Hot pants knocks socks off: Band of alum, community members wows Music on the Lawn

Music on the Lawn hosted the indie folk band Hot Pants for its second ensemble concert of the Fall semester on Sept. 23.

Jentry Rose, lead singer, Drew Jacobs, bassist and Jesse Flowers, singer and percussionist create Hot Pants. Rose and Jacobs are both CCU alumni, which is how Easton Selby, associate dean of the Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, invited them to play. After a decade of not seeing each other, Selby ran into Rose while she was performing.

“I’d never heard her sing before. Her voice is phenomenal,” Selby said.

Selby said he is the one who sets up everything behind the scenes for Music on the Lawn, especially choosing bands to perform. After hearing Rose sing, he invited Hot Pants to play at CCU. Rose said it was a big deal for her to play on Prince Lawn since she received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in art education from Coastal.

“My last year that I was a teacher, I played 220 shows on top of teaching full time,” Rose said.

Rose paused her education career to live in Nashville and pursue music full-time. Similarly, Jacobs was an English major when he attended CCU. He said he would hang around the music rooms and sneak into the music classes to see what they were learning.

“I’m just proud to come back and play at the place where I learned how to become a professional musician,” Jacobs said.

Rose and Jacobs have known one another for the better part of 15 years. She said she would watch Drew and his previous band play gigs.

She met Flowers when she was playing with another band. Flowers moved down from Maryland to South Carolina to take care of her family. Together, Hot Pants has been playing together for two years.

English Lecturer Ellen Arnold said she came to take a break and listen to music.

“Never heard of them before but I love them. I think they’re great,” Arnold said.

Music on the Lawn has recently introduced beer and wine sales at the events, which Arnold said was a bonus. She said she tries to come to all the events but missed the first one this semester. Rose said the band started practicing together, and the first time was “magical.” Jacobs agreed.

“Chemistry is really what it comes down to,” he said.

Hot Pants performed original songs along with many covers. Rose said she favors the oldies as their covers consisted mostly of songs from the 70s and 80s, with a mix of recent tunes. She said she likes to do covers of songs and do it in “their own way.” Flowers said her favorite song they performed on Friday night was their closer, which was a cover of “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins.

“I think a lot of the harmonies really echoed and I think the sound guys were really on it,” Flowers said.

Their setlist included songs such as “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish, “Knee Socks” by the Arctic Monkeys, “Ventura Highway” by America, “Hotel California” by the Eagles and “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac.

The band said their gigs usually last for about four hours.

They stick to performing at local businesses on the Grand Strand, including Dead Dog Saloon, Bubba’s Love Shack, Bourbon Street and Pawley’s Island Tavern.

The next ensemble to perform at Music on the Lawn will be 2 Slices that has an “electro-pop” sound, according to Selby.

Those who are 21 and up who attend to hear the bands can enjoy a variety of Aramark-approved beer and wine.

A variety of food trucks will be attending each event. The first Music on the Lawn event invited Benitos Rolling Oven, who serves pizza, and Smoothie King attended last week.