Alex Boye Wants Jesus to Walk With Him - Part 2

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I’m thinking, there's only two reasons an Apostle calls someone....

to make them an Apostle or to kick them out of the Church. Which one do you think I thought? Elder Ballard says, I want you to come on assignment with me. I want you to be the singer and I want you to sing three songs. Do you have a pen and a paper? Yes Sir, I say as I’m scrambling to get a pen and paper. Elder Ballard says, first song, There is a Green Hill Far Away, do you know it? Yes Sir. Second song, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, do you know it? Yes Sir. Third song, I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked, do you know it? Yes Sir. I lied. I had never heard the third song before. As soon as I hung up with him I start searching everywhere, I’m all over Google, I finally found it on Youtube.

So I went on assignment with Elder Ballard and I had to get up to sing three times. I get up to sing the first song, and the Spirit just thrashes. Second song, I’m just thrashed. Third song, I get up and the Spirit just thrashes me again and finally it hit me, there was my answer. Those were the three songs I needed to finish the hymns album. So I went in and recorded the three songs, finish the album, and I get a call from Deseret Book. We want you to do a hymns album. I’m just like SHUT UP! I just recorded one I say. Be Still, My Soul: Classic Hymns and Folk Songs went to Deseret Book’s top 10 on the first day it was released. Months later it’s still there. It was such a testimony to me. I have had such a great response because of that album. Someone just wrote me on Facebook and said that her friend was going to commit suicide and heard one of the songs on the album and decided not to.

Sista Beehive asks, how is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir received by other religions and other Christian denominations? When the choir was going out to Oklahoma I was asked to go out some days before to do radio and TV spots. I went with Scott Barrick the choir’s General Manager. So we’re out there doing these promotions and the entire time I was thinking why did they ask me to do this? The questions were about the history of the choir and so on and you know there are so many people that could answer these questions better than me, I was just winging it.

So for one spot we had to split up, I had to go on my own and Scott Barrick was going elsewhere. I get dropped off at this radio station and I immediately realize it’s a black radio station. I start to get nervous. I’m thinking of course this where they leave me to go by myself, they just drove off and left me here. I’m just nervous and my head is spinning trying to think of all the controversial questions that they might ask me, Man I just knew they were gonna eat me up and spit me out. I was looking around like where are those Sistas in Zion when you need them.

So I walk in and sit in the reception area and I’m hearing Lil Wayne and Beyonce playing. Are you kidding me! This is where I’m gonna go and talk about the choir. It wasn’t even a Gospel station, straight up Hip Hop. I’m supposed to go in there and tell people to come to the choir. I start sweating, I didn’t know what to do, and I just start praying. I literally got on my knees in the reception area and I’m praying. The receptionist is just doing her nails or whatever and glaring at me. So, I can hear the radio personalities segment and they’re talking about things that get on their nerves and they are just all riled up. So one of the DJs comes out and he says, you the one that’s here with the choir? Yes Sir. You been in a radio station before? Yes Sir. Ok here’s the mic, come on and have a seat.

We get on air and the DJ says, what’s up I’m here with Alex Boye, tell me about the choir. So I nervously start to talk about the history of the choir and all of a sudden the DJ goes silent. There’s this long pause and then he says; I’ve been listening to that choir since I was seven years old. I remember the LPs, my Grandma use to listen to them. Then he starts praising the choir…on a Hip Hop station. The DJ says, let’s open up the lines. I said no, please don’t do that, come on guys. The first caller is on and he says, yeah, I wanna ask you something…I’m thinking here it goes…how can I get tickets for the concert? People are calling and asking great questions about the choir and the DJs are having a great time and they turn to me and they say, sing something. So I sing, I want Jesus to Walk With Me…in a Hip Hop station…brothas in the background saying Amen…in a Hip Hop station. I thought WOW!

I walked out of there, and you know what Sistas, I had to repent. I was called to be there. The Lord wanted me to be there. I had doubts, but those doubts were because of my limitations, what I thought I was going to get asked, and if I could do it because I was on my own. The Lord had my back, he sent me there for a reason. I was thinking of me, me, me.

Prior to us going to do the spots there was something like 75% of the tickets that still needed to be sold for that concert. I was there doing the promoting three days before the concert, the concert was sold out. One of the top ten experiences of my lifetime thus far. Oklahoma was incredible.

So tell us about this Sunday, says Sista Laurel. This Sunday, January 17, 2010, I will be a performing Negro Spirituals as a featured soloist with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for Music and the Spoken. I had the blessing of doing it last year, and they asked me to perform again this year. We thank Alex for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with us. He hangs up… Girl, please remind me not to stand next to that man in a lightning storm? Why? If Santa Claus knows when you’re asleep or awake, you know Elder Ballard knows Alex fibbed about knowing that song!

Music and the Spoken Word, Sunday, January 17, 2010. To find out more about how you can attend, watch, or listen to this broadcast visit: http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/info/matsw.

To Learn more about Alex Boye visit: http://www.alexboye.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/alexboye.music


Your Sistas in the Gospel,
Sista Beehive and Sista Laurel