Grammy Winner David Phelps Brings Patriotic Concert to Fayetteville

International touring artist will join the Atlanta Pops Orchestra July 3 for a one-night celebration of America’s 250th anniversary

On July 3, as Americans prepare to celebrate Independence Day, Grammy-winning vocalist David Phelps will step onto the stage at Trilith Live with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra for a concert honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The Celebrate America performance is a brief stop in the middle of Phelps’ national Speak of Love tour, his only scheduled appearance in the area before returning to the road.

“I’m a part of the concert with the Atlanta Pops, and so it’s going to be a night of orchestra music, symphony music, and then I’m doing some selections there as well, some traditional songs, some pop songs, and some, of course, patriotic songs there for July the third,” Phelps told The Citizen.

Among the songs he expects to perform are “Somewhere” from West Side Story, Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing,” “America the Beautiful,” “God Bless America,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and “Go Rest High on That Mountain.”

For Phelps, one of the highlights of the evening is performing those songs backed by a full orchestra.

“I love the song ‘Somewhere.’ It’s a great song of hope,” he said. “And of course to stand and do that one, as well as something like ‘America the Beautiful’ at this time of year with a live orchestra is so great.”

Though he tours regularly with a band and singers, Phelps says orchestral performances are unique.

“What I love about it is that it’s never going to be the same,” he said. “Since things are happening live in the moment, it’s kind of a one-time experience.”

“I don’t know about you, but I love hearing all live music like that, and I think people are really hungry for that right now. So it’ll be a really special evening.”

A career that spans genres and continents

Phelps is best known to many audiences for his years with Bill and Gloria Gaither, where he earned a Grammy Award as part of his work with the legendary gospel music organization. But his career has stretched far beyond any single genre.

Possessing a vocal range of more than three octaves, Phelps has performed at some of the world’s most recognizable venues, including The Sydney Opera House, The O2 in London, Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Opera, The Lyric Theatre, The Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman Auditorium, The White House, and Brooklyn Tabernacle.

His recordings have produced chart-topping releases, appeared on PBS and other national television networks, and attracted millions of listeners and viewers worldwide. His latest album, Speak of Love, shares its name with the tour he is currently performing across the country.

“It’s called Speak of Love, and it’s the title of our tour and the title song of the album too,” Phelps said.

The project reflects a theme that has become increasingly important to him.

“It’s a song I wrote about us treating other people with kindness, and that we individually need to be the ones to change the world in that way,” he said. “People should know us by our love.”

The tour will continue through the end of this year before giving way to his annual Christmas tour, a tradition that has become a staple of his schedule. Beyond that, Phelps is already working on two new recording projects.

“We’re recording albums, and then we’re filming the television specials for them in July,” he said. “So, yeah, got a lot coming up.”

Despite the international venues, national tours, and decades of success, Phelps still describes his career as something built one audience at a time.

Singing anywhere people would listen

“I just started singing wherever anybody would listen,” he said.

That meant Rotary Club meetings, churches, schools, Sunday school classes, and community events.

“I did my first concert when I was 18, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

The opportunities grew one relationship at a time.

“I built a network of people who wanted me to come back,” he said. “That’s how it really has happened.”

Long before social media, streaming platforms, and television talent competitions, Phelps built his own system.

“When I first started out, I didn’t have anybody booking me. I just started booking myself.”

He bought a Macintosh computer, created a database, and tracked where he had performed, who he needed to contact, and when he should call again.

Over time, that grassroots effort evolved into a full-scale touring operation.

“If anybody thinks that having a career in music is just about getting up and singing, they are going to be sadly disenchanted, because it is a lot of work,” he said.

Faith, family, and a music business

Phelps grew up in a Christian home where both faith and music were part of everyday life.

“We were the kind of family that we were in church all the time,” he said.

But his musical influences extended far beyond church walls.

His parents listened to everything from opera to country music, exposing him to a wide range of styles that still shape his performances today.

“They had season tickets to the opera, and we would go to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and see the Gatlin Brothers,” Phelps said. “I loved my growing up years with the ’80s, so Journey, Journey, Journey.”

That eclectic background helps explain why audiences attending the July 3 concert can expect everything from Broadway favorites to patriotic standards.

When he isn’t touring, Phelps and his wife, Lori, whom he met while studying vocal performance at Baylor University, live on a farm outside Nashville, Tennessee.

The couple have been married for 34 years, raised four children, and recently welcomed their first grandchild.

“We have one grandson, and he is absolutely amazing,” Phelps said.

Music remains a family affair.

“Our oldest daughter and her husband work for me now in our business of touring,” Phelps said. “Our youngest is in school right now for audio engineering and music business.”

The family’s farm also serves as a hub for the enterprise Phelps has spent decades building.

An old dairy barn on the property has been transformed into a concert venue known simply as The Barn. Each year, Phelps launches his Christmas tour there before heading out across the country.

“We live on an old dairy farm, and it had a barn on it that was kind of a historic barn,” he said. “I don’t milk cows, so we turned it into a concert venue.”

Faith, family, touring, recording, and performing have all become part of the same life.

As America approaches its semiquincentennial celebration, Phelps sees a connection between faith and many of the songs that have become part of the nation’s musical heritage.

“Many songs about our country were written by people who had a belief and had a faith and they also had a love for their country as well,” he said.

“I think anytime someone has a faith, it intertwines with any other part of their life.”

For one evening in Fayetteville, audiences will have an opportunity to hear those themes come together in music before Phelps heads back onto the national tour that keeps him moving from one stage to the next.

The Celebrate America concert featuring David Phelps and the Atlanta Pops Orchestra will be held Friday, July 3, at 7 p.m. at Trilith Live in Fayetteville. For tickets visit here.