AMBER MATTICE and CLAIRE O’REILLY
Assistant Reverb Editor and Staff Writer
It was a gloomy day for most in Fredonia, but that didn’t stop the high energy in Steele Hall last Sunday afternoon. Music Industry Club’s Life is Art event brought in a great deal of local talent from the Western New York area.
Life is Art is an event that allows local artists and musicians of various media and genres to display their talents for a good cause. All proceeds from the event go to the Music Department of the Fredonia Central School District, as well as the not-for-profit organization based out of Buffalo, Music is Art.
Music is Art was founded in 2003 by the Goo Goo Dolls’ bassist, Robby Takac.
“It’s a cause that means a lot to me, especially because we’re donating part of the portion to the high school music department,” said junior music industry major Ryan Daughenbaugh. “A lot of who I am and what I want to do comes from my public music education. Music is Art is a big foundation that goes to helping people who have similar goals that I did.”
Though Life is Art is for both artists and musicians, the number of artists was certainly lacking. There were several tables set up in the field house for vendors, but many remained empty throughout the day.
“[The event] has its ups and its downs because Fredonia is a very small town, and you go in thinking ‘I’m gonna make a thousand dollars,’ but in the end it’s about the charity,” said junior ceramics major Leanna Harp, who had ceramic bowls and ring holders to offer for sale.
Despite the scarce number of artists, the amount of music present made up for it.
Before the bands were set to perform, students from the Fredonia Central School District got their shot in the spotlight. Several students made their way to the stage and performed a mixture of solos, duets and group performances that featured songs popular in the musical theatre world.
After all of the high schoolers performed, they took a commemorative photo in the photo booth set up next to the stage.
The first of the bands to take the stage was acoustic jazz fusion trio Redwood. The members were particularly excited to be playing for a good cause.
“I just really love that it goes to a good cause. They usually pack more people in for charity events just because there are shorter sets, and you get to hear quite a variety of music,” said lead vocalist Nick Reding.
The drummer for Redwood, Gabe Puccio, agreed with Reding.
“I like playing for a charity event that goes to support other musicians, which is what I think is so cool about today. It goes to support the up-and-coming, growing musicians in Fredonia,” Puccio said.
Coming from Buffalo, Redwood brought out the energy of the crowd. What was initially a generally empty field house became an actual concert venue, and the crowd slowly grew in size.
The crowd was extremely supportive of the band and all others that followed, which added even more to the event.
Bands such as the New Masons and Humble Braggers played as the afternoon went on and, despite the weather outside, brought in an even larger crowd.
Though the audience size was not particularly impressive at the beginning of the day, the amount of money raised for the event definitely was.
“We’ve broken [the record of] what we made last year,” said sophomore music industry major Jonah Rosel. “At the very start of the event, we broke last year’s record.”