“They have been gracing our streets on the Country Club Plaza since 2012, performing both openly and privately at many events all around Kansas City, and they’ve left our hearts dancing to their beats. Who are they, you ask? ‘AY and The Battery Tour!’ Currently, however, they’re on tour and have left us for a few months. Let’s give them a send-off they won’t soon forget! Let’s plug into their outlet and get them charged for their tour. How can we supercharge them? The best way is by buying their t-shirts, CDs, and sending donations their way, through their website.
Check out the story below to read about what makes them tick, how they got started and how they function as a team.”
The group sat in perfect formation, all tucking their heads down then coming back up with huge smiles on their faces. It wasn’t just another moment, it was a ‘still frame’ moment, caught on video, forever embedded in my mind. Here sat before us a group of guys who carried all the excitement, emotion, and raw passion for music that could possibly exist. Their eyes gleamed with their true love for what they do. Through their dress, their appearance gives away their artistic desires and aides them during their hours of dedicated dancing. What do they do? They give music. They give it back to the community. This is AY and The Battery Tour, live and in person.
Growing up, AY’s family home was positioned off 39th street. He was at a scene in Kansas City that is beyond common here. In Kansas City, it is well-known that one side of the street can be viewed as a “good” neighborhood with good property value and a good place to live. While the other side, is considered the beginning of the “rough” part of town. It usually has low property value and tends to be the beginning of many crime scenes. He could see the breakdown of humanity through the crime and violence that happened on these streets but, at the same, time view the other side of the street where the world of money and glamour positioned itself. Because of these experiences, he spent his growing up years writing about these differences, that he saw between the two scenes and all about his experiences; the poverty stricken, crime-filled streets and the high-class, “perfect” scene of money-laden citizens. How could it be? On one side, people were losing themselves to deceit, on the other side they were living lives of luxury without a second thought about death and darkness. As a young man, he began to question this and write about these things; what he felt and what he saw.
From writer and poet, to producer songwriter, rapper, and singer. AY’s interest for music started with his writings. One day, he heard his brother playing his guitar nearby and he started realizing that the words he was writing went along with his brother’s tunes. His writings became lyrics and his career in music officially started in 2012 on X-factor.
After that time, he began to meet up and share his vision with others. They brought their own passions and artistic dreams to the table. Thus, with everyone in sync, they joined together to become one amazing group of talents. They light up every street corner that they set up to perform on and lighten the loads of the men, women, and children who listen and dance along with them.
To sum it all up, The Battery Tour: Christian, Abraham (Zues), and AY work to keep their passions and dreams alive. They talk about how they want to make a difference through music and dancing every day. They follow the principles of giving, so they don’t care about how much money they make or how many people are out there joining them or watching their performances. Their desire is just to affect lives, even if it’s just one life. They want to take the music to the streets and put it back into the hands and hearts of the people. During our interview, they shared that one of the hardest parts is keeping that vision alive. There are some days that they might not feel well, not have good weather, or they may even be tired from the day before, but they feel that hard work is the key to success. If they aren’t out their doing what they do, they can’t continue to move forward in their mission. AY talked very specifically that it doesn’t matter what you do, you have to work hard at it and never stop. That is the only way to succeed and make your dreams come true.
The Battery Tour said it best. “This is a tour funded by the people, for the people, and performed with the people.”