Kathryn Cunningham

Contributing Writer

Photos contributed by Kathryn Cunningham

My experience here so far has been extremely eye-opening and it’s only been a little under two weeks. I chose to live with a host mom, where there is a significant language barrier. I am learning more and more Spanish every day, which was the overall goal of this excursion.

Every corner I turn here, I am pleased with what I see. My views consist of palm trees and beautiful architecture. I love the people I am meeting from all over the world, and there is much to do here.

The hardest part so far has been the concept of completely relying on stepping outside of my comfort zone in order to settle in a foreign country. In the long run, it is beneficial. It is certainly interesting and humbling seeing life in another perspective regarding culture and language.

Photos contributed by Kathryn Cunningham

Spontaneity is also something I have found to be very casual here. One second, I will be sitting with a group of people I have never met, and 10 minutes later, I have already booked a trip with them to Lagos, Portugal and the following weekend to Morocco.

My ultimate goal is to always try my best to say yes and to never be a penny-pincher, because these are priceless and life-changing experiences; why not enjoy them while I have the opportunity to?

Our Bio:

Afterimage was formed in the fall of 2016 after bassist and vocalist Casey Daron was looking to put a band together for Keene State’s first annual Battle of the Bands. Guitarist Brandon Curcio and drummer Andy LeCuyer were recruited for the first gig. After a few shows of playing covers and a couple of line-up changes, the band realized they had potential to begin writing their own original material. Lead vocalist Griffin Romprey and keyboardist Jason Coburn were added to the mix, and the band began working on their first project. The Afterimage EP was released in April of 2017, featuring five original songs including the live-staple, Penicillin. Since the EP was released, Afterimage has played many on and off campus shows, including a gig at the Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, playing before the Fisher Cats game.

Album cover by Anna Heindl

Afterimage is influenced by many classic rock and alternative bands, including Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Phish and Weezer, and this can certainly be heard in their sound. The band is currently setting up more shows, as well as working on their debut EP.

 Members:

Casey Daron – bass/vocals

Brandon Curcio- guitar

Andy LeCuyer – drums

Griffin Romprey- lead vocals

Jason Coburn – keyboard

Location:

Keene, New Hampshire

Genres:

Rock, alternative rock, classic rock, indie rock

Where to find us online:

The Afterimage EP is available now on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music,

and more.

https://www.facebook.com/AfterimageNH/

https://afterimage.bandcamp.com/releases

Lea Nolette

Member of Gamers Guild

Gamers Guild, also known as G2, is a club that meets regularly in the Madison Street Lounge from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday evenings. It has a multitude of games, both board games, which vary widely, as well as video games, the most popular being Super Smash Brothers. We also have varying offshoots which include Dungeons & Dragons groups and an e-sports team that is currently in the making. It’s a relaxed environment where people can come to have a fun night. You’ll definitely make new friends while there; everyone is incredibly friendly and our e-board members are knowledgable and easy to talk to. There is very little commitment involved, and joining is easy. All anyone has to do is come to the Madison Street Lounge on a Friday night, sign in and let the games begin!

If anyone has any questions they can join the facebook group, “G2: Gamers Guild – Keene State Chapter” or message any of the e-board members. This includes: Joe Erwin, Emma Robitille, Lea Nolette, Stefan Gibbs and Ben Buckley.

*Occasionally, sessions will be held in Rhodes Hall because of scheduling. These dates will be listed on the Facebook page.*

BIO:

I am a singer-songwriter and percussive guitarist currently out of Keene, New Hampshire. I was adopted from Sierra Leone where my passion for music began with West African drumming at a very young age. Being a self-taught musician forces me to be creative in the styles I perform, including the percussive techniques I apply on guitar.

Photo by Ends Of The Earth Innovations

I’ve been making music and performing around Boston, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire for most of my life: Professional studio recording, acoustic coffee houses, radio shows like WKXL Granite State of Mind, outdoor stages, private parties, weddings, film festivals, music festivals, local bars, jam sessions with friends, out in public parks, as well as home studio recordings.

