Courtesy of Brian Owens
Three generations of Ferguson will come together this Sunday for a concert featuring covers of (and accompanied by) Michael McDonald. Called "A Night for Life,” the concert aims to bring together the community while paying tribute to McDonald, the Grammy-winning artist who is originally from Ferguson.
"The best part about it is that he's going to be there to play with us," says, local singer-songwriter Brian Owens, who also orchestrated the event. Using the soundtrack of McDonald (who recorded the song “For You” together for Owen’s recent “Soul of Ferguson” album), he will accompany the likes of Kennedy Holmes, from The Voice, Peter Martin, and Shedrick Mitchell, in addition to students from the L.I.F.E. Arts program, a nonprofit that Owens started in 2014.
"I talked to [McDonald] about how it'd be great to do a show in our hometown together, Ferguson and the Touhill Performing Arts Center is right in our backyard," Owens says. "I've never in my life had the experience of being able to tribute a musical hero of mine, that number one, was still alive. Number two, that could be present. And number three, would actually be on stage with us as needed. So there are multiple levels to this being an amazing experience."
As for what that moment will feel like? "I don't know that I will really absorb that until it happens," says Owens. "But I think it's a picture of not only where we want to go as a community but where we are as a community and the role of arts in supporting, starting, and moving forward change, and cultural shifts in our community."
The concert's proceeds will also go toward the L.I.F.E. Arts program, which provides leadership development for urban youth and young adults pursuing the arts throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area.
The concert comes not long after the fifth anniversary of the shooting death of Michael Brown, but it's not the first time Owens has united the community through music. "When Michael Brown was killed, that September, we did the very same thing. We held a concert on the parking lot of the church that I attended in Ferguson, and we had about 700 people come out," says Owens. "I think back to that night, and then fast forward to now. We've grown. We've seen a lot and experienced a lot, poured over who we are, as a community. Now, I think it's time for us to step out and say—boldly—we are proud of where we are. We are proud of who we are. We understand that we are all flawed people and that we have work to do. But we're going to do that work together."
"A Night for Life" is at 7:30 p.m. on September 29. Tickets range from $39.50–$75.
