Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, Morch 22, 2023/Page 4A
She Aiiuancg
Hollywood Comes to Toombs County
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
You may have seen
him at stores downtown or
eating at The County Seat
restaurant in Lyons each
night - either way Quin
ton Aaron, most known for
his lead role in the movie,
“The Blind Side,” will be
in the area for the next few
months to record his new
est album with Ascension
Records.
Many people are ac
quainted with Aaron’s
work on the big screen, but
few know that Aaron is also
a talented singer. He re
cently signed with Ascen
sion Management and As
cension Records, which are
two of the five companies
housed under the Luther
Wardlaw Group, and plans
to release his new single,
“Lead with Love,” and a
full album with eight to 10
songs, in June.
“I started singing when
I was four years old, and
growing up, for some rea
son, I never had an idea
that I wanted to be a singer
- I wanted to be an actor,”
Aaron explained. “Part of
it was I wanted to establish
myself in the world of act
ing first so that way when
I did go into singing, even
if they thought ‘Oh, here’s
another actor who thinks
he can sing,’ when they
hear me, they realize I ac
tually can sing instead of
going from music into act
ing and being criticized. I
wanted to establish a set
ting in the world of acting
first and then go into mu
sic, which was something
I already knew I could do.
So, I’m moving the way I
want to.”
He explained that an
other challenge of creating
music was to find a record
producer that he felt confi
dent working with. “Over
HAVE A GOOD
DAY! HA! HA!
BY GARY TOOLE
The more I
hear that su-
p e r f i c i a 1
scripted walk
ing dead
statement the
sicker I get.
To all real
born again,
blood bought
Christians do not and I repeat do
not let these modern day idola
trous sooth sayer Americans
cause us to lose our Christian
principle and our Christian cul
ture. No bumping of hands and
no high fiving and other street
thug slop and no have a good day
like they could care less. One old
brain washed gal said, have a
good day to me and it was night
of which I brought her out of her
coma and reminded her of that. I
remind them to say thank you
when I purchase something.
When I was a boy in the good old
days when most all was saved,
poor and thankful and went to
church every time the doors were
open and went to every revival
this side of the Mississippi River
so to speak and the store folks
said thank you. The reason these
modern day liberal atheist com
panies, stores and businesses do
not require their workers to say
thank you is because it is biblical
and comes from the words
thankful and thanksgiving. Like
happy holidays instead of Merry
Christmas atheistic slop. Oh we
may offend someone from an
other country or religion. Well la
de da! Since I was born America
stood for in God we trust and we
have always been a Christian
English speaking nation and by
the help of almighty God we
gonna stay that way as grandpa
said, Tome hell or high water!”
You go grandpa! So like Mrs.
Gladys Presley taught Elvis,
“Thank ya! Thank ya very
much!” And Merry Christmas,
Merry Christmas and another
gigantic Merry Christmas and let
us proclaim it on the hilltops and
house tops and go tell it on the
mountain that Jesus Christ is
born and He is lord of lords and
king of kings and like brother
Billy Graham’s son Franklin said,
“In Jesus righteous holy name!”
Can you say amen?
PD.ADV.
HOLLYWOOD AND TOOMBS COUNTY COLLIDE - Quinton
Aaron, most known for his role in the movie, "The Blind
Side," is currently in Toombs County to work on his new
album, which is being produced by Ascension Records.
the past 17 years of being
in the industry, I’ve seen
so much stuff that kind
of deterred me from go
ing into music because of
what I knew behind the
veil,” Aaron shared. “I was
like, ‘Unless I have the right
people in my corner that I
can trust to take my career
to the next level and put my
faith in, I don’t really want
to go that route.’
“So when I met Luther,
it all just clicked and made
sense because not only
finding out he is a manager,
but he is an artist himself
and been in the game 20+
years. When you want to
do something, you want
advice from people who
have been doing it longer
than you. You don’t want
advice from people who
have never done it trying
to tell you how to do it. So
I’d listen to him because he
has the skills to back it up,
he has the know-how and
knowledge, and he has the
experience.”
The pair became con
nected when Wardlaw pro
duced the “Blue Lightning”
movie filmed in Lyons, in
which Aaron starred. Ward-
law said,“I met Quinton on
the set of “Blue Lightning”
when my brother Carl and
I produced the movie in
July 2021. He and I just
stayed in touch and were
on the phone one night
talking about how [Quin
ton] was going somewhere
to speak. I was asking ques
tions about if he had any
one to set up the details
of his participation in the
event, and he was like, ‘No,
I don’t have nobody to do
that.’ So, I said ‘Wow, that’s
crazy.’ He called me back
and was like, “Well, I was
thinking, why don’t you do
that?”’
Signing Aaron to As
cension Management
was not an easy decision.
Wardlaw already manages
others through the busi
ness - such as Recording
Artist Ana Delgado Brown,
5th Avenue Music Group,
model Kendall Wooten,
singer Chesney Claire,
and more — and has sev
eral other obligations to his
other businesses. He also
said he had to talk to his
brothers first, because that
is a common practice for
the family when entering
into new ventures. “If I put
my name on it, everyone
puts their name on it. If
one Wardlaw does it, all the
Wardlaws do it. So I don’t
do anything without talk
ing to them first because
it’s just out of respect and
courtesy of their name,” he
added.
Wardlaw’s brothers
were supportive of the
venture, as their only con
cern was for the appropri
ate attention to be devoted
to Aaron. “They wanted
to make sure I gave him
the time and focus he de
serves,” Wardlaw summa
rized. “From there, the rela
tionship started and we’ve
been working together ever
since.”
The Album
Since Aaron began
working with Wardlaw, he
has moved from working
in Louisiana to Tennessee
to right here in Toombs
County.
“We weren’t going to
be paying $185 an hour
for a recording studio in
Tennessee, when I own a
recording studio here and
am one of the producers on
the record. So, I talked him
into coming here,” Ward-
law explained.
“It took some convinc
ing,” Aaron added with a
laugh. “I was in Nashville!
But, eventually, I agreed
and here we are.”
Currently, Aaron has
recorded his single, “Lead
with Love,” which is an in
spirational track that gives
audiences a feel for the
type of music he desires to
make. “That was another
big determining factor [in
whether I would make mu
sic] because I want to make
music that makes sense
about who I am and my
brand and the audiences
that were inspired by what
they’ve seen of me,” Aaron
emphasized.
He added, “I wanted to
find out a way to make my
music make sense to them
and even other people. I’m
all about unifying, I don’t
believing in segregation, I
don’t believe in hate, and
I want to bring people
together with what I do
through what they can see
and hear. I know that if you
jump into the music indus
try with a lot of these in
dustry folk, that vision gets
tainted because it becomes
about dollars and cents - if
it’s not making dollars, it
isn’t making sense to peo
ple. I understand that, but
at the same time, I’m not
willing to sell soul in order
to get dollars.”
Wardlaw noted, “The
music really reflects the
belief. It’s not an R & B re
cord talking about sex and
drugs, and it’s not a gospel
record that kind of force
feeds spirituality. It’s really
inspirational music with
a gospel twist that is laced
with the Holy Spirit. It’s in
spirational music that any
body can listen to and be
filled. ‘Lead with Love’ calls
for listeners to love others,
when you see someone,
don’t look at the color of
their skin, lead with love. If
you see someone of differ
ent social status, don’t look
at the materialistic things,
look at love itself and love
one another. And we un
derstand that correlates to
the word of God, but is in
there without it having to
be written as a gospel re
cord. [Another song on the
record,] ‘I Will’ is a song to
encourage, saying that ev
eryone is dealing with cir
cumstances and obstacles,
Please see Aaron page
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