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| Lights Out |
VOCAL QUARTET LIGHTS OUT RELEASES ‘ALL THAT MATTERS’ SINGLE AND VIDEO TO BUOY SPIRITS AND THANK AMERICA’S HEROES DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Philly-Based Group Combines Heartfelt Lyrics with Soaring Harmonies to Create an Anthem for Our Times
Proceeds from Single & Video Benefit First Responders Children’s Foundation COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund
New Facebook Live Variety Series, “Escape the Virus with a Lights Out-ing,” Airs Saturdays @ 4 p.m. EST
Call it fate, call it coincidence, call it happenstance, but every so often there occurs a magic moment − unplanned and unforeseen − when a song arrives just at the point it is needed most. Such is the case with “All That Matters,” by LIGHTS OUT, which is poised to become an anthem for these troubling and frightening times.
The first single/video and title track from the vocal quartet’s new album, All That Matters – just released April 17 − is a moving, uplifting and inspirational piece that imbues the listener with what is most needed as the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic: Optimism that a better day is on the horizon and the unshakeable belief that the human spirit is always stronger than the most fearsome foe.
Proceeds from the “All That Matters” music video and song download go to First Responders Children’s Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. Donations are being accepted now at www.lightsoutvocals.com.
In line with the group’s pandemic efforts, LIGHTS OUT has launched a weekly Facebook Live variety series, “Escape the Virus with a Lights Out-ing,” webcasting every Saturday at 4 p.m. EST. Weekly themes range from archival concert videos, to live Zoom performances, fan recipe cooking segments, story-swapping, topical discussions, and most importantly throughout, regular fan interaction. It’s all about maintaining the individual and group intimacy with their fans that the group holds in such high regard despite the tenuous climate the pandemic has created. Indeed, social distancing has inspired LIGHTS OUT to further find ways of staying close to its fans through social media.
Composed by members Chris James and Danny Goscicki, “All That Matters” is a work of classic blue-eyed soul marked by an indelible, instantly familiar melody and the breathtaking vocal harmonies that are the sonic signature of LIGHTS OUT. Despite its of-the-moment urgency, it was written and recorded before the world had ever heard the phrase “COVID-19.”
According to Rob Fleishman, fellow group member Chad Moroz suggested the track be released as a single. “That,” Fleishman explains, “kind of sparked an idea in my head to create the video. So I created the video and it kind of took on a life of its own.
“At first, it was going to go down the road of friendship and how the group is together,” he continues. “But the ‘A-ha!’ moment came while I was watching the news. It kinda hit me that the lyrics are just so inspirational for this moment. It spoke to me as, ‘Why not thank the people who are on the front lines?’ Which is why at the end of the video, we thank everyone − doctors, nurses, cashiers, farmers, truck drivers, teachers, the military− for working as hard as they are to save our lives right now.”
The phrase "working hard" also applies to the Philadelphia-based unit that was formed by its members when they were students at the University of Delaware. Starting as an a capella group inspired primarily by Rockapella and Boyz II Men, LIGHTS OUT has simultaneously traveled several musical paths, including being a popular attraction at many of the nation's top venues,2 performing their own blend of originals and covers, and as a highly successful Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons tribute act as well as their original show, The Jersey Beach Boys.
Through the years, the troupe’s thrilling vocal harmonies, polished stage shows and songwriting prowess have provided LIGHTS OUT with the opportunities to work with Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Philadelphia’s chart-topping vocal group Boyz II Men, and Barry Carl of Rockapella. Boyz II Men co-founder Mike McCary was so impressed by the foursome that he actually served as its manager. Although today, the group’s career is overseen by another Philly music legend, Jerry Gross of the revered 1960s vocal act, The Dovells, the relationship with McCary continues to pay dividends.
“We were all, at one point, going to school for music at the University of Delaware,” offers Chris James. “Being a music major is amazing, because you learn so much, but you also can kind of get pigeonholed a little bit, even in your own mind. You can get kind of closed-in and not realize that even though the rules say you shouldn't do something, there are ways to do it that might sound good. Mike started opening our eyes to different harmonies and different voicings and different movements within the four of our voices that we would not have had otherwise. It's not just that we wouldn't have thought of them. But we probably would have said, ‘That note's not in the chord, that won’t work.’ But he opened our ears and our minds into a completely new way of harmony. And to this day we take that with us everywhere we go.”
The evidence the band members have taken such lessons to heart can be heard on the All That Matters album, which boasts, in addition to the title cut, 12 tracks steeped in the quartet’s shimmering, usually breathtaking harmonies. Aside from nine originals, the album boasts four covers: The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” The 4 Seasons’ “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night),” Mr. Big’s “To Be With You,” and most notably, a sharp and energetic “hip-pop” reinvention of “Stand By Me” featuring a guest appearance by show business titan Ben Vereen.
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