The gritty, gospel-minded urban contemporary/neo-soul vocalist from North Carolina known as Calvin Richardson is a songwriter whose influences have ranged from Sam Cooke and Bobby Womack to Jodeci and R. Kelly. Like other neo-soulsters who emerged in the 1990s and 2000’s, Richardson looked to different r&b eras for inspiration. The classic soul of the 1960’s and 1970’s had an impact on his singing and writing, but so has the urban contemporary and hip hop of the 1980’s, 1990’s, and 2000’s.
At times, Richardson has been flat-out retro; some of his material would have been right at home on an old Stax or Motown LP from r&b’s pre-1980’s, pre-urban contemporary, pre-hip hop era. But other times, he has a more modern, hip hop-influenced outlook. In other words, this Southerner is a versatile crooner.
Peep our exclusive interview with him below and cop his newest release I Am Calvin here.
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The Source: I Am Calvin is a relaunch to your career in a certain sense – now being housed under Primary Wave & Jordan House. How do you feel your current situation has allowed you to be successful thus far?
Calvin Richardson: I’ve been successful thus far with my current situation basically by having new music out there with a fresh sound and the fact that I’m now signed to Eric Benet’s Jordan House records. Not to mention that I have a great management company in PMW.
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TS: With Jordan House comes Eric Benet. Describe what it’s like working intimately with Eric. How do you feel his influences helped to craft I Am Calvin?
CR: Working with Eric has been an amazing accomplishment in my career. Eric’s a brilliant, well-rounded singer, songwriter and producer. But he still gave me the freedom to choose the direction of the music (under his watchful eye of course) – all while encouraging me to try different things that I wouldn’t have had I did the album on my own.
TS: You’ve always had an incredibly soulful voice, but you’re new music has a sense of maturity to it that makes it that much more real and believable. In what area of your career do you feel like you’ve grown the most?
CR: I’ve grown the most as a person and it carries over to the music. As an artist you always want the new material to raise the bar by being better than the ones prior to.
TS: In the creation process, are you one to get hands on with all aspects of the record (i.e. songwriting, arranging, production, mixing, etc.)? Or do you prefer to have a core team around you that divides & conquers these tasks?
CR: I am definitely the type of artist that’s hands on in every aspect of the music, especially writing and arranging and producing. I think it is important for the identity of an artist to be as involved as their knowledge and talent allows.
TS: The tragic passing of Bobby Womack brought again to the forefront your incredible tribute album Facts of Life: The Soul of Bobby Womack – a classic for sure. What inspired you to create such a body of work in the first place?
CR: Mr. Womack’s music has always been a huge influence to me and my music, but the idea to do the tribute album wasn’t mine. The idea to the remake album came from my then label boss Randall Grass of Shanachie Entertainment.
TS: The irony of course is that you never had the chance to meet him. What would you say to him if you had the chance?
CR: If I had the chance to meet him I think I would say thank you for not only the great music, but for being a teacher and an Ambassador of soul music.
TS: When can fans expect to see you live? Is there a tour in the works stemming off the most recent project?
CR: I actually have a tour in the works with Noel Gourdin that we plan to launch by the end of this year. We’re looking to enlist a third artist to join us on this tour. We have a couple people in mind that we think will make the deal complete.
TS: What’s coming down the pike for you in 2015?
CR: We will be releasing the second single from my I Am Calvin album come January 2015. I also have my own syndicated 3 hour radio show call “The Soul Party” that will be launching in a couple months just in time for 2015.
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– Scott Randell (@iamscottrandell)