About once a year, for more years than I care to remember, I get a call from John Watts. I have no problem with John; in fact, I like him. My issue is with why he calls. He calls to tell me about the latest Save the Youth Tour show he is putting together.
J-Si and Big Al from “The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show” sing karaoke at Sing It or Wing It on Monday.
Barry CourterIn recent years, his tone has moved from sadness mixed with hope to sadness mixed with fear.
“We’ve got to do something about these gangs to help these kids, man,” he said earlier this week.
“Its time for us to stop living in fear and being afraid of our youth. On March 12, we are going to have a youth revival and we are going to use one of God’s most powerful tools music to reach our youth and change some lives. We have songs that meet the youth where they are at. Our tracks and beats are hard with a serious message on top. Would you let a stranger come to your house and take your child? That’s what the gangs are doing, and we have got to save our youth from going to jail or hell.”
The next Save the Youth Tour will be Saturday, March 12, at Greater Emmanuel Church, 400 Tunnel Blvd., from 1 to 4 p.m. Providing live music with a positive message will be Michael “Emskot” Scott, Deonte Grimes, Marcus “Da Chosen” Price and Steven “The Disciple” Marshall.
“We know we can’t change the ones that are really corrupt, but we’ve got to do something for the other kids,” Watts said.
* Fans started lining up outside Sing It or Wing It as early as 3 p.m. Monday afternoon, two hours before doors opened, for a chance to get inside to see Kellie Rasberry, J-Si Chavez, Jenna Owens and Big Al Mack, stars of “The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show,” a syndicated radio show that airs locally on Hits 96.
The four are traveling to South Carolina on what they are calling the Rasberry Road Show in honor of Rasberry’s father, Robert, who was part of the crew and garnered as many hugs, handshakes and photo-ops as the other four during stops at the Market Street venue and earlier at the Tennessee Aquarium for a meet-and-greet with about 75 people.
While at the aquarium, the four also got to have an up-close-and-personal interaction with the penguins.
“That was cool,” Owens said.
The big event was at Sing It or Wing It, where fans packed the inside of the venue and lined up down the block hoping to get in. Hits 96 station manager Danny Howard said the crowd was a bit overwhelming.
“We had no idea what to expect,” he said.
The crew did a live broadcast Tuesday from the Hits 96 studio.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.