- Welcome to Kalamazoo Lively Arts, the show that takes you inside Kalamazoo's vibrant creative community, and explores the people who breathe life into the arts.

(upbeat music) - Support for Kalamazoo Lively Arts is provided by the Irving S Gilmore foundation.

Helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

- I'm Jennifer Moss here at Miller auditorium.

On today's show, we meet Roland Sunkins, an accomplished composer, gospel violinist, and talented musician.

Carrie McFerrin, a Kalamazoo singer-songwriter, whose music is described as country twang with an indie twist, and check in with our artists in residence, Fire.

- My name is Jaylah, I'm from Fire.

- [Audience] Fire!

(audience cheering) - Jaylah Lewis is a writer, performer, and poet with nearly a decade of experience.

They skillfully interweave their family, their memories, and visions for the future to create this incredible tapestry of relationship that reminds us of just how important those connections are in our lives.

A feature, a fixture, and a favorite of our open mics.

This is Jaylah Lewis.

(mellow music) - What brought me to "Fire" was, it was during middle school and I just found myself always writing things in like a notebook during class time.

At the time, I don't think I'd really considered them poems.

Having that strong voice and being able to announce to people, this is what's happening.

This is how we can change it, I think that's really powerful, and really attractive through poetry.

Think everyone is equal but you still think we should eliminate Black History Month.

You say we're all equal because we're red on the inside, look at the black girls body, she was a angry black woman, rope doesn't make her neck any different than mine.

(audience cheering) She's just an average black girl and made 19 shirts to the Underground Railroad and freed the slaves, yet good is not good enough.

The variety of my skin tone, you can confuse the white, set their eyes in a spiral miles wide open, memorized by my black beauty beauty, by her black beauty and her black beauty, and his black beauty and his black beauty.

(audience cheering) (mellow music) - Youth voices are so important because that's the future.

Like we as youth have so much that we can give and so much that, if we do give it, it could make change for kids younger than us and future generations for us to look at the other generations and think, oh, wow that was amazing.

I want to do something like that.

- There was a time where you used to write your little sister Cammie, letters?

I saw a movie, I think.

It was actually a mother who was writing letters to her daughter.

She didn't think she'd be around a long enough to watch her daughter grow up.

I was just in class, in middle school and I was thinking, I was just thinking about that movie.

So then I just grabbed my notebook and I just started writing, like as if I was like talking to her I was trying so hard to do it every day.

But then like life gets in the way, like I try to put it into a schedule but it just always didn't work out.

So there are a lot of written in that notebook where I say, oh, sorry I missed a month, but this is what happened.

(sighs) But I do think that when I give it to her at a certain time whenever I feel she's ready to read it it's still going to bring joy to her.

Cause like things like her first word, and lost her first tooth.

Like we don't remember that.

But if I go back into the notebook, then I'll find, oh this is when she said her first word, This is what the word was.

White girls mad because they aren't born with curves like me.

Or mad because I wasn't born with the equality like you.

- [Everyone] Becky!

- So let's make a trade, my hips for your equality, but trust me Becky, with these hips come blood, sweat, and tears that trust me, you're not ready for.

In an hour, you're going to be coming back to me crying, wanting to return my hips, but I'm sorry Becky, but this equality feels too damn good to give back.

I felt a huge relief of not having to worry about my neck and that rope.

I've only had to worry about making sure I bring my purse close to me when I see a black boy walk past me down the street.

You wanting to return what you wanted so bad proves that black women are the strongest women there are.

(audience clapping) So yes, Becky, I will take back my hips, I will take them back with pride and love.

Now watch and learn as I show how I strut my stuff.

(audience cheering and screaming) - If you were to look back at, you know like 14 year old Jaylah walking into Fire.

What's some advice you'd say to that Jaylah?

- I wouldn't say anything.

I would just get behind me and just do a little bit push.

The simplest tiniest push.

(sighs) - Are you just a living poem, Jaylah?

(indistinct) (mellow music) - What I would most want to say is just always keep a positive mind and make sure that we're helping each other and not putting each other down.

And that if there's so many people especially like myself that are show shy and timid into showing their voice into explaining themselves.

Sometimes all they need is just that one person to listen or that one person to hold their hand along the way.

And if they just have a least one person by your side, then at some point, hundreds of people can be there to listen as well.

And it's amazing to get a positive word out around the world.

