LISTEN: Sweet Honey in the Rock, an a cappella vocal ensemble formed in Washington, D.C., in 1973, tells the stories of Black culture through women's voices. GPB's Kristi York Wooten has more from the group with deep Georgia ties.
For more than 50 years, the women in Sweet Honey in the Rock have delivered harmonies about justice and civil rights to stages across the globe.
The group sings in a variety of styles including jazz, R&B, blues and folk and has appeared on Sesame Street, was commissioned by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company to compose a 50th anniversary program and is featured on the PBS series American Masters.
The ensemble’s performance at Georgia State University's Rialto Theater on Jan. 25 is a homecoming of sorts. Its founder, Bernice Johnson Reagon, was born in Dougherty County, Ga., attended both Albany State University and Spelman College and was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s Freedom Singers in the 1960s.
She went on to receive her doctorate from Howard University and became a curator of Black culture at the Smithsonian and its Folkways recordings. She created Sweet Honey in the Rock in Washington in 1973.
Although Reagon died last summer, Aisha Kahlil, who joined the group in 1981, said the founder's voice lives on in its generations of members.
“I joined seven years after the Sweet Honey had first started singing,” she recalled in a recent interview with GPB. “The leadership from Bernice Johnson Reagon, which was exemplary, I have to say, and [we’ve had] exemplary leadership since she retired back over 20 years ago. We've seen different changes come forth with different people coming in and out. We never try to duplicate someone who leaves the group. So we try to let them have the space to be able to find their own way and how we can support that voice and artistic energy within the group.”
The mission of Sweet Honey in the Rock is to reach people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities — a pledge that remains in force across the decades. One of the members performs in American Sign Language, and each singer brings her own talents to the mix — including songwriting, poetry, acting and movement. The group’s most recent songs pay homage to that deep spirituality and musical sisterhood that Reagon brought, as well as the sounds of a new bass player (who is a man).
“Now we have a bass player, Romeir Mendez, and of course we're continuing along with the sign language interpreter,” Kahlil said. “All of our concerts have sign language interpreting for hearing impaired people. We want to keep it open to everyone who can possibly come and experience a Sweet Honey in the Rock concert.”
Kahlil said the group varies its setlist, including old favorites and new songs.
“We have a song that was just recently released about a year ago called ‘Tune for June,’ a song I wrote about the resilience and indestructible nature of our very being," she said. "It gives us hope that no matter what we're going through — it could be the worst thing that we could possibly face — but through all that, there is something inside of us that is so deep or so strong that we can grab onto, that we can see our lives through that.”
Kahlil said the bond of performing music together has helped the women in Sweet Honey in the Rock get through uncertain times. And she hopes it does the same for their audiences. It’s all in the blend, she said.
“With a group that's doing a cappella, the hearing is important, the singing together and really understanding what that blend is kind of like in a tune,” she said.
She compared the group's rehearsals and performances to a slow-cooker. “My dad used to make all these wonderful soups and stews and everything,” Kahlil said. “He put all the stuff in there, all the vegetables and everything, and then all the different elements that he's putting in there all have time to merge and blend. To me, that's the quintessential part of a music group or band: that simmering really brings it to a higher level, vocally.”
Sweet Honey in the Rock performs at the Rialto Center for the Arts in Atlanta on Saturday, Jan. 25.
