A few weeks after President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Sweet Honey in the Rock, the six-woman, African-American a cappella group from Washington, D.C., was asked to perform at the White House.
“We were invited by Mrs. Obama, who reiterated how important our music is to the whole family, and that they’d been fans for a very very long time,” said Carol Maillard, one of the group’s founding members, in an email interview with The Park Record. “She sent us a lovely note that said she brought her friends and children to see us at the Chicago Symphony Hall in April of 2008.”
The White House performance was one of Sweet Honey in the Rock’s many highlights during it’s 38-year career, Maillard said.
Since 1973, the group has performed its blend of unifying blues, gospel, rap, reggae, spirituals, hip hop, jazz and African chants all over the world.
It has also received Grammy nominations and performed with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre.
The group, whose name was taken from the Bible scripture, Psalm 81:16, that states the righteous would be fed honey out of the rock by the Lord, came together at the Black Repertory Company in Washington, D.C.
“One of the principal members said the company needed to have a group that can sing around the D.C. area,” Maillard said. “So the first group was just interested in taking the songs (Sweet Honey founder) Bernice Johnson Reagon was teaching us and putting them on a larger stage to promote the theatre.”
Interestingly enough, Maillard was ridiculed as a child when she sang.
“My voice wasn’t very good, but singing was something I found fun to do,” she said. “I kept it to myself, but I had a great ear for harmony and putting songs together.”
Still, Maillard played piano and sang in the Glee Club and joined the chorus while attending a Catholic high school in Pennsylvania.
“One of my friends encouraged me to come to the orchestra,” she said. “The perks were great no detention, early dismissals for practice, free lessons so I left the chorus room and ran to orchestra,” where she played the violin.”
Maillard continued her violin studies on scholarship at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where her life took another turn.
“I decided to leave music and join the drama department, where I had a lot of success and uncovered my vocal and songwriting talents,” she said.
That’s when she auditioned for the Black Repertory Company.
Although there were no specific goals for Sweet Honey in the Rock at first, once the group got established, it sang in as many places as it could, Maillard said.
The group became known for its preservation of spirituals and church gospel music, but also became the group that sang about awareness of equality everywhere.
In 2008, Sweet Honey in the Rock’s album, “Experience 101,” was nominated for a Grammy.
“The Grammy nod was quite amazing,” Maillard said. “It was the first time the group went to the Grammys. That was such a great moment.
“Oh to have won!!! It was nice to be nominated, but to have won for our own album, wow, that would have been the icing on the red velvet cupcake.”
Later that year, Sweet Honey in the Rock participated in the 50th anniversary celebration of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre.
“Working with them is a privilege and honor, and always a joy,” Maillard said. “That was the first time we collaborated with the company, so we were very happy when we were asked to sing (for the company’s signature piece) ‘Revelations’ in 2010, and to sing it again on New Year’s Eve. The dance theatre is a top-notch team and a beautiful group of artists. We look forward to working with them again.”
Still, regardless of all the accolades and recognition, Maillard said the group still strives to do more and sound better.
“There have been 23 different women in the group over the past 38 years, which has given the group a wide range of viewpoints, philosophies, lifestyles, talents, strengths, weaknesses and abilities,” she said. “We are constantly shifting and growing. We’ve not come close to reaching the heights we know we can reach.
“(Even with) producing our dream projects, working with the many artists we admire, writing and recording new songs, becoming more recognized in the world of music and ‘edu-tainment,’ we still have a long way to go, and we’re working hard to move ahead.”
Sweet Honey in the Rock will perform at the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $18-$65 and can be purchased online at www.ecclescenter.org or by calling (435) 655-3114.