Vicki Barton
At the 2019 Louisiana State Fair, the Zion Travelers were recognized as Louisiana Tradition Bearers by the Folklife Ambassadors from the Louisiana Folklife Commission and Louisiana Folklore Society.
In the tensions between tradition and evolution, the distinctly African American Gospel genre has long stood as paradox of American culture––simultaneously serving as one of our country’s best-preserved treasures and also as a symbol for imperative, powerful change.
At Country Roads’ December Supper Club, the stirring harmonies of the Zion Travelers Spiritual Singers of Baton Rouge will demonstrate this duality in all its complexity and influence. Inside the century-old chapel on Como Plantation, the a cappella group will pour forth spirituals that have been sung since slaves were held captive at places like this one, and it won’t be the first time.
Two years ago, the Travelers visited Como Plantation for a private event and were greeted by sheets of rain. “We wound up staying in the chapel, singing for hours and hours while the river rose outside,” recalled manager and lead singer Robert McKinnis.
McKinnis is the last remaining fixture of the original Zion Travelers group, which was organized in 1944 in Baton Rouge’s Scotlandville neighborhood. They were best known for their live Sunday broadcasts on WIBR in Baton Rouge, which they performed for fifty-seven years, and have performed at hundreds of venues including the World’s Fair, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C., River City Blues Festival, the Louisiana Folklife Festival, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
McKinnis was brought on board while he was in high school in the 1970s, and—despite decades of change and rotating members—has remained committed to the original spirit of the group. “We sing in our style, and if we lose that, we won’t be the Zion Travelers anymore,” he said. “If we start using instruments, it would take away from our tradition.”
Ingrained in McKinnis’s commitment to tradition is an obligation to carry the genre to the next generation. As the sole remaining member of the original group, McKinnis said that his job has always been to “keep it going.”
As a result, the group today—consisting of McKinnis, Corey Hill, Esau Wright, Lutrell Cox, and Willie Johnson—was recently recognized as one of this year’s Louisiana Tradition Bearers by the Folklife Ambassadors from the Louisiana Folklife Commission and Louisiana Folklore Society.
Thanks to such tradition bearers as McKinnis and the Travelers, the gospel genre has held tightly to its roots while journeying throughout the continued history of the African American experience and standing as a testament to a heritage of resilience, reclamation, and spirituality.
And like the rest of the changing world, Como Plantation is entering a new era—one of cleansing and rest and spirituality on the Mississippi River, ushered in by the Zion Travelers, singing: “There will be peace, there will be love, there will be joy divine. Wait until your change comes.”
