By Kayla Oxford
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Except for the lighted stage, Barefoots’ Joe was dark, filled with a sea of red shirts. The open mic night during FOCUS Aug. 18 was about to begin.
Abigail Ebensberger, senior Christian studies major, and Joey Davis, junior business administration major, hosted the event with a humorous act and witty advice for the new students, who had been participating in their orientation events all weekend.
New students displayed musical and comic talent. Several people played guitar and sang, some sang along with recorded music and still others played piano and sang.
Singers performed popular songs, some from musicals and movies. Some sang originals.
Zach Lancaster, freshman digital media studies major, performed his original, “The Superman Song,” and garnered a lot of applause. The song is about a man promising to be a “superman” for a girl.
“The surprising amount of grace there was on that open mic night has, in turn, opened my eyes to what it means to be a Unionite,” Lancaster said.
He has played guitar for five years and enjoys doing improv with the songs he sings.
“I’ve always loved singing, and I’ve never been the particular best, but listening to Bob Dylan on a gramophone teaches one that it is not so much about having a voice as having something to say,” Lancaster said.
Quite a bit of buzz could be heard in the crowd while he performed about how well he sang and how much those gathered enjoyed the song.
Lancaster, from Thailand, “moved over to the states to experience the college world,” he said.
His roommate, Zach Clemmons, freshman Christian thought and tradition major, also performed, playing guitar and singing a popular song.
“He’s a true man, armed with music in mind and a serious mind at that,” Lancaster said. “Our dorm situation is hard to believe; it’s so great it feels like a punchline.”
