Written by Tiffany Jones
With his eyes closed and headphones on, senior James Taylor sat before a microphone in his private recording studio. A familiar tune, altered by Taylor’s musical ingenuity, played as he sang new words to OneRepublic’s hit song, “Apologize.”
Though creating cover songs has been a hobby for Taylor for years, his choice to make a cover of “Apologize” was not just a random song selection.
Thursday, March 18, the Link, Harding’s new multimedia news Web site, in conjunction with the Campus Activities Board, announced a OneRepublic cover contest.
Per contest rules, contestants may could cover any OneRepublic song as long as the cover they recorded was sung live and not lip-synced. The incentive to enter is winning a chance to meet OneRepublic before their concert. This prize is special because, unlike many of the music artists who come to perform at Harding University, OneRepublic is not doing a meet and greet.
“I want to win this contest because I want to meet them, and they’re signed with Interscope Records,” Taylor said. “If I win, maybe I’ll show them some stuff I’ve done. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m just going to do my best and have fun with it.”
The contest was created to help showcase Harding musicians and encourage creativity on campus. The Link has been working towards featuring campus musicians and has created a new arts section complete with live sessions with student performers.
The concert, taking place this Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m., is being held in the Ganus Athletic Center. Corey McEntyre, Campus Activities Board director, is expecting nearly 1,800 people.
