The Last ACM Live Room Show of The Semester

An Academy of Contemporary Music concert, performed on the evening of April 27 by University of Central Oklahoma students, showcased a mix of original songs and covers.

The ACM live room show was the last of the semester and featured six student bands, said instructor Than Medlam.

The groups performed a range of musical styles. The set opened with the acapella group, which performed two pop songs.

A later set by “The Originals Band” featured an original song by Ember Hawkins. The fourth group performed a mix of styles, including a performance of “Spiders” by Lola Young, sung by Brighton Varner, which drew a strong and positive audience reaction 

Each band at the ACM is formed through an audition process within the program, said sophomore ACM student Hawkins. Performers then spend the semester developing a setlist that varies depending on their group, and members often are placed according to musical preferences stated during the audition process.

While many of the band participants are performance majors, others are production majors with performance as a minor, said Hawkins. 

Performance majors and minors take performance and repertoire-building courses, where they prepare for concerts like Monday’s, Hawkins said. The goal of these classes is to give students experience performing in front of an audience in an ensemble while building a repertoire of songs.

Hawkins, a contemporary vocal performance major, performs in the ACM’s originals band and acapella group. “The Originals Band” is the only group at the ACM where students collaborate to write and perform their own music under the direction of artist-in-residence Danny Hargis. All other groups perform covers. 

“As someone that wants to perform for a living, it’s good to just [have] the experience of being forced to be on the stage three months in a row and building the original songs,” said Hawkins.

In addition to performance-based classes, Hawkins said the program includes coursework in songwriting, production, and music business.

“I like the classes at ACM where I get to do business stuff too, and I learn production and songwriting,” she said.

“So I get to take fun classes that are geared towards stuff that I like, but also classes that you definitely need to take to be a musician.”

She said that even less enjoyable classes are important for collaboration. “There’s classes that I don’t like taking,” Hawkins said.

“But they’re all important to know for creating music and being able to explain what you want for your music when you’re going into a band with someone else.”

Hawkins said joining the ACM marked a shift in her original plans. 

“Going into college, I really thought that I was gonna be a musical theatre major,” she said.

“I knew I wanted to do music, but I didn’t know exactly what.” After not being accepted into the musical theatre program, she briefly pursued a different path before deciding it wasn’t the right fit. “I loved the people, but I was like, ‘This just isn’t for me,’” Hawkins said.

“I don’t think I wanna sing classical or music theatre for the rest of my life.”

She said a friend later told her about the ACM, and she switched into the program the following semester. Hawkins is now in her third semester performing with “The Originals band” and said the experience has helped her grow as both a performer and a songwriter.