2008 Woodie Awards
Angelic voice turns heads
Leslie Ash
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: Features
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Roberts chose Southwestern College for the friendly atmosphere, awesome choir, a small town school, great track and a great scholarship. Roberts participates in choir and track at Southwestern.
Roberts started singing in sixth grade, became more interested in singing in high school. His six brothers and two sisters all sing. One of his brothers is performing in the Broadway play "The Color Purple."
Roberts graduated from Wichita West High school in 2007 where he had participated in all-city choir and all-state.
Roberts is in the process of learning to play the piano.
His favorite singer is Luther Barnes, a southern gospel singer. Roberts said, "I love the richness of his voice and how smooth it sounds. Whenever I am in a bad mood I just put Luther Barnes on and it just relaxes me and I can't help but sing along with him."
Roberts likes all types of music such as southern gospel, jazz, classical and country.
He sang Amazing Grace at Builder Camp in August and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Tami Pullins, associate academic vice-president for advising and student success, said, "When I first heard Jeremiah sing I was just blown away. I couldn't believe that the sound came out of him. He didn't even have to warm up, he just went up on stage and started to sing. He was amazing."
Roberts also sings in a family gospel group called The Roberts Brothers. The group also includes his two brothers who play instruments and sings and a cousin who sings too.
The Roberts Brothers started singing together when Jeremiah was eight years old. He is the youngest member of the band.
They perform two to five times a month at different churches, weddings and other events. The band is currently working on a demo.
The biggest break for the band was when they preformed on The Oprah Winfrey Show in July of 2006. They had heard that Oprah was at the Hyatt in Wichita and decided to go meet her. They met the show's producer who brought Oprah down to listen to them. Oprah asked for them to perform on the show.
Roberts said, "It was amazing to be able to sing on Oprah's show."
Robert Aguilar, political science freshman, said, "Sometimes I think I hear music down Wallingford Hall but it's not music. It's Jeremiah singing. He is a really great singer."
Leslie Ash is a freshman majoring in communication. You may e-mail her at leslie.ash@sckans.edu.
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