Photo by AMP Entertainment
Story by Logan DeLoye / Contributing Writer
AMP Entertainment is an MTSU program that creates relevant music industry opportunities for young professionals wanting to further their careers through campus events and musical showcases. Every AMP showcase has a different theme and this week’s theme was “Roots.” The show was held outside of the Bragg building as the sun set on campus this Thursday.
Luke Klingensmith, Ashton Prosser, Wesley Davis, Kristi Hoopes, Austin Sawyer and Chloe Kimes were asked to join the AMP crew to play original and cover country songs at this performance.
Klingensmith—originally from Iowa—opened the show with a couple of original songs, some of which were inspired by his girlfriend who watched from the audience.
He and his family moved down to Nashville to pursue his music dreams and his parents were able to attend the show as well.
Following Klingensmith was Prosser with a few of her less-than-light-hearted songs.
“I promise not all my songs are sad…just most of them,” Prosser joked with the audience after playing one of the songs that she wrote.
Next in the lineup was Davis who grew up listening to country music, telling the audience of his southern-rock background after performing some original songs. The song he felt represented his roots the most was “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Rounding the ending of the show was Hoopes, who exclaimed during her set, “Roots… that’s everything country music is right?”
Hoopes’ roots lie in the Rocky Mountains and she proudly said that “Country runs in my blood.” Far from her home in Colorado, Hoopes often gets homesick and misses her mother, who is her best friend. She sang an original song that she wrote along with some covers from her favorite artist in country music, Loretta Lynn.
The final act of the AMP Entertainment showcase was Sawyer and Kimes. Typically, Austin Sawyer and Chloe Kimes perform as a duo but they brought along a band at this event in celebration of the country roots theme.
Sawyer and Kimes sang covers of their favorite country songs, as their original songs are more Americana in style. In their set of country classics, Sawyer and Kimes “Took us back to the golden age of country music” to conclude the show.
To contact Music Editor Hayden Goodridge, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.
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