2000s with her hit show, The Jenny Burton Experience.

Leading off with fan favorite, “Just Got To Sing” she soundly proclaimed that she was back.  We were instantly believers.  With “I Think On These Things” she showed us the depth of her life and, ending the show with “I Want My Life Back”, she nailed the spirit of the evening.

The surprise ending of the evening was the weekend’s theme song, “In Sync” sung by the entire cast and joined by the audience of by now passionate followers as all stood and rocked the house.

And if you’re gonna get in sync
First!
Get in sync with yo’ self
And if you’re feelin’ on the brink
In the teeth of the crocodile
You can smile all the while

So what do you do
What do you do
What do you do when it comes undone?

Take your life down off the shelf
Get in time
Get in sync with yo’ self

Take your life down off the shelf
Get in touch with the one God

As the audience and performers sang the chorus over an over together into the night, one couldn’t help but feel the power of music’s synchronicity uniting audience and performer in the spirit of the weekend.

I sat in the back of the hall, exhausted but grateful for the experience of uniting with my fellow man and partaking of the tremendous vibe in the room.

Nothing like a little rock n’ roll to cure the soul.

For more inspirational music, thoughts and ideas from Peter Link,
please visit Watchfire Music.