Eric Roberson headlines at third annual MACFest

EAST ORANGE, NJ — Father’s Day came early for singer Eric Roberson’s father, James Roberson Jr., who celebrated his 70th birthday Saturday, June 17, the same day East Orange’s third annual Music, Arts and Culture Festival, or MACFest, took place in City Hall Plaza.

Eric Roberson, a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, headlined the event, which also included performances by rhythm and blues singers Bilal and Syleena Johnson. A.J. Calloway, a former BET TV “Rap City” host who is a current Entertainment Access TV personality, was the guest host for the event.

But Eric Roberson stole the show when he invited his father to come up on stage to perform a duet with him dedicated to his mother. And then the younger Roberson took it a step further when he surprised his father by having his nephews come up onto the stage to present him with a brand new guitar for his birthday.

“I feel it’s only right. Make some noise for my dad, who’s turning 70, and he decided to celebrate his birthday with us today,” said Eric Roberson on Saturday, June 17.

Eric Roberson sang the entire introduction, speech and verbal exchange with his father for everyone in the audience to enjoy. But that wasn’t all, because their duet became a true family moment when they dedicated it to his mother, Charlotte, who was sitting in the MACFest audience during their performance.

“This song is a song I wrote about my wife, that was inspired by something my marriage counselor said, but I want to say something special as well,” said Roberson on Saturday, June 17. “My mother has been enormously under the weather. This is the first show my mom has been in months but she’s got some good reports from the doctor. We are thankful for it and you gonna have me crying up in here, momma.”

The elder Roberson proved that talent and musical ability runs in the family when he took the microphone from his son, after receiving his guitar gift, and spoke directly to his wife in song, bringing tears to her eyes.

“I look back over my life and I think about all the good things I’ve been blessed with,” the elder Roberson said. “She’ll tell you the first time I saw her, I asked somebody: ‘Who is she,’ and I was told: ‘You can forget about her.’ And just like Eric said, if we live to see November this year, we’ll be married 50 years. Baby, you did it to me again. But for all the joy that I would want and we would want is to let everybody know that this thing called love works. Because as big a fool as I was, there’s no way that I was supposed to get her, but God gave her to me anyway. And today I can stand here and tell you: Baby, I love you.”

James Roberson went to tell the audience that his wife had given him “a daughter that’s talented, a son that’s talented, six grandkids that’s just our heart.” Then he talked about how his wife and son had surprised him for his birthday, the day before Father’s Day, and what the moment meant to him and their family and his son’s extended family: his fans.

“See y’all don’t know how I feel about guitars, but if you were to come by my house, you’d find out,” said Deacon Roberson. “My son done slipped one in on me. And I just want to say, today, I love them, and I’m talking about all my family. And we want to thank you all for how you’ve shown your love for him. Because of him, he’s brought me and my wife and our family into the lives and homes of millions of people, and I’m thankful for that and him.”

Those in attendance at the performance said they were also thankful for it. That included 4th Ward Councilman Casim Gomez, who said he never knew how much he resembled Eric Roberson until someone mistook him for the singer one day as he was going into City Hall and now, based on that resemblance, he feels like a member of the family, even though he said he wishes he could sing as well as they do.

In fact, Eric Roberson acknowledged his newfound connection with Gomez by taking a picture with him before going onstage to perform and then referring to his “new brother” in East Orange, after he started singing. Gomez said he was pleased and proud to be an adopted member of the Roberson family, especially after witnessing their musical family moment.

“I never knew who Eric Roberson was until, one day, somebody stopped me and asked me if I was related to him, because we look alike,” said Gomez on Saturday, June 17. “But I decided to do some research on him after that and I discovered his music and the fact that he had been nominated for a Grammy Award multiple times and then, to get to see him perform live today at the MACFest, was like the icing on the cake or the cherry on top of a sundae.

“It was a really special family moment that they shared with us and I’m glad I got to be a part of it with the hundreds of other people that came out to the third annual MACFest.”

  Casim Gomez, MACfest