WKNH highlighted student musicians during its annual spring concert this year on the student center lawn.
“My main goal for this event was to have student bands and student performers,” WKNH Event Coordinator Ryan Stone said.
The event occurred on Saturday, April 27, and featured junior Abby Primett and Splatter, a band consisting of sophomores Julia Baer, Maxamillian Orio and Emma Toscano with juniors Owen Keyes and Jakob Heisey.
Primett took the stage first as she sang songs from her EP titled “still blooming.” One of the songs on the EP titled “college crush” was inspired by an on-campus experience she had while eating at the dining commons.
“It takes place in the Zorn Dining Commons but it was actually a really sad song at first,” Primett said. “It kind of just turned into this angsty, heartbreak ballad … It was really transformative for me I think going back at that time when I first wrote it versus when I recorded it in the different stage of my life.”
Primett also performed another song off the EP titled “your song” which involved her mother on the instrumentals.
“I’m so proud of this song but it just reminds me of a rainy day in such a good way,” Primett said. “I love it so much because my mom actually plays the violin on it, so it is such a full circle moment for me and her because she’s like my biggest supporter.”
Splatter performed a variety of songs by different artists such as “Santeria” by Sublime, “Reelin’ In the Years” by Steely Dan, “Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar and “Paint It, Black” by The Rolling Stones.
Additionally, Splatter performed Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” which they brought Primett back on stage for.
The group closed out the performance with an encore of “Free Bird” by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Sophomore Thupten Sherpa attended the concert and enjoyed hearing both musicians perform. Regarding Primett’s performance, Sherpa said, “I really liked her voice and she also has a really nice stage presence and I feel like she kind of knows how to get the crowd going.”
Sherpa said she enjoyed Splatter’s performance because she could sense the connection the band members have with each other. “I really like their bond with each other,” Sherpa said. “I like their kind of rock and roll style. I think it’s really cool and they played very well.”
Stone said she considers the event a success as it drew in a larger crowd this year.
“I could not be happier with how it turned out, I think obviously there’s room for improvement everywhere in everything that we do,” Stone said. “Things could have run a little smoother on the tech side, there could have been some better communication overall but for the most part … we had a substantially larger turnout than I was expecting.”
For next year’s concert, Stone said she hopes to have, “More bands, food and be in collaboration with other organizations. Having organizations table and bring little activities or freebies and working with smaller less prominent organizations on campus.”
According to Stone, those student organizations may include the Art Collective and Keene State Media Productions.
WKNH President Anna Bertolino said she hopes this year’s event opens students’ eyes to local bands in the area, not just on campus.
“I hope they become more aware, not only of Splatter and Abby Primett but also of the fact there’s a lot of student artists on this campus and a lot of local bands and artists and I think that are very talented,” Bertolino said. “I think it’s a very cool thing to pay attention to the local music scene.”
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
