Story by Monika Staszczak, Contributing writer
Jared Cook took the stage under the name J-Fresh with his hype man Rashid Leverett.
The Murray State Music Festival gave students an opportunity to showcase their music talent last Friday on the Hart College east patio.
The event attracted its audience with performing peers and free pizza.
The Student Government Association, or SGA, and Campus Activities Board, or CAB, are responsible for organizing the Music Festival.
They are responsible for many on-campus events such as the hypnotist show and other events such as bringing singer and actor Todrick Hall to campus earlier this year.
For almost two hours, the audience cheered for their fellow students performing on stage.
SGA provided free pizza and gave away gifts like koozies and bandanas to advertise the event.
The location of the Music Festival wasn’t random. This central location was chosen so that everyone could hear the event in their residential colleges and come out and enjoy the music.
Grant Knox, junior from Lexington, Kentucky came up with the idea for the Murray State Music Festival.
As a showcasing chair in the CAB, he manages many on-campus events and performances.
Before Knox took over as the chairman, showcasing was mainly focused on free movies in the Curris Center, said Nathan Payne, senior from Owensboro, Kentucky. Payne is the vice president of SGA and also organized and managed the event.
“We take all this time to get concert people and pay them to perform, but we have all this talent here on campus,” Payne said. “Why don’t we make some kind of a music festival?”
Students had to audition by sending in a video of themselves performing. Only six videos were submitted, and five of the artists actually performed.
One of them was Kevin Brost, junior from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, who sang and played guitar.
When Brost first started playing guitar, he said he did not think about becoming a professional.
“I thought girls would like it when I was around 13,” said Brost, laughing.
“My mom bought me a $50 guitar that came in a cardboard box” Brost said.
Later, he joined a high school band, and now as a Music Business major, he’s building a solo career.
He performs around Murray solo, as well as in a trio with two other Murray State students.
This year was the first time Murray State Music Festival was organized, so not many people knew about it, but Knox said he hopes it will get bigger every year.
It is supposed to remain a free, casual event to meet up with friends and have a good time.
“We wanted to have something where people could just come, get free food and just enjoy the talent we have on this campus,” Knox said.