Student continues musical passion through entertainment

There is a lot of musical talent at Keene State College, including singer and songwriter Jack Anderson. Anderson is a KSC senior pursuing a major in communications and a minor in music.

His friends said he is considered a local celebrity in the Keene area, often playing at Scores Sports Bar & Grill and other various events at KSC and in town. One of these events being Pumpkin Lobotomy on Oct. 17 at this year’s 24th Annual Pumpkin Fest. Nicole Cowell, a junior and one of Anderson’s friends, said that he was extremely excited and also nervous to play at the Pumpkin Lobotomy. “He’s such a good musician. I’ve known Jack since I was a freshman here and it’s cool to see how he’s grown over the years,” Cowell said, “He was so nervous to play here [Pumpkin Lobotomy] but he’s doing such a great job. We’re all super proud.” Cowell watched Anderson’s set at the lobotomy with her friends. She said they couldn’t help but sing to some of the songs.

“This is a big event for him to play at,” Cowell said, “I think a lot of people really enjoy his style of music and this is kind of a good setting for it.” Anderson said he started playing the guitar when he was 13 and started singing at age 16. He said his singing career started out small in the shower and moved on to a band with some of his friends in his hometown of Ridgefield, Conn.

“I was in a metal-core band when I was sixteen, that’s when I started writing my own songs,” Anderson explained.

His musical career continued to progress further from there. When Jack first started at KSC, he said he met a lot of his friends through his music, one being fellow senior John Fanning.  “I met Jack freshman year because we both had a passion for playing the guitar; we ended up becoming roommates sophomore year. We would play together all the time and play at Butler’s coffee house,” Fanning said.

Fanning continued to explain how Anderson helped him further his own musical abilities. “He made me become a better guitarist,” Fanning said, “Jack and I play music together all the time and I think he encourages me to work harder. He’s so passionate about his music that he inspires others.” Anderson even has music videos online in which KSC senior Jackie Kerigan has appeared.

Tim Smith / Equinox Staff

“Jack asked me to be a part of his music video and I said absolutely, knowing it would be a great time,” Kerigan said. She said she is a good friend of his and was willing to help him out. “Working with Jack was a really great experience, I love how passionate he is about writing and singing his music,” Kerigan said.

One of Jack’s local singing spots is Scores Sports Bar & Grille located in downtown Keene, where he usually performs there at least once a month. Anderson, who mostly plays acoustic songs, said he tries to take requests as much as possible, though his favorite song to perform currently is “Queen of California” by John Mayer.

“People ask me to play shows which is awesome. Once I started playing at the bar, people around campus heard about it and would ask me to perform at various locations,” Anderson stated.

“Normally, a Wednesday night would be pretty dead but when Jack was playing that night [at Scores] he drew in a big crowd. I think he really helps the business at the bar, he seems to have a lot of friends that like to come support him while he performs,” Hayley Grove, junior and former Scores employee, said.

Senior and one of Anderson’s roommates Tyler Di Pietro, said that Anderson makes their home very musical. Anderson is focused on music wherever he is.

“While my friends are getting ready to go out to parties on the weekends I like to just sit in my room and play my guitar before heading out for the night,” Anderson said.

“He plays music all of the time — literally all day. It is nice though, to come home and just hear Jack doing his thing, playing and singing songs whenever he’s bored,” Di Pietro said.

Di Pietro said that Anderson’s hard work has been paying off. Cowell reflected on Anderson’s Pumpkin Lobotomy performance, saying that she couldn’t wait for his next campus-wide performance.

“I think this was such a good opportunity for him to show off his talents. If you talk to Jack for two seconds, you get to know how good of a musician he is and how passionate he is. He’s just a good guy trying to do what he loves,” Cowell said.

She explained how all of Anderson’s musical career had been leading up to this.

Cowell continued, “At some points, I don’t even think Jack knows how talented he is and how proud of him we all are.” At the end of the day, Anderson joked that he is “just a musically-talented college student who likes to sleep with his socks on.”

Julie Flynn can be contacted at jflynn@keene-equinox.com

Stephanie McCann can be contacted at smccann@keene-equinox.com