From acoustic to electric, from folk to rock, I play a wide range of original music and a few acoustic covers as well. I am open to booking for weddings, private parties, public events, festivals etc. and I am always happy to perform.

Location:                                             

Keene, New Hampshire                             

Genres:

Folk/Singer-songwriter, Percussive Guitar

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Stay tuned on Facebook for upcoming events!

NEWS:

I’ve been asked to record at Plaid Dog Studios, a professional recording studio in Boston,

Massachusetts.

One of my original songs, “Song Bird,” is available for listening free on my YouTube chan-

nel. I will be back in the studio recording the rest of the album in October and November.

WHERE TO FIND MY MUSIC:

(For listening) SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/seniehuntmusic

(For watching) YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVvO9LRVRoFtzUYFop6HQUw

(For Booking, Listening, Updates) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seniehuntmusic/

Our Bio:

Photo contributed by Sound It OUt Sessions

In 2011, I had made my first attempt at a semi-official musical release with “The Golden Voice of Jacob C. McKelvie EP.” After hearing that, Nick, our bass player and a friend of mine since middle school, began urging me to try those songs with a backing band. He was in the music program at Keene State so he enlisted our first drummer, Jeff, and the three of us started playing those songs. We played some shows around campus and beyond for a year or so, then Jeff fell off the face of the earth (Where’s Jeff?) and our current drummer Matt joined the band. Since then, we’ve averaged 100+ shows a year and have toured all around the country performing for literal dozens of people (cumulatively).

Members:

Jake McKelvie – guitar/vocals

Nick Votruba – bass

Matt Bacon – drums

Location:

Keene, New Hampshire

Genres:

Indie-rock, post-punk, pre-???

Upcoming events:

Sept. 29 at Psychic Readings in Providence, Rhode Island with Lady Queen Paradise and SweetPea Pumpkin.

Oct. 5 at The Shaskeen in Manchester, New Hampshire with New English, Giant in the Lighthouse and Dwarf Cannon.

Solo cross-country tour in early November, then full band east coast tour in late November. Dates forthcoming!

We’ll start working on our third full-length album….soon? Yes, soon. Probably. No, we really will.

Links:

https://jcmandtops.com

https://jacobcmckelvie.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/JacobCMcKelvie

Our Bio:

Headware is a band founded at Keene State College.

We play a wide variety of covers from Phish to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

We are currently in the process of writing more original content to add to our repertoire.

Oliver Holmes / Contributing Photographer

Headware started with guitarists Cam Youngclaus and Brady Strout playing together in Brady’s dorm room first year and sophomore year.

Brady and our drummer, Andrew Arnold, were in the same political science class as first years and sophomores respectively.

Andrew overheard a conversation Brady was having with another student in the class about playing music and introduced himself.

The following September, Cam and Brady were living in a house off-campus and invited Andrew over to jam.

One night, after a few weeks of playing together, Cam and Brady were at a house party.

They were talking about playing music when Eric, our bass player, overhead the conversation.

Since then, Headware has played at house parties around Keene, written original music and has been hired for

other events.

Members:

Cameron Youngclaus: Guitar and Vocals

Eric “Bassman” Wing: Bass and Vocals

Andrew Arnold: Drums

Brady Strout: Guitar and Vocals

Location:

Keene, NH

Genres:

Rock & Roll, Funk, Progressive, Punk, Rap, Tasty Jams

Upcoming events:

Headware will be playing shows at Headquarters,

and is working on getting other shows in Keene.

Like us on Facebook for details on upcoming events!

