Blind Boys of Alabama at Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida on November 21, 2017. Credit: Photo by D. Bowen
Eighty-four years after the band’s founding, The Blind Boys of Alabama are still on the road despite the 2018 passing of leader and founding member Clarence Fountain. The Boys’ show is still a borderline gospel revival and folklorist fantasy where the group works through jubilant gospel standards and music rooted squarely in the African diaspora.

The Grammy-winning group’s newest member, Reverend Julius Love, who joined in 2020, is flanked by longtime Blind Boy Ricky McKinnie (who became group leader this year) in the lineup.

Tickets to see The Blind Boys of Alabama play Largo’s Central Park Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Dec. 16 are still available and start at $39.50.

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This article appears in Dec 7-13, 2023.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...