Kory Caudill, Wordsmith, Pam Tillis, and other incredible musicians will come together for the Concert For The Human Family at the Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City on April 29th.
Photo Credit: Shore Fire Media
The 75-Minute concert will have a full-band set of songs and stories that showcase the intersection of art, reconciliation, and faith. They will incorporate materials from last year’s broadcast with new artists’ collaborations to celebrate the power of music, uniting people through diversity. The musicians performing have celebrated many accolades throughout their careers, but now they are dedicated to spreading a positive message about the consistent issues that have affected society.
Caudill is an award-winning artist, songwriter, pianist, and composer who has worked with Justin Moore, Dustin Lynch, and other mainstream country artists. Wordsmith is a Baltimore-based rapper and spoken word artist whose resume includes being an artistic partner with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and has written music for Netflix, ESPN, the NFL Network, and more. Tillis is a country music staple whose songs like “Maybe It Was Memphis” have earned her a place as a Grand Ole Opry member. These three artists will cultivate an evening filled with inspiring songs and sounds to create open conversations about important topics.
Photo Credit: Shore Fire Media
The Knockturnal: Tell us about the concert!
Kory Caudill: There’s a complex narrative behind these concerts, but on the surface, they’re still shows. Our event in New York features a lot of the material folks may have experienced from last year’s broadcasted events, as well as new collaborations. We’re most excited to be adding a very special guest artist to the set, country music legend Pam Tillis. If folks have never heard a country music artist perform alongside a hip hop/spoken word/rap artist from Baltimore, and a hillbilly jazz pianist from eastern Kentucky, we’d encourage them to come hang out!
The Knockturnal: How did you get involved?
Kory Caudill: Three years ago, while I was working on a follow up to my first solo album, a close friend of mine heard the music and felt inspired to reach out with what we thought at the time was a crazy idea: letting this music have a home in some of the gorgeous spiritual places owned by The Episcopal Church. Our hopes were that in doing this, all members of the community would have another reason to experience those spaces. As we began conceptualizing the project, I became more familiar with the work being led by the church’s main offices, and we all felt that these concerts should be about more than just music. Wordsmith, myself, and some folks from the church who shy away from publicity, worked tirelessly the last three years to make these events become a reality.
The Knockturnal: What can guests expect?
Kory Caudill: Music. We always start by telling folks they’re attending a concert, not a seminar, but we hope the music is the message. We feel very privileged that people would spend their hard-earned money to share an evening with us, and we do our best to honor that by creating and performing the best music we can make. The most important thing to all the folks on stage, however, is that folks leave feeling inspired. We discuss some hard topics in our music. We do that because we feel music provides a comforting way for us to break down the walls that keep us from truly understanding each other. We also do it because we live in a time with very short news cycles, and a lot of our material covers topics that are still unresolved in our country.
The Knockturnal: What new projects are you promoting?
Kory Caudill: Wordsmith and I recorded our first album in the middle of the pandemic, so we’re just now getting to tour that album for the first time. We’re also close to finishing our second studio album, which will be our first full length record. Additionally, I’m nearing completion of an album with my Dad, who’s a very accomplished pianist. We perform songs from all projects on these shows!
The Knockturnal: What does New York mean to you?
Kory Caudill: When you’re from as deep in rural Appalachia as one can get without having to turn around, New York can be a very mysterious, intimidating place. As I began spending more time in the city (usually a couple weeks per year), my perspective really started to shift. To me New York isn’t about the things we see about it on TV, it’s about community. It’s the center of the world. I’ve grown to understand that even though people move quickly and have a certain way of communicating, there’s a lot of love here, and everybody feels like they’re part of something. Visiting New York is a healthy reminder for me that we’re all a small part of something bigger than ourselves, and it takes all of us doing our part to make it work.
The Knockturnal: How did you get your start in music?
Kory Caudill: I learned to play music in eastern Kentucky before social media made the world a smaller place. For perspective, we were two hours from the nearest interstate! Because of that, a lot of the musical and cultural traditions I grew up around were unaltered from their original forms. I love performing all genres, but because of my background everything I do has a bluegrass/gospel touch to it. The older I got the more I felt inspired to include that style in new genres I was starting to learn and experience, and I couldn’t stop. Throughout my years of crafting a music career from a more conventional perspective (touring side man, studio musician, songwriting etc.) I was constantly honing in on my original style, and I finally took the leap into focusing on my career as a solo artist in April of 2020.
