Anthropology Club hosted it first Cultural Music night featuring eight performers on April 26 in Pierce Hall.
Though a similar event has been held in the past around St. Patrick’s Day featuring mostly Celtic performances, this event included different types of music from a variety of cultures. “We kind of missed the boat on St. Patrick’s Day by a month, but this year we decided to go for a whole cultural theme and it worked out,” said senior Taber Morrel, vice president of the Anthropology Club.
In addition to changing the theme of their music night to incorporate all cultures, they also were able to increase the number of performers. “This year we had professors, people coming from outside of campus, and lots of students that responded,” said sophomore Kelsey Keegan, who was the MC of the night.
According to Keegan, the Anthropology Club tries to address all the cultural aspects of the campus community through the numerous events that they hold. “We want to feature everything and people are interested in different kinds of music so it’s our focus to show them different kinds of music,” said Keegan.
Some genres featured at the event were Celtic, soul, folk, blues, and Broadway tunes. One of the performers that evening, professor Seamus Pender, made additions to his usual set in order to address the cultural aspect of the evening. “I have a vast repertoire of Irish songs, Scottish songs, and Celtic music that I performed the past three years,” said Pender. “This year I did some of that but I had a lot of other songs in my repertoire.” Some of the other songs in Pender’s set included a Broadway tune called, “Try To Remember,” “Do-Re-Me” from “The Sound of Music,” a sea shanty, and a Beatles song.
Another performer, freshman Mattie Anderson, stuck with American music in her set when she played, “When You Come Back Down” by Nickel Creek and “Desperado” by the Eagles. Anderson says that her family influenced the type of music she likes to play. “These genres are fun for me to play because it’s what I grew up on,” said Anderson. “My parents listened to these bands, so it’s something I like to hear.”
Though the turnout was not as much as last year, Morell believes that the audience will value the performer’s abilities and the different types of musical genres. “What I enjoy most about the event is the people performing,” said Morell. “It makes me really want to be able to play an instrument.”
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