Music on the Lawn returns

The popular Music on the Lawn event is returning for the Fall semester with a lineup of various artists and genres.  

The first concert was last Friday and featured the MCJ faculty ensemble. The ensemble is made up of the Commercial Music and Jazz faculty including vocalist Shannon Dooley, trumpeter Marissa Terranova, trombonist Chris Connolly, pianist Jesus Fuentes, bassist Emilio Terranova, and drummer Jesse Willis. They performed a selection of songs from the Great American Songbook, as well as other jazz favorites.  

One thing has changed from the Music on the Lawn concerts last year— the sale of food and alcohol. Easton Selby, associate dean of visual arts said one of the biggest requests he had gotten is to provide food and alcohol at these concerts. 

“We’re following all the rules and regulations as outlined for the institution and Aramark as far as that goes,” Selby said. “We will be checking IDs. We purchased bands to give to the individuals that are 21 and over, so we know who gets what and who can have what. We are trying to make sure that we’re following all rules we want this to go well.” 

The other three bands performing for this semester range from indie rock to alt-country. The Sept. 23 concert will feature a band called Hot Pants whose lead is a CCU alum, Jentry Rose. Selby said Rose is also a part of a couple of other bands in the Myrtle Beach area and described Hot Pants’ sound as indie folk.  

Oct. 14 will feature the band, 2slices, fronted by Danny Martin, another former CCU student. 

“Jentry is an alum, Danny’s an alum. But their musical styles are very different so we want to diversify because I would love for students to attend these events,” Selby said. “Since Oct. 14 is also homecoming, it makes sense to bring somebody like Danny who’s a bigger band.” 

The last concert of the semester on Oct. 28 is John Howie and the Rosewood Bluff, a bigger alt-country band out of the Raleigh Durham area.  

Selby said the end goal of the Music on the Lawn series is to be able to get a sponsorship to bring in more popular bands and artists. He said they want to continue the series in the spring, but there are no set dates at this point.