Posts Tagged ‘Blessid Union of Souls’

PROFILE: The Music Man of Marietta

You’re driving down the road with the windows down and the stereo up. You’re sitting in your friend’s basement recalling the crazy stunts you’ve pulled together. You’re not worried about the time and your plans – you’re content to relax and enjoy the life you’ve been given.

This is the life of Nate DiRuzza and the mood emitted through his music. A senior at Marietta College, his music invites listeners to slow down and find where they are in life. He would classify his music as “folk rock” inspired by artists such as Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, Brad Paisley and the Eagles. He has recorded his first album and performed at various venues throughout Northeast Ohio and the Mid-Ohio Valley, including the Izzy’s Coffeehouse Series and opening for Blessid Union of Souls.

His story begins at his first-grade Christmas play, where he portrayed Elvis and became obsessed with the performer. He could easily be found singing and dancing on the coffee table impersonating his idol.

As his love for music grew, so did his interest in becoming a musician. DiRuzza taught himself to play guitar his junior year of high school because he couldn’t afford lessons. He wrote his first song about a girl he liked, “Only a Fool,” and then wrote “The Good Ol’ Fashioned Days,” both found on his first album.

As a high school senior, DiRuzza recognized his desire to not only write music, but also perform in front of crowds. With the push of his chorus teacher, he auditioned for the school play and portrayed the Cowardly Lion in their production of “The Wizard of Oz.”

“It was that play that built the confidence I have about myself,” he said.

That confidence was useful later in his first solo performance with his own music.

“I performed “The Good Ol’ Fashion Days” in front of 300-400 people for the first time. Everybody started clapping along and I got the chills,” he said.

Now a senior in college, DiRuzza is doing what he loves. He keeps a notebook with each of the 21 songs he has written, and has found that at different points in his life, he will write songs with similar lyrical vibes.

“I basically write about how I feel. I don’t make anything up, everything that I write about it true. When I get my heart broken, I write about it. When I’m in an extreme state of happiness, I write about it. I also write about experiences that I’ve had,” he said.

He hopes that others will be able to find themselves in his music.

“I want people to be able to identify with it. I want them to feel it, either with the lyrics or the beat of the song,” he said.

DiRuzza is expecting his second album to come out within the next few years. In the future, he would like to perform at the NACA (National Association for College Activities) conference. Here, he would be recruited by colleges and perform at their schools.

The glitz and glamour of a Hollywood musician is not appealing to DiRuzza, who would rather finish his college education and allow those he cares for most to take this journey with him.

“I’m not going to get in a dirty old van and just take off because I’m very family oriented and I don’t want to leave people behind. However, I would love to perform and travel on the weekends, and yet still live close to my family,” he said.

You can listen to some of DiRuzza’s music on his myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/natediruzza. You can also purchase his album from New Creation Studios in Parkersburg, W.Va., or from him personally. As we endure the hustle and bustle and craziness of life, he hopes we can all learn to live the message of his newest song, and “Take Life Slow.”

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This article is by Leyna Chovan, a Media Writing Two student at Marietta College.  If you are interested in writing for Writing on the Mall, send an e-mail to Patrick_H@writingonthemall.net.

20 Students Show Up to AG Silver: Who's to Blame?

I was one of those 20 that went.  It was quite sad to only see 20 students and staff there.  AG Silver had a great performance.

A friend and I talked with one of the band members after the show, and all he could ask is where everybody was.  Well…where was everybody?

I understand that there are several underlying factors.  One, it’s the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Everybody is working on projects or just staying in and getting ready to go home for a bit.  Also, there was a performance in the theater by Jay Sefton of “The Most Mediocre Story Never Told”.  There were a lot of good college football games on, and bands brought in by CUB can be hit-or-miss.

However, I think what it came down to was publicity for the event.  Most people only heard about AG Silver when I mentioned that they were performing.  Posters were put out, but it was a very passive advertising method.  Also, by this point in the year, students have been bombarded with poster and flyer after poster and flyer.  They’re all over the place, and blend into each other.

I think another problem was that there is the stigma that a Club 21 event is a pay event.  Let me inform everybody that it is free to attend ANY Club 21 event the college hosts.  The only charge comes if you are over the age of 21 and decide to purchase a wristband.  The experience is not detracted from if you are under 21.

So how could CUB improve attendance?  Why did, say, Blessid Union of Souls do so well compared to AG Silver.  Well, for one, Blessid played at the beginning of the semester as part of Welcome Back Bash.  Freshmen were heavily encouraged to go as part of their First Year Experience classes.  And yes, Blessid does have name recognition.  But looking past that, what did CUB do differently?