We are on the internet at:

https://www.facebook.com/HeadwareOfficial/

Ashley Gage

3 Ways Til’ Sunday member

3 Ways ‘Til Sunday is the only improvisational group on campus. We hold open Monday nights at 10 p.m. in the Redfern  Arts Center main lobby. This is a time when anyone can come and join in on the fun with all sorts of different improv games. Wednesday nights at the same time and place is when the actual improv team meets to discuss any upcoming shows or try new games we may want to try or talk about adding new members and play improv games ourselves to improve our own abilities. Improv is pretty unique because everyone at some point or another has started a project that either didn’t go as planned or maybe you have less resources than you thought you would, but the project still needs to get done. You have what is available to you to finish what you started. The big thing about improv is showing up, saying yes, and adding something to the situation. That’s a lot of what happens in real life situations that don’t go as planned. So not only is improv a great way to have fun and relieve stress, it’s also applicable to real life situations. It teaches people how to be flexible and to just show up and say yes. What I love so much about this group is that anyone can improv. We get theatre majors who are used to performing for people and maybe a history major who’s never performed in their life. Both are able to get up and do well though because there’s no “right” or “wrong” when it comes to improv. If you got up and gave it your best shot, then you’ve succeeded. Improv isn’t about being “good” or “bad” either. No one nails a scene every time they get up. You try something and if it doesn’t work then it doesn’t work and you’re able to move on and try something new. No one is going to laugh at you if you “mess up.” We’ll be laughing with you as you work out your scene. It’s a completely relaxed environment free of judgement because we’re all a little weird here and improv is a way for us to be weird together in an environment that welcomes weirdness.

Keene State is at a crossroads. For several years we’ve been trying to find a way to survive in an increasingly competitive college market. We’ve talked about what to do in meetings and formed numerous committees. Efforts have come and gone…and we’ve gotten nowhere.

Interim President Melinda Treadwell was quoted in The Keene Sentinel last week as saying, “the greatest vulnerability for a college or university right now is forgetting its history and chasing students, trying to become something it’s not.”

I agree, but KSC’s view of the past and our most recent efforts forward have been distorted by a sacred belief that we are (or should be) a traditional liberal arts college. But if you consider our present curriculum and most popular programs of study we aren’t this type of college. A vast majority of the degrees we grant are in Professional Studies and the Sciences. And our ISP program, regularly heralded as proof of our liberal arts credentials, isn’t much different from the general education programs of most colleges.

Past KSC Presidents, supported by a small, but vocal group of liberal arts faculty and a few former Deans, have led us down a primrose path. Thankfully, it appears President Treadwell and members of the USNH Board of Trustees know we need to alter course. At a meeting last Friday, Treadwell said we must reconcile with the fact that liberal arts colleges aren’t as popular as they used to be. USNH Chancellor Dr. Todd Leach recently said “what it means to be a Liberal Arts college today may not be what it was 30 years ago.”

President Treadwell has spoken of how she wants to proceed, but I find it unlikely that we’ll succeed, with her plan or anyone else’s, if we don’t recognize how we’ve been hurt by KSC’s liberal arts mythos. It’s allowed us to justify the hiring of superfluous faculty in privileged departments when other programs, especially those in Professional Studies and Sciences, were terribly understaffed. It’s stymied the growth of increasingly popular majors. And, it’s led to marketing efforts that have likely scared off parents and prospective students who are, not surprisingly, more interested in careers than they are in a well-rounded education.

I’m not suggesting we abandon the liberal arts to become a ‘trade college.’ Nor should we give the liberal arts short shrift. I’m a Professor in the Department of Journalism, Multimedia, Public Relations and our unofficial slogan is “we put the liberal arts into action.” But we should view the liberal arts in a more practical way–not as being the core of what we do at KSC, but rather as enrichment for all of our programs. If we do this, rather than continue down the path of myth, we have a chance not only of surviving, but of serving our students even better than we have in the past.

Mark Timney, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Journalism

Keene State College

Val Verde is a band from Keene, New Hampshire, made up of four great friends that connected through the high school and early college years. We had always been in different bands that played shows together, but it wasn’t until recently that we all started jamming as a newly-formed band. After playing together for a couple months, we decided we were ready to play shows, and that implied we would be releasing our first album as well. Therefore, that led to the release of our three-song demo that is serving as our basis of material for the time being. Right now, we are working on new material that we hope to record by the end of the year, and we are playing shows wherever we can to try and branch out our potential reach. We’ll gladly come riff for you.

