Students showcased their music, monologue and poetry-performing talents from the corner stage of the community room as part of Open Mic Night on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
More than 80 students gathered around tables, lined the walls and grabbed seats on the floor to see the performers take stage in the room beside Starbucks.
Freshman McKenna Futrell had the crowd laughing at her series of short comedic poems on topics ranging from self-discovery in the form of Harry Potter comparisons to her love for sweets in the grocery store. Futrell said her friends had been encouraging her to sign up for Open Mic Night for a while before she finally decided to add her name to the list Tuesday morning.
“I was a little nervous about it,” Futrell said. “I usually don’t get nervous about public speaking, but I didn’t know a bunch of the people there so I didn’t know if they would think it (was) funny or if it would be awkward, but overall it was fine.”
Director of Campus Life Logan Light is the mastermind behind Open Mic Night. Light said he requested the addition of the corner stage soon after hearing about the construction of the community room. Light said he wanted a space that lent itself to stripped-down, acoustic performances: a place with a built-in sound system where students could literally just “come in, plug in and play.”
Tuesday’s event was the third Open Mic Night this semester. This week’s group and solo acts performed original works along with covers of songs by artists like Foster the People, Of Monsters and Men, the Avett Brothers and the Dixie Chicks.
Among the audience was freshman Christy Delgado. What stood out to Delgado about Open Mic Night was the “hole in a wall” feel of the venue and the unique display of talents students otherwise would not get to see, Delgado said.
“I really liked the comedy, but I also really liked the piece about cerebral palsy, because it was different and something I wasn’t expecting,” Delgado said. “There was a lot of truth in it so I thought it was really cool.”
Light said he believes Open Mic Night gives student artists, whether they be singer-songwriters, creative writers or performers of “spoken word,” a “stripped-down feeling” that makes performers more comfortable, allowing their personalities be heard in their music.
“Opening themselves up to who they are and letting others see what is inside of them … when you do that and connect with an audience like that, it makes a real special moment for the person performing and for the audience,” Light said.
A long-time fan of hip-hop music, Light said his appreciation for the singer-songwriter genre is pretty new, yet still growing.
“What I love about it now is there’s a raw emotion to it,” Light said. “It’s just the artist, their craft and their instrument. There’s no production, its just very simple.”