(upbeat music) (upbeat song starts playing) - Well, today the conversation is with Dr. Roland Lee Sunkins III, he's a composer, a musician a minister of music and an educator.

Tell me a little bit about what it was like when you were growing up as a little kid?

- I'm from Portsmouth, Virginia, where I grew up in the, actually I grew up in the projects in Portsmouth, we were you know, literally poor, but the educational part the musical part actually came to church.

The church we had just had a lot of instruments.

So when that was available to us, we couldn't afford those instruments, but we were able to play the instruments at church.

And I remember my first guitar was one I made out of a long board and some rubber bands and some nails.

I put them together and stretched them out until I could play Batman and (scats Batman Theme song) and my mom heard me play that.

And she ended up, they all just stood around one day and heard me play, and they started laughing.

In sixth grade, this is a true story.

When they first started integrating to get to the neighborhood that we were integrating, a school was it was called Parkview Elementary.

And we had to walk like a mile to a graveyard to get to school.

And so one day after we got in that school a string quartet came from one of the junior high schools there and I was still a tree.

And I said, my, my dad just laid away a violin and he couldn't afford to buy it.

But we ended up getting that violin, and I started in junior high school just playing orchestra.

But I never knew I would take it up for a lifetime career.

(violin music) - I grew up listening to Barry White on the radio.

I grew up playing Barry white and my quiet store.

Love song shell.

Tell me about your experience with Barry White.

- Well, boy, I played with Barry White for two years at Love Unlimited Orchestra.

It was a lot of faith that went along with it.

People knew, oh you play with Love Unlimited?

And today some people asked me in a setting where there's more older people and they say, "you played with Barry White?"

"You played with Love Unlimited?"

When I last played with Barry White, he was famous for "I Love You Just the Way You Are", that was a hit song.

But, of course the love thing, you know, that was, that was it.

A lot of my influence came from playing with not just the Barry White Orchestra, but with Love Unlimited Orchestra, - Yes!

- Playing with people, famous people that I was able to like sit down with him between shows and said, how do you do what you do?

And people like, he would like, give me a like a 10 minute lesson.

If you like, what, whatever you do with your with your acts, we call the instruments, we call then acts.

Doc Severinsen once told me, he said "Whatever you do with it, don't stop."

That was his advice.

And I took that advice.

- Can you show me a little something today?

Musically speaking.

- I got lemonade.

So I got my voice ready to go.

We haven't had a vocal warmer, like (starts harmonizing) - I remember from school.

- So we'll go from the bottom of your range to the top of your range.

You're saying me, yah!

So we're going to go, (starts harmonizing) - Okay - And go all the way to the top.

Let's try it.

Ready, go!

(both harmonizing) - Let that "yah!

", let it out!

- Yah!

- 1, 2, ready go!

(both harmonizing) (choir singing) - You actually put together a gospel choir in Kalamazoo, right?

It partnered with the - Oh yeah!

- Kalamazoo symphony orchestra, what was that like?

- Taking the time to write the parts out, and then you write out a lyric sheet, or a lyric sheet where you just have the lyrics on.

So everybody, everybody would have a part.

And then, so I used to make this joke up because we had a lot of black folk, a lot of white folk, and you know, you had to clap a certain way.

I said it don't matter how you clap if you clap on beat one and three, that's good.

And if you clap on beat two and four, that's good.

Because God is getting praised on everything.

So we had to make all of that match with all of the singles.

The same thing was done back in the classics, Bach and Beethoven, those guys that do, they had to write for the whole symphony orchestra and the part for the choir.

But this is gospel music.

Sometimes we would add a saxophone.

Or you had to add a live legend Bates.

(gospel music playing) What's your favorite type of song?

We can talk about it.

- Okay, there's a Christian album.

Let me think.

♪ I'm blessed because God said "I'm blessed."

♪ ♪ I'm blessed because God said "I'm blessed."

♪ ♪ I'm blessed, because God said "I'm blessed."

♪ - ♪ Because God said "I'm blessed."

(hums) ♪ - ♪ I'm the head and not the tail, ♪ ♪ above and not beneath, ♪ ♪ I stand above the rest because I'm blessed.

♪ (chuckles) - Okay.

That's more of a praise song.

- It is.

- Praise and worship, - It is.

- It's more of a praise song than it is a, well you know, sometimes praise and worship are so closely related, so a lot of people look at worship songs being the slower one.

That would be more of a uptempo what you- ♪ I'm blessed, because God said I'm blessed.

♪ Can you sing it higher?

- ♪ I'm blessed.

♪ - ♪ I'm blessed.

♪ ♪ Cause God said, I'm blessed.

♪ Try it.

- ♪ I'm blessed, because God said I'm blessed.

♪ - There you go.

That's more.

♪ I'm blessed because God ♪ [Together] ♪ Said I'm blessed!

- You know, I was looking over like some of these names, the Whinings, Donnie McClurkin.

I love the song he does called Stand.

Arants Allen, Vanessa Williams, Lou Rawls, you played with them all.

How did that happen?

- A lot of that happened if you can get a recording out.

That's another part of the industry that I was, that I was blessed because in 1993, the 700 club in Virginia Beach, Virginia, used to have a competition once a year called Star Search.

That was there where you have people from all over around the world, sending you sent in a tape.

So you could record, make a record with a major recording company.

So I actually won out of 5,000 people.

But through that, I had a CD done.

And so people would hear my CD here.

They'll be anywhere in the United States they would hear my song.

And like when you come here and play this for us.

♪ I'm blessed because God said I'm blessed.

♪ But instead of saying just "I'm blessed" go ahead and bounce it out, ♪ I'm blessed because God said, I'm blessed.

♪ Go ahead and do it, ready?

Go!

- [Together] I'm blessed because God said "I'm blessed."

- Keep going.

- [Together] I'm blessed because God said "I'm blessed".

I'm the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, I stand above the rest because I'm blessed!

(chuckles) - I can tell what a great teacher you are.

(stutters) You make learning fun!

(laughter) I can tell, I've tried taking lessons and I can tell when there's somebody that I get it, you know, I made- - Oh yeah.

Got to relate.

You look at, you teach a course.

You teach according to your education and what you learn but you have to also teach it according to the individuals that are in front of you.

- Right.

- How do we make this fun?

How do we make them want to do it?

How do we make them want to continue?

- Right.

- Because as an educator, you're going to be up in front.

Cause you gotta, you have to present at a concert and if it's not good, then that your whole career could be based on a bad concert.

Okay.

Well, we'll just keep on signing.

- Keep on keeping on.

(chuckles) - Keeping on, keeping on.

(audience chatter) (guitar song starts playing) - ♪ There was a time, ♪ before this- - Your music is described as fierce country twang, with an indie twist.

What does that sound like?

- Well, the best description that my friends and I have come up with is swanky twang.

So I'm a singer songwriter at heart.

I write about stories, people experiences, but I've also got this music background deeply rooted in country music of how I grew up where I grew up, what radio stations were available.

So that is my biggest influence on my writing.

- ♪ He said I could be a star and live the dream ♪ ♪ But I should've known ♪ ♪ By the way his eyes shown ♪ ♪ That'd I pray to the lord ♪ ♪ My sority ♪ ♪ "Don't be afraid" he said ♪ ♪ I do this all the time ♪ ♪ I give you what heart desires, and your soul ♪ ♪ It will be mine ♪ ♪ So come real close, and take a good look ♪ ♪ Cause it's gonna go down just like the old book says ♪ - So Carrie during performances, I know you you like to tell stories about your life.

So tell me a little bit about your life.

They say some of them are pretty humorous.

- Some of them can be, that's a catch 22 though.

So, but it's funny.

So I do, I write songs about interpersonal relationships, interactions with people, good or bad, funny situations.

And so I have learned to keep that to myself because it's not so funny.

If someone finds out like that, a funny song or like maybe a dig- - That's me.

- of the song is all about them.

I often just tell people my songs are stories.

Cause some of them are made up, and some of them are true.

Like, you know, and that's a funny one because people will listen to your music and think that they know your life.

Cause it must be a literal, you know, manuscript for your life.

- [Both Singing] ♪ Don't go around chasing demons ♪ ♪ because she wants to be the one who drags you down ♪ ♪ Oh mama, you've had a run... ♪ - You're not singing about words.

You're remembering emotions.

You have to be spent by the time that you walk off that stage.

- You know?

And I used to, it used to be worse because I used to feel like I had to be in every single, you know, song and reliving that to accurately deliver it to the audience.

But as I've gotten older, you know, you desensitized to those emotions each time and it becomes easier.

(guitar music playing) (humming) - ♪ Worlds that came into my life ♪ ♪ just like a song ♪ ♪ Howling (indistinct) works my soul... ♪ - When you moved down to Atlanta, you became a backup singer for the Lindsey Rakers Band.

- Yes.

- And I was just kind of curious what that experience taught you?

- It was really cool.

I had been just doing some solo things before that you know, at my college, but I'm bashful in a way, like I I know how to talk and be social, but I'm bashful.

So sometimes shows are difficult for me.

So when I was there, I was like I don't want to do anything about me.

I just want it to be someone else's project and just be part of it.

That experience was wonderful for me.

It really gave me a lot of stage confidence.

I remember going to the audition, they had given me a few songs to learn and they were very pleased and I was happy about it.

We got to open for some really amazing bands in Atlanta like Roger Klein and the Peacemakers, Honey Honey, we got to play a festival and we got to go pick up John Popper from Blues Traveler at the airport, and we got to play the same festivals like Amesly and Dawn of the Buffalo and just some really cool stuff that I wouldn't have gotten to do without that.

- Where do you record your albums?

- My current project is what I'm now referring to as my life's work.

I'm working again with Ian Gorman at Luluna.

Now we've got a wonderful working relationship.

He gets me, I get him.

I'm comfortable there.

You know, music and recording and shows, it's often a, you know, man's game and I never feel uncomfortable working with him.

I always feel valued.

And on the same level.

With the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo is helping fund this one.

And this is a concept album, it's simply going to be entitled Postpartum, which the pure definition of that just means after birth.

So it's a snapshot of my life since giving birth.

So, it's going to cover a lot of under-discussed topics, such as postpartum depression, anxiety, psychosis.

I think there are a lot of people that struggle with that.

It's not something that people want to get diagnosed with or get help for.

There's not a lot of support other than maybe a six week checkup and some medication.

So it talks about those issues.

I've also got a special needs child.

So, (voice breaks) it covers that, and there's a lot of worry that happens and parents don't talk about it.

You know, they don't talk about what's going to happen to them when I'm gone, who's gonna take care of them.

It's almost like a secret world.

So yeah, it's a doozy.

I cry a lot in the studio too.

Ian's used to that.

It's like, oh Carrie, just crying again.

Cause she likes how it sounds.

So that's coming out May of 22 because May is Mental Health Awareness Month, you know?

And it covers a hope, (chuckles) hope that you know good things are coming.

- Can you show me be a little something?

Can we do a little something here?

- I'll show you something really cool.

This is a banjo-tar or a guitjo, depending on what you want to call it.

It's a hybrid instrument.

So it's a plays like a guitar.

You'll see it has six- Where's the camera?

Six tuning pegs and it plays with your left hand, just like a guitar, but it sounds like banjo.

- Yeah.

So it's kind of for cheaters (chuckles) is what I like to say.

- I really appreciate your time.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- Thank you for joining us on this week's episode of Kalamazoo Lively Arts, check out today's show and other content @wgvu.org.

We leave you tonight with another spectacular performance.

I'm Jennifer Moss, have a great night!

- So this is a tune that's going on the new album.

This is called "Harvest".

(guitar song starts playing) ♪ Mama's been wondering if another hard year ♪ ♪ Will keep Daddy drowning his worrying beard ♪ ♪ Sister is sleeping, not a worry in sight ♪ ♪ We've been working in the darken night ♪ ♪ (harmonizing) ♪ ♪ Mama's been wondering if another hard year ♪ ♪ Will take Daddy's mind, leave his body here ♪ ♪ Crops they can spoil, old mule's day ♪ ♪ But we keep working these fields at night ♪ ♪ (harmonizing) ♪ ♪ (harmonizing intensifies) ♪ ♪ Harvest moon ♪ ♪ Oh, you couldn't have come too soon ♪ ♪ Sister's still sleeping, not a worry in sight ♪ ♪ We're gonna clear these fields tonight ♪ ♪ (harmonizing) ♪ ♪ (guitar solo plays) ♪ - Support for Kalamazoo lively arts is provided by the Irving S Gilmore Foundation helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

♪ You and me, but the bottle makes three ♪ ♪ It does ♪ ♪ The bottle makes three ♪ ♪ You and me ♪ ♪ But the bottle makes three ♪ ♪ It does ♪ (song ends)