A clear voice echoed through the dimly lit room as a crowd of students sat with all eyes on the spotlit performer alone on the stage. One absorbed audience member tapped his foot along to the rhythmic acoustic chords.
Brown Unheard, a student music organization, held its first official event of the year — a featured artists night — last Thursday in the Underground at Faunce House. At the informal concert, 10 acts preformed a mix of original music and covers before a crowd of around 30 to 40 people.
The student band We Should Worry, the only group performance and a highlight of the concert, opened the night, featuring Post- Magazine Editor-in-Chief Ben Resnik ’15, Bennett Knox ’15, Eric Foreman ’15, William Van Deren ’15, Sydney Island ’15.5 and Patrick Carey ’16. The group describes itself on its Facebook page as sounding like “Mumford & Sons got jiggy with Neutral Milk Hotel after a blind date set up by The Mountain Goats” — an accurate description. The band debuted a new song, “Progress,” a good representation of its overall sound, which is sprinted, folky and upbeat. Their style is largely defined by their interesting choice of instruments, including both a mandolin and an accordion.
Another highlight of the night was a set by Abby Perreault ’16 , who played three original songs, with one dating back to her first year of high school, she said at the show. Making use of her distinctive voice, she gave an animated and intense performance for a rapt audience.
Equally impressive was Michael Weinstein ’15, one of the co-leaders of Brown Unheard and a contributing writer for The Herald, who played two Bob Dylan-esque songs — an influence also displayed on the shirt he wore, which had an image of the artist. Michael also debuted a new song, “Drag Me Home,” a long, fingerpicked track with powerful and atmospheric lyrics telling the story of leaving home with the “wind whistling through” his bones.
Following Weinstein was an energetic performance by Alfie Subiotto ’16, debuting material so new he could not remember the name of a song until halfway through, when he sang the eponymous line. Offering another acoustic guitar set, his songs were dynamic, jumping from quiet to loud to quiet again.
Dora Chu ’16, another co-leader of Brown Unheard and staff writer for The Herald, finished the night with audience participation, asking everyone to sing along to the chorus of her song, a catchy original track.
Formed last year, Brown Unheard is designed to create a community for Brown musicians and venues for them to perform their music, said Lizzie Davis ’15, a co-leader of the group. While ostensibly a platform for students to play music for other students, it also includes an outreach aspect in which musicians play at hospitals and schools, she added.
Davis said a main goal for the semester is to try “to develop (their) web and media team,” as well as to give “people tools to promote their music.” The Thursday concert was the beginning of this process, as there was a professional sound engineer recording the entire show. Unheard hopes to add this recorded music to its website for the public to see and hear, Davis said.
Another exciting addition to the program is a larger focus on collaboration, as the program looks to unite student musicians and filmmakers to create music videos with the hope that creativity will spark on both sides, Davis said. Unheard also operates a database of Brown and RISD bands and plans to produce a music publication this year, she said.
Abby Sessions ’16, who performed acoustic originals Thursday, said music is “mostly a hobby” for her at school. She highlighted Unheard as “really a great group because it’s very open to new people,” as opposed to more exclusive a cappella programs, she said. She added that though Unheard currently does not offer much in the way of exposure, she thinks the group’s goal of increasing its online presence through its website and social media will expand its influence.
Brown Unheard will host shows once a month and additional nights dedicated to two or three student bands.
ADVERTISEMENT