Contributed photo by MICKAYLA JOHNSTON

Members:

Alex Salter – Guitar / Vocals

Alex Poor – Guitar

Ty Croteau – Bass

Matt Marzola – Drums

Contributed photo by COURTNEY WHITE

Location:

Keene, NH

Genre:

Heavy Rock / Punk

Upcoming Events / News:

10/14 – Val Verde, Spur (Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania), Shiver Potion (Manchester, NH) at Shelob’s in Keene, New Hampshire – 8 p.m.

Message us on Facebook for address!

11/7 – You Vandal (Gainesville, Florida), Val Verde, and more TBA at O’Briens Pub in Allston, Massachusetts – 8 p.m. – 3 Harvard Avenue

Social Media:

Bandcamp – https://valverdenh.bandcamp.com/releases

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/valverdenh/

Studying abroad was never something I had an interest in. I liked staying close to home and to what I knew I was comfortable with. That all changed once I realized how much the world had to offer that wasn’t in my little corner. What I didn’t know was how much studying abroad would change my life. After much debating, I chose York, England, as my place of study. I wanted a place that spoke English as its first language, so I was deciding between England or Australia. With choosing England, I knew I would be able to travel to any country within the European Union without too many problems. York also had more options for me that were more geared towards my interests. The school I chose was called York St. John University and they offered the exact classes I needed, as well as a dance program so I could continue dance training during my studies. Once I got to England, I met so many kind and wonderful people that I never thought I would be friends with. People from all different walks of life came from all over, sharing a common goal: to open their minds to new experiences. Many of the friends I made I still keep in contact with.

Photo contributed by Zachary Robinson

A big reason I chose York St. John University is because they were revered for having an excellent dance club. I was able to participate in eight different numbers, as well as my own solo. Some of the styles I did were jazz, contemporary, street and, my personal favorite, commercial. On top of that, I auditioned for the competition team and made it to the hip-hop squad. We were able to place second out of all other colleges in the U.K. It was life changing to be part of that experience. Dancing abroad was one of the biggest highlights of my trip because I learned so many news things that I am able to bring back with me. Starting up dance again at Keene State has been somewhat of a restart for me because I can add all of the technique and styles I learned abroad.

Since I went during the spring semester, students in England get an entire month off for spring break. Lucky for me, it was over April and the weather had warmed up. Within those months I traveled to seven other countries: Glasgow in Scotland, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Barcelona in Spain, Munich in Germany, Dublin in Ireland, Prague in the Czech Republic and Rome in Italy. Bouncing across Europe was the experience of a lifetime. I learned so much about myself and life that I never would have been able to see if I hadn’t gone on this journey. The different cultures and ideologies that each country possesses was so fascinating to see and understand. I am so lucky to have been able to be in the presence of such history and art.

Photo contributed by Zachary Robinson

After being abroad for over four months, I came back for the summer and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. There was a ton of public transportation in Europe and even if that wasn’t an option, you could walk anywhere you needed to go. Driving is on the left side of the road and I just had gotten used to it, so I had a reverse culture shock seeing everyone drive on the right side. The hardest part for me was not being able to legally drink anymore. Going from buying my own alcohol and knowing how to drink responsibly to being treated like a criminal for even being near the alcohol aisle was a huge adjustment. In Europe, you could openly drink in the street and no one would even bat an eye. There is a huge misunderstanding in America about drinking and the negative stigma that it has. Being back in Keene, it feels strange to not be within a huge city and an abundance of culture. As much as I love being here, it’s no York and definitely is no match when it comes to things to do. But being with my friends and family has been a nice break from it all. I had missed them a ton and I’m glad I get to be with all of them again.

Zachary Robinson can be contacted at zachary.robinson@ksc.keene.edu