Acoustic music rang out Tuesday evening from the patio of the Indiana Memorial Union. Students studied, relaxed and chatted as Jack Whittle and Brian Crant played original songs and covers.
Every other Tuesday, Union Board puts on a free concert as part of the Live From Bloomington concert series. IU graduate Whittle took the stage first to play his signature blues style.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Whittle said between songs. “I couldn’t ask for anything better. Well, actually, I could ask for it to be a little cooler out.”
Whittle said it makes sense for the University to provide events like this concert series.
“I think it’s definitely a service, especially large institutes like IU with the tuition fees and how many students are there, one would expect them to hold events that are either educational, fun or enriching in some way,” he said. “And I believe music can be some of those things, if not all of them.”
As an IU student, Crant said he thought the series was a good opportunity for student artists to gain experience playing live. He said he learned about the concert series through Facebook.
“The more live music the better, in my opinion,” Crant said. “It’s my first time seeing or hearing about it, but it’s cool to participate in.”
Crant took the stage after Whittle with a more rock-oriented acoustic sound.
While it was Crant’s first time performing at the IMU, Whittle said he played there last Friday as a part of the Union Board’s Late Nite program, which is separate from the Live From Bloomington series.
Union Board member Cydney Mosby said the series fell off last year, but is back this year.
Mosby is a part of the committee in charge of scheduling the concert series and said they find the artists for the series in a variety of ways, but most artists reach out to the committee through email.
“We try to stick with kind of an acoustic vibe, since people are out here studying and stuff,” she said. “We also make a ‘Live From Bloomington’ album every year, so we have a lot of local artists submit music.”
Whittle said he is now trying to pursue a career in music and draws inspiration for his lyrics from his personal experiences.
“I consider myself a fledgling songwriter, but I draw inspiration from my life, my experiences, my emotions and thinking about how others can relate to it too,” Whittle said. “In general, I feel like at least emotional music is something that resonates with people.”
