Just Being Himself
CARMEN PREACHES THE GOSPEL ON HIS TERMS
Posted: November 13, 2009 at 9:17 a.m.
FAYETTEVILLE — Carman in concert” was not going to work on the marquee. Neither was something that touted a Carman lecture.
So, says the entertainer born Carman Domenic Licciardello by phone while traveling through Nevada, he had to come up with something a little more to the point.
His newest tour, the one that will visit the Word of Life Fellowship in Bentonville tonight, is being billed as “For Real. For Now.”
It’s Carman’s way of saying that he’s just going to be himself. There will be singing. There will be lecturing.
There will be jokes aplenty.
It is, says Carman, just a representation of the person he has become.
In a modern music economy that no longer focuses on album salesand going out en masse to concerts, Carman says that only the innovative, original performers will survive.
“It’s about coming up with answers that are entertaining,” he says.
Carman has been entertaining audiences and record-buyers for years. He’s sold more than 10 million albums in his 25-year career, and 15 of his recordings have reached gold or platinum status.
He also remains a popular concert draw, even if his standards have changed.
He once drew a reputed 80,000 to a concert in North Carolina, but he now plays at church venues throughout the country for audiences in the hundreds.
Many churches create their own music, he says, leaving his task a more challenging one than ever before.
“You have to think differently,” he says. “You have to bring something with you that’s unique.”
Carman believes that comes through in his oneman show, something he says is part comedic speech, part testimony and part concert.
His fans have responded, he says, and he thinks there is precedent for what he does.
He mentions Bill Clinton, former U.S. president and Arkansas governor, as an example. Carman recalls watching Clinton perform on “The Arsenio Hall Show,” with his saxophone before he delivered his message.
People were listening to Clinton, both musically and politically, because of it,Carman says.
“It elevated the way people relate to music.”
Carman’s message isn’t politics, of course. He preaches the gospel, and he’s quick to offer that as part of the reason for his success.
“God did not call us to be popular. God called us to be effective.”
Which, for Carman, comes from being real.
“I just talk to people, like a monologue, or like I’m talking to you,” he says.
“I was always real with people … and people seem to like that more.”
Entertainment, Pages 17 on 11/13/2009
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