2008 Woodie Awards
Emerging Musicians United of SBU rock at Ingman Hall
Brendan Block
Issue date: 5/9/08 Section: Gallery
Southwest Baptist University students and guests listened to the most feet-stomping rock bands and best solo musician performances the University has to offer. Emerging Musicians United (EMU) put on the second annual EMU fest, with approximately 50 people attending the event Saturday, May 3 in Ingman Hall.
From sophomore Joe Moore's opening performance of "Bad Poet's Blues," I knew the intimate setting and tremendous acoustics of the quaint concert hall would prove mystifying. In his first song, Moore strummed like a madman, but during his second song "Hey Darlin'," he slowed the tempo down with a message in the music that spoke to his audience.
A popular hook in "Hey Darlin'" was "We say the most when we say nothing at all." Sayings like this were rife at this concert as students not only played cool sounding tunes but struggled with the idiosyncrasies of existence.
Songwriter's Showcase champion, freshman Amber Dlugosh followed up Moore with "Tennessee," a song about getting past a broken relationship. Of all the songwriters, Dlugosh had the most stunning imagery in her lyrics with her characters "reaching for heaven" and "letting the rain fall gently on my face," keeping the audience interested as she told stories with her songs. Dlugosh has a MySpace music site which features her music. Dlugosh's voice and subject matter for songs reminded me of Taylor Swift.
Freshman Megan Yates was the third act, playing a song on the keyboard called "Peachy" and giving a strong performance.
Sophomore Nathan Staley was the last solo performer and included a breakup song called "Closure" in his set. The song was a synopsis of a breakup fight between a guy and girl. Then his girlfriend Yates joined the stage to sing "Republicans and Democrats" to finish off his set.
Jason Brown and the Out-of-Towners was the first full band to take the stage and got the crowd on their feet with a rocking Jack Johnson type sound. Their first song "It Don't Mean Nothing" talked about rebelling against corporate America, and their second "You can always come home" was a story of reassurance that someone might be lost in life but can always come back home. To conclude "You Can Always Come Back Home," the group added the ending of "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M in an emotional finale.
August Inland was the last band to take the stage, with sophomore Andrew Reeves singing and playing guitar, Dustin Gamble on bass, sophomore Jon Davis on keyboard, sophomore Joe Moore on guitar and Joey Viggers on drums.
This group gave a very energetic performance with a punk rock sound. They also dealt with human existence. They dealt with life's big questions. "Do I have it all figured out or do I just act like it were questions asked by the band in their songs." August Inland also mentioned the Promised Land in multiple songs, and as the night rolled on, it was apparent the band did not only sing about the Promised Land, but they also took us there through their performance.
From sophomore Joe Moore's opening performance of "Bad Poet's Blues," I knew the intimate setting and tremendous acoustics of the quaint concert hall would prove mystifying. In his first song, Moore strummed like a madman, but during his second song "Hey Darlin'," he slowed the tempo down with a message in the music that spoke to his audience.
A popular hook in "Hey Darlin'" was "We say the most when we say nothing at all." Sayings like this were rife at this concert as students not only played cool sounding tunes but struggled with the idiosyncrasies of existence.
Songwriter's Showcase champion, freshman Amber Dlugosh followed up Moore with "Tennessee," a song about getting past a broken relationship. Of all the songwriters, Dlugosh had the most stunning imagery in her lyrics with her characters "reaching for heaven" and "letting the rain fall gently on my face," keeping the audience interested as she told stories with her songs. Dlugosh has a MySpace music site which features her music. Dlugosh's voice and subject matter for songs reminded me of Taylor Swift.
Freshman Megan Yates was the third act, playing a song on the keyboard called "Peachy" and giving a strong performance.
Sophomore Nathan Staley was the last solo performer and included a breakup song called "Closure" in his set. The song was a synopsis of a breakup fight between a guy and girl. Then his girlfriend Yates joined the stage to sing "Republicans and Democrats" to finish off his set.
Jason Brown and the Out-of-Towners was the first full band to take the stage and got the crowd on their feet with a rocking Jack Johnson type sound. Their first song "It Don't Mean Nothing" talked about rebelling against corporate America, and their second "You can always come home" was a story of reassurance that someone might be lost in life but can always come back home. To conclude "You Can Always Come Back Home," the group added the ending of "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M in an emotional finale.
August Inland was the last band to take the stage, with sophomore Andrew Reeves singing and playing guitar, Dustin Gamble on bass, sophomore Jon Davis on keyboard, sophomore Joe Moore on guitar and Joey Viggers on drums.
This group gave a very energetic performance with a punk rock sound. They also dealt with human existence. They dealt with life's big questions. "Do I have it all figured out or do I just act like it were questions asked by the band in their songs." August Inland also mentioned the Promised Land in multiple songs, and as the night rolled on, it was apparent the band did not only sing about the Promised Land, but they also took us there through their performance.
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