2008 Woodie Awards
Take advantage of senior talent
Victoria Davis
Issue date: 9/28/06 Section: Life!
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Muhlenberg's got talent. Some students dance, some paint and some, like Gillian Visco '07 and Scott Clausen '07, have the rare talent of writing songs and creating a sound that is all their own. Both Visco and Clausen are members of the Muhlenberg a capella group, The Dynamics, and have been working on solo acts on the side. On Saturday, Sept. 23, Visco and Clausen performed in The Red Door for fellow students. With only a guitar and a microphone, Visco and Clausen looked like seasoned pros as they casually took the stage.
Visco hit the stage first at 10:00 p.m., singing heartfelt originals and inspired covers. She admitted that one of her original pieces, "Love Song," is one of the only somewhat "happy" songs she has written, as the inspiration came from a wedding. But even though her performance was not full of feel-good tunes, it was amazing in its emotion-driven lyrics and originality.
She professed her love for the band the Flaming Lips and explained that they have recently served as her muse. She did not mention many titles though, as she admitted to having trouble remembering every title to every song. She ended her performance with her original "Summer on Valley Road," and then turned the spotlight over to Clausen.
Clausen opened his performance a little differently than expected. He passed around a notebook, instructing the audience to jot down any thoughts, poetry, or basically anything that came to mind. Each audience member would write about three lines, and at the end, he would read them all together.
It certainly was an unusual way to begin his performance, but it allowed him to connect even more with his audience. Each person would look at the last line written, and add on, either going along with the previous theme or beginning a new one. Singers and songwriters put their hearts into their lyrics, and through the book, everyone could be a songwriter, recording their own poetic music to be read alongside the others.
Visco hit the stage first at 10:00 p.m., singing heartfelt originals and inspired covers. She admitted that one of her original pieces, "Love Song," is one of the only somewhat "happy" songs she has written, as the inspiration came from a wedding. But even though her performance was not full of feel-good tunes, it was amazing in its emotion-driven lyrics and originality.
She professed her love for the band the Flaming Lips and explained that they have recently served as her muse. She did not mention many titles though, as she admitted to having trouble remembering every title to every song. She ended her performance with her original "Summer on Valley Road," and then turned the spotlight over to Clausen.
Clausen opened his performance a little differently than expected. He passed around a notebook, instructing the audience to jot down any thoughts, poetry, or basically anything that came to mind. Each audience member would write about three lines, and at the end, he would read them all together.
It certainly was an unusual way to begin his performance, but it allowed him to connect even more with his audience. Each person would look at the last line written, and add on, either going along with the previous theme or beginning a new one. Singers and songwriters put their hearts into their lyrics, and through the book, everyone could be a songwriter, recording their own poetic music to be read alongside the others.