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Mild Bison: the journey of collaboration and music
This year, for the first time, a student-led music event on campus called Mild Bison took place at Lipscomb. Wild Bison, the outside festival that took place in March 2024 and featured alumni artists and students in the School of Music at Lipscomb, is coming back in October 2025. While the students and performers wait for the second outdoors festival, Red Dog Production, which is part of the College of Entertainment and Arts at Lipscomb (CEA), created Mild Bison. Isaac Horn and Lincoln Mick from The Arcadian Wild kick off the Writers’ Round The Arcadian Wild, whose two original members are Lipscomb alumni, hosted the event. They are the ones…
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Campus carillonist Donna King rings students into post-grad life
The daily schedule of everyone on Lipscomb’s campus is guided by the bells of the Allen Tower. Each quarterly chime informs faculty, staff and students of the time of day. Although it is programmed to be this way, each time it rings is not always automatic. Dr. Donna King, Professor of Music, is the one behind the musical songs played on both random and special occasions. “I’m not a virtuoso or a master carillonist, by any means, but I was able to learn enough to, you know, get me through graduations,” she said. “It’s become … a little fun, weird corner of my regular teaching job.” “Carillonist”, also known as…
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From the Rockies to Rock-N-Roll: Zerita McAtee’s Journey from Montana Outfitter to Nashville Musician
Trading the saddle for a guitar, Zerita McAtee’s journey from outfitter’s daughter to aspiring rockstar takes root at Lipscomb University as she immerses herself in the community, honing her craft and finding her sound. Zerita McAtee, junior commercial music songwriting major from West Glacier, Montana, merges her love for rock and folk music with her faith and personal journey to create music that is not only relatable but fun to listen to. McAtee didn’t have a musical up-bringing, rather she comes from a family that spent a lot of time outdoors. “We’re basically outfitters which is working with horses, taking people into