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I love when celebrities truly make time and give some energy to the youth, and I got to witness first hand how Anthony Hamilton gave back to some kids in Atlanta before one of his concerts. Anthony Hamilton is an African American singer, songwriter, and record producer who rose to fame with his platinum-selling second studio album Comin’ from Where I’m From (2003), which featured the title track single “Comin’ from Where I’m From” and the follow-up “Charlene”. Nominated for 12 Grammy Awards, he is also known for the song “Freedom” from the soundtrack album of Django Unchained (i.e. wikipedia) 

Anthony Hamilton invited some children from Steve Harvey Foundation, YMCA STEM/Arts Youth and Kidz Mic kid interviewers to spend a day with him and his production team and to see first hand how musical concerts come together. This is a great initiative to spark curiosity and gain more knowledge of information in STEM/Arts and up close interaction for the children to ask question and maybe even inspire them to have a career in either field.

YOUTH MEET THE SOUND & ENGINEERING CREW

The children got an amazing opportunity to meet Anthony Hamilton’s production crew members and also learn about engineering equipment on site before the concert. These kids were so lucky, how many children you know get a chance to go backstage and meet with a musical artist production crew before a show?

The children met Courtney Taylor, who is the Front House Engineer for Anthony Hamilton. He is known for also working with other musical talent such as Common, Fantasia, Pharrell Williams and has been in the industry for 23 years. Favorite performaces he’s down was in 1999 with musical Group Third World in Ethopia.

Eric Jones is the Soundboard engineer and keyboard tech for Anthony Hamilton. He showed the kids his equipment and some important information on how it works while doing a set.

Lemonte is Anthony Hamilton’s bass player. There isn’t a show without him. His bass makes the music come to life!

ANTHONY HAMILTON SOUND CHECK

After the walk through and meet and greet with the production crew, we all got an opportunity to listen and watch Anthony Hamilton’s soundcheck. A soundcheck is basically a mini-rehearsal every performer must do before a concert. its to make sure not only the artist mic and sound is good, but also all of the production crew, backup singers and band are all in harmony for each concert. Each stage is different and the production crew always have to soundcheck at each concert, because mistakes can happen.

This was actually my first soundcheck. I have done a lot of festivals and been to a lot of concerts, but never watched an artist soundcheck live. It was fun, these kids were so lucky to witness this at such a young age. So everything they learned from meeting the production crew, they can now see it come together live.

Q&A with Anthony Hamilton

After the soundcheck Anthony Hamilton was gracious enough to take a break for the children and meet them and even answer some questions! How many kids can say they got an opportunity to not only meet a celebrity, but interview them? That is some next level media grooming and I was so excited for them.

If I was a kid and I had this opportunity I would of jumped all over this because I have always wanted to be in media. Speaking from experience, you usually don’t get a chance to interview and talk to celebs unless you are already a journalist in the industry. So this was fun as you never know who out of all of the children present were our next media correspondents. Kids I will be passing the baton to you all soon!

Fun facts about Anthony Hamilton

• • Anthony Hamilton is a devoted father of 6 boys, including a set of twins
  • Anthony Hamilton lives in Charlotte, NC
  • The entire team just spent time touring in South Africa, Bahamas, Jamaica, Trindad, Tobago and many U.S. cities since May
  • Anthony Hamilton has sold over 40 million albums, and many more records
  • Anthony Hamilton is a Grammy award winner and has been nominated for 18 Grammys
  • We are looking forward to seeing – y.o.u.!

The importance of kids being involved in more STEM/Art programs

• Afterschool Alliance found 70% of parents want more STEM/Arts to support their interest in children and their family
• Georgetown University Center found that 65% of Bachelors’ degree holders in STEM fields earned more than Master’s degree holders in non-STEM occupations
• 47 percent of Bachelor’s degrees in STEM occupations earn more than PhDs in non-STEM careers (usnews.com, 2012)
•  2012 STEM Phd Degree counts: 6,777 – White women; 8,478 White Men; 684 African American women, that number dwindles to 684 (10 times fewer)