Featured photo by Kerstie Wolaver
Story by Kerstie Wolaver
The Soul Show made its return to Middle Tennessee State University for a second year, a beautiful tribute to Black artists throughout history who have made a monumental impact on the music industry.
The acts for this year’s show include a lineup of talented MTSU students Monte, KAY-T and The Soul Collective. All of these artists expressed enthusiasm about playing this show.
The best part?
“It’s the music, man.”
Kirk Mitchell, the founder of the Soul Show and member of The Soul Collective, started the show in an effort to bring R&B to MTSU.
“We love this music,” said Mitchell, along with other members of The Soul Collective, expressing their love for the music that brings so many people together.
Thr group’s drummer, Phillip Prior, said that pre-covid he constantly saw artists playing live music all over campus. Now it has become a struggle to find live music and young artists sharing their music with the world.
The group began playing together because of a class. Prior said he was so excited to find a group that he worked so well with because of it.
R&B artist KAY-T opened her set with a cover of John Legend’s “Ordinary People” and continued to play a number of original songs that she wrote from personal experience.
She was honored to be invited.
“Being asked to do it is pretty special.”
She continued to say how thankful she was to be given the opportunity to share her music.
Mitchell, along with the other artists performing, have one intention with an event such as this: To celebrate a genre that has so many wonderful components.
He expressed his concern that being so near to Nashville; Country is the biggest genre that artists and listeners see in the industry. Mitchell wanted to see that change here on campus by bringing back the music he was raised on.
These artists’ goal is to showcase the music that they find so much love in, and to share it with their audience.
R&B has roots in many different genres of music, The Soul Show highlights the history of the many genres that contributed to today’s R&B.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Destiny Mizell and Assistant Lifestyles Editor Shamani Salahuddin, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, or follow us on Instagram at MTSUSidelines or on X at @MTSUSidelines.
