Aloe Blacc to Headline Sept. 1 Traditions Rally at Baylor

Free community-wide event on Fountain Mall features pep rally, concert and fireworks

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-710-6275

Follow Lori on Twitter at @LoriBaylorU

Follow Baylor Media Communications on Twitter: @BaylorUMedia

WACO, Texas (Aug. 16, 2016) – Aloe Blacc, the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter of the megahit "Wake Me Up," will headline Baylor University's annual Traditions Rally on Thursday, Sept. 1, on Fountain Mall.

The free, community-wide event celebrates the upcoming football season as the Bears prepare to open against Northwestern State at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, at McLane Stadium.

In addition to the free concert, the Traditions Rally will include a pep rally with the Golden Wave Marching Band, spirit squads, Coach Jim Grobe and members of the Bears' 2016 football team. Food and drink will be sold at food trucks in the parking lot of Morrison Hall. After Blacc's concert, the celebration will close out with a fireworks show.

"We are excited to host Aloe Blacc for Traditions Rally this year. He is both an accomplished artist and a resounding voice for positive social change across the world. I hope his music will resonate with the Baylor and Waco communities as we kick off another exciting year," said Matt Burchett, director of student activities.

Location and event times

• 6:30 p.m. Event opens to the public/Food Trucks open
• 7:30 p.m. Pep Rally
• 8 p.m. Aloe Blacc in Concert*
• 9:15 p.m. Fireworks show (over Fifth Street Parking Garage)

* This year, the Fountain Mall stage will be located between Marrs McLean Gym and Marrs McLean Science Building between Fifth and Third streets.

Free public parking is available in any of the lots on the Baylor campus. A list of available parking and maps is available at www.baylor.edu/parking.

www.baylor.edu/traditionsrally. —>

About Aloe Blacc

With "Wake Me Up" – the 2013 mega-hit he sang and co-wrote for Swedish DJ Avicii and saw climb to No. 1 in more than 100 countries across the globe – Grammy-nominated Aloe Blacc proved himself a singer/songwriter with an irresistible power to capture the complexities of human emotion.

Now with his third solo album, "Lift Your Spirit" (Blacc's major-label full-length debut, released by XIX Recordings/Interscope Records), the rapper-turned-singer pushes further into a folk/soul/pop fusion that's both undeniably joyful and eye-opening in message

Adding an of-the-moment twist to the music of legends like Sly Stone and Stevie Wonder, "Lift Your Spirit" is built on songs that pair Blacc's poetic yet incisive lyrics with huge hooks and relentless feel-good grooves. With "Wake Me Up" having sold nearly three million copies in the U.S., Blacc notes that one of his main ambitions is to use his surging popularity to affect social change while continuing to infuse his music with a mindful positivity.

"What it comes down to in my songwriting is trying to tell the story of the underdog and all the obstacles they have to overcome in this life," Blacc said of the songs that make up "Lift Your Spirit" and his overall body of work. "The stories in my songs are about the common individual and all the struggles they're dealing with every day, and also all the hopes and aspirations that they have. It's about reflecting all of that, and at the same time getting people to sing along and feel good and just celebrate being here."

The "Lift Your Spirit" album also includes Blacc's hit "The Man," which recently was selected by President Obama for his summer playlist on Spotify.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.