Each time singer/songwriter/guitarist Calvin Richardson has created an album, he has taken his time to craft something unique from all the other male R&B singers in the game. For his third and latest release, When Love Comes (on Shanachie Records) - his first in five years - Calvin worked just as hard and came up with the finest album of his career to date. The acclaimed "New Prince of Soul" moves easily and naturally from the sexy, conga-driven audio aphrodisiac of "Give it to Me" to the plaintive and poignant "Daddy to My Kids" to the intimate acoustic textures of "Make Friends with Love" and "She's Hurtin'" to a contemporary spin on the doo wop pulse of "Sang No More."
Calvin composed, produced and arranged all of the songs on his latest album, which sets this album apart from his 1999 debut Country Boy (Uptown/Universal) and its long-awaited 2003 follow-up 2:35pm (Hollywood Records). What he excelled at was taking samples from classic soul gems such as Blue Magic's "Stop to Start" and Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" and flipping them in a way that allowed him to make personal statements instead of merely copying the masters. His vision: to embrace the very essence of classic soul. "I wanted to reconnect with the sounds of Curtis Mayfield and Betty Wright, then place them into a contemporary context," he explains. "A lot of the songs were inspired by digging in the crates and listening to old music that put me in a mood. That music speaks to me...gives me a road map back to the way things used to be."
In conjunction with that feeling, Monroe, North Carolina native Calvin Richardson - following in the footsteps of mighty greats such as Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack and Otis Redding - is hitting the road with a live band for a radio tour to promote When Love Comes that will take through Georgia and the Carolinas right on up to Washington, D.C. Lovers of honest, heartfelt and soulfully garnered R&B will not want to miss this captivating performer who has matured into the artist he has always envisioned himself becoming. "The great thing about the making of this album," Calvin concludes, "is expressing myself and being able to just do me...pressure-free."
CALVIN RICHARDSON "WHEN LOVE COMES" CONCERT & PROMOTIONAL TOUR
| MAY 17TH
| J' JAPANESE BISTRO | GASTONIA, NC | 11PM |
| MAY 22ND
| RUSTIC MARTINI | CHARLOTTE, NC | 9PM ALBUM LISTENING PARTY |
| MAY 23RD - 25TH | TBD | MYRTLE BEACH, SC |
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| MAY 27TH | MANIFEST MUSIC STORE | CHARLOTTE, NC COLUMBIA, SC | 7PM IN STORE VISIT |
| MAY 30TH | LANCASTER TAVERN | LANCASTER, SC | ALBUM RELEASE PARTY |
| JUNE 5TH | SUGAR HILL | ATLANTA, GA | 9PM |
| JUNE 6TH | WAGH / 101.3 FIRST FRIDAYS | F&W CONTROL TOWER | 9PM |
| JUNE 7TH | TBD | GREENVILLE, SC |
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| JUNE 19TH | TBD | AUGUSTA, GA |
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| JUNE 21ST | TBD | COLUMBUS, GA | RADIO PERFORMANCE |
| JUNE 28TH | WLXC /KISS 103.1 COUNCIL BUILDING DOWNTOWN | COLUMBUS, GA | 3PM NATIONAL HIV TESTING DAY BLOCK PARTY |
| JUNE 29TH | WUHT / HOT 107.7 | BIRMINGHAM, AL | SUNDAY IN THE PARK CONCERT |
| JULY 5TH | TBD | BIRMINGHAM, AL |
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| JULY 31ST | BIRCHMERE | ALEXANDRIA, VA | 7:30PM |
When Love Comes in stores May 27th on CD.