04/04/08

Three bands including Ryanhood, Five Times August and the Drew Davis Band performed in Rice Auditorium following an all-campus lunch.

Including humor and a sense of authenticity to its show, Ryanhood members were able to connect with the audience by sharing some of their past love stories, break-ups, memories with friends and the feeling of being “home” with the audience.

Cameron Hood, guitarist and vocalist of Ryanhood, said he and Ryan Green, also a guitarist and vocalist, have been playing around with writing music and singing for the past six years but have only started recording what they were doing the past three years.

“We have been friends since before college and even though we were on opposite sides of the coast going to school, we have always been able to connect with writing songs about things that would happen in our lives,” Hood said. “I remember when Ryan broke up with his girlfriend, and I wrote him a poem about it, later putting chords to it and finally making it into one of our favorite songs – ‘Stopless.'”

Grabbing the audience’s interest with sarcasm and obvious passion for music, senior Kelly Dunn said Ryanhood is a one-of-a-kind band with incredible talent.

“I thought they both had amazing voices and gave the audience a very good performance,” Dunn said. “I really liked the fact that they seemed to just be having fun playing their music for us.”

With a silent auction showcasing a variety of items, all proceeds were donated to Habitat for Humanity.

“In addition to the proceeds from the auction, the Earth We Are club offered the option of spending $5 to stand right up front by the stage and $1 for Baker acts,” Dunn said. “We thought having that option available might attract people instead of just sitting in their chairs watching the shows.”

In between acts, junior Zac Towns and senior Jared Weseloh entertained the crowd by performing their own music.

Freshman Ryan Smart said he was glad he attended the concert event because it was something that was out of the ordinary for a Saturday afternoon.

“There were really good solos and songs from all of the bands,” Smart said. “It’s not exactly the type of music I tend to listen to on a normal basis, but I thought they all did a good job and some of the acts were pretty funny.”

Senior George Maxwell said he thought the event was well put together and had many talented performers.

“I thought Baker did a really good job with trying to have bands and entertainment that would appeal to the majority of people and, in my opinion, they did just that,” he said.