For one, they advertised in every form.  RSS feed?  Yep.  Facebook Event?  Yep.  Rock?  Pretty sure they painted it.  Banner on Gilman?  Yep.  Word of mouth?  Most CUB members wore shirts with the concert info on it.  Table Tents?  On every table in Gilman and Izzy’s.  And yes, there were posters that were hung up.  Also, advertising was put out more than two days before the event.

CUB does a lot of good work.  So don’t think I’m bashing them.  I’m just sharing ideas to help all organizations, not just CUB, advertise events better.

I will run any press release for an event at Marietta College, no matter which organization wrote it.  Just send it to me (check the contact page) and I’ll check it and post it if I think it meets my criteria.

Let me finish by asking this question.  Why didn’t you go to AG Silver’s concert?

Blessid Video

Here’s the video from Saturday Night’s concert with Blessid Union of Souls.  Enjoy!

EDIT: Whoops, the video hasn’t finished processing yet.  Check back in the morning!

EDIT 2: Video is now working.  Go check it out!

Blessid Union of Souls draws 300+ to G-Spot

Last night, 90s pop band Blessid Union of Souls played for a crowd of 317 people at the Gathering Place.

The CUB sponsored event started with MC’s own Nate DiRuzza as the opening act. Around 9pm, Blessid got the crowd going with Queens “Bohemian Rhapsody”

In their 80 minute set they played 90s favorites such as “Light in your eyes”, “I wanna be there”, “I believe” and their most memorable “Hey Leonardo (She likes me for me)”

For the members of CUB, the preparation for the famed band began at 8am. The Gathering Place had to be transformed from college hang out spot to backstage dressing room.

Everyone’s hard work paid off in the end and produced a great show and start to the year for CUB music.

Welcome Back Bash Starts Out Strong.

In true MC fashion, the first week of classes is celebrated by the annual Welcome Back Bash.

The fun-filled weekend started Thursday with the CUB sponsored Club MC on the mall. Club MC is a chance for the more than 70 campus organizations to show what they have to offer to the new freshmen.

The event was a great success with freshmen and upperclassmen both signing up for different clubs.

The night was closed with the first comedian of the school year, Richie Holiday. Also sponsored by CUB, the comedian was the first to perform in the new amphitheatre, drawing a large crowd to the grassy lawn.

On Friday WBB continued with another annual event, the Icebreaker Dance, put on by The Charles Sumner Harrison Organization. The dance was held in the G-Spot and maintained a large crowd the entire night.

The Icebreaker is a great way for new and old students to become aquainted and let loose after the first grueling week of classes.

Bringing WBB to a close will be 90s pop band Blessid Union of Souls. This is yet another CUB sponsored event. The band is famous for songs such as “I Believe”, “Hey Leonardo (She likes me for me) and “Light in your eyes.”

Blessid Union will be the first larger scale musical act the college has seen in many years.

They will be performing Saturday August 29 at 8pm in the Gathering Place.

Welcome Back Bash always draws in large crowds, this year has been no different, and next year will only get better.

Quick Hits

• Club MC Pictures are up on our Facebook Page.  They will eventually reach Flickr (Once I find a spot that will allow me to upload to Flickr, since the college won’t allow me to.  For some reason they have a content filter on uploading pictures to Flickr.  Who knew?)  So go check those out.  There is a photo of every booth.
• Apparently parking for upperclassmen has been greatly reduced on campus.  The story goes that all of the parking in front of the Gathering Place has been converted from mixed parking (Freshmen and Upperclassmen) to Freshmen only.  While I haven’t investigated it too much, there is a Facebook group asking students to e-mail the administrators at the school to fix the problem.  I’ll try to get some more info on the situation.
• The Charles Sumner Harrison Organization Icebreaker is tonight at the Gathering Place at 10 PM.  Go enjoy the music, fun, food and drinks.  The event is a Blacklight Party, so dress for the occasion.
• Blessid Union of Souls is tomorrow night at the Gathering Place.  Everything starts at 8 PM, so get there early for the best seats.
• Today is Pioneer Pride Day! Make sure to wear your favorite Marietta College shirt today, and take a photo of yourself wearing it.  Then send it to Tom Perry at College Relations to be included in the Pioneer Pride photo gallery.

CUB Events Added, Concerts Updated

CUB has graciously given us a heads up on the first half of their Fall programming line-up.

The biggest name of all the names is Blessid Union of Souls, which you may remember from their 90′s hits “I Believe” and “Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me for Me)”.  The band is coming off of a 5 year hiatus and has moved in a new direction, but should still be a big hit for the campus crowd.

The usual Cedar Point trip is September 19th.

Also, I have updated the Concert listing page, so check out all those concerts that happen right before returning to campus.  Classes start August 24th.  (P.S. – there is a countdown clock here on the left side of the page).