Tyce's Debut with Alex Boye

Two weeks ago Bryce got a message from a group he belongs to called Black LDS (LDS is the short name for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons). Anyway, the message said that Alex Boye' was shooting a new music video and that he was looking for a few men of color to be background dancers and drummers. Bryce immediately thought of Tyce, and emailed his qualifications. He got a response from Brigham Larson that said, "Great, see you at 1:30."

(Alex Boye' is one of the few black members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and also has a solo career. He sings both religious and secular music. Lately he has been taking pop hits and "Africanizing" them, which results in a wonderful new sound to familiar songs.)

Bryce and Tyce weren't sure if he meant 1:30 the next day (Friday) or that weekend so they were touch and go as to weather the trip would really happen. They didn't want to get up there and find that they were a week early, you know? Finally they got confirmation at the crack of dawn that yes, he meant that day, and so the men packed up and hit the road at 5:30 in the morning. Hey, when you get the word from Alex Boye's people that you're IN, you go!

Tyce met two other young men, Nick and Wayne. One lived in Logan, Utah and the other was from New York but was attending LDS Business College in Salt Lake. They were super nice guys. It turns out that Brigham Larson owned the piano studio they filmed in and played in the video. It was such a treat to not only meet Alex Boye' (which Tyce had done when we went to his concert at the South Point a few years ago) but to jam with him--they sang and danced for four hours! Tyce said that Alex was just as down to earth and awesome as he seems on stage. Alex even remembered Tyce from the concert over two years ago but hardly recognized him now that he'd grown up so much.

Nick, Tyce, Alex, and Wayne.

Bryce got to watch the entire shoot and he said the guys had a blast. There was such positive energy, laughter, and fun the entire time. Tyce was taught to play the congo drums by master musician Clive Romney! I think that Tyce would have loved to extend it from an afternoon to an entire weekend.

Fun on the set.

In the end they made an awesome video that I would have loved to watch even if my child wasn't in it. But the fact that he was made it super cool for me! The song was a cover of Ho Hey by The Lumineers and I like this version much more than the original. Watch the video on YouTube: Type in "Alex Boye Ho Hey" and you'll see it. I think you'll like it.