Terrance Myles works in the accounting profession. That doesn’t make him Urkel or a nerd, but he’s about the last person family and friends would have expected to become a deejay.
But here he is, managing and promoting the third annual Grown Folks Live concert and social event, featuring Lavel Jackson, slated for this Saturday, July 1, at the Buena Vista Community Center, from 3 to 9 o’clock.
And he says it’s all because of his younger brother in Ann Arbor, Trent Myles, who contracted COVID-19 during the heart of the pandemic. In an effort to reach out without hitting the highway, Terrance sent his sibling a show on Facebook. To his surprise, he attracted an audience not only local, but even among some folks in distant locations, including a few former Saginawians.
His new alter ego, “DJ Tools,” found a mid-life hobby that has become a second career, twice weekly on the web. Meanwhile, Trent is doing just fine, but recovery from the virus three years ago was not mostly taken for granted. like now. How quickly we may forget all the masks, the hospital visit shutdowns, the school closings and all the one-dollar gasoline because people feared leaving their homes.
“People were dying,” Terrance recalls. “There was all the reporting on the news And then I found out about my little brother in Ann Arbor. I had to find a way to reach him. If it wasn’t for my brother catching covid, this all wouldn’t be happening.”
He offers special thanks to his spouse, the former Kisha Bloom, for tolerating all the noise involved in his emcee endeavor, appearing on Facebook Live and YouTube on Mondays and Thursdays at 8:15 p.m., although he is off this week to prepare for the big show in BV.
Myles explains, “The show has reached former Saginaw residents who have thanked me for keeping them connected to the place they were born and raised in and also brought in people from numerous states who knew nothing about our community. Grown Folks Live has restored hope, love, marriages, and a reason to continue on through music, love, and laughter.”
He adds that his deejay style “comes from my roots of listening to W-3-Soul (now KISS 107-FM). I play old school music that connects with the good memories that we had while growing up, with a little bit of the playful banter and jokes that the Steve Harvey Show and The Tom Joyner show used to give us.”
Call him ‘Memphis Jackson’
Saginaw’s own Lavel Jackson, a Dramatics stage mate with L.J. Reynolds, describes himself on his website as a “funk, gospel/devotional/spiritual, pop, R&B/soul, singer-songwriter.” Otherwise known as versatile, although he still embraces being known as a “blues man,” reflected in his selection of Memphis Jackson as his second moniker.
Myles said Jackson found him on social media and offered to take part in Grown Folks Live, in order to do something positive for his hometown.
For the opening musical act, five instruments will be featured by one performer, Flint fixture Blu Mykals (nee Michael Jamerson). He alternates between the three main saxophones — alto, tenor and soprano — mixing in his flute and even a keyboard. Patrons will hear everything from Motown and Top 40 to smooth jazz and some old standards.
Detroit comic Josh Adams is described as offering a “clever, laid back, in-your-face look at the world,” as a standup who “can take a scary, embarrassing or awkward moment in your life, and make it funny.”
Tickets are $20 at the door, or $15 in advance at Terry and Valerie Reed’s Custom Auto & Tire, 2604 East Genesee, or at the Heidelberg Inn, 411 South Franklin, now also known as the Grown Folks Lounge.
So what exactly is the age minimum to be considered a “Grown Folk?” Terrance Myles hesitates.
“Early 40s, or maybe mid-40s and up,” he answers, but the main point at any age is to embrace community events as healthy, not as hostile.
“The purpose is to provide a fun, safe place where we come together as one. It’s like one big family reunion.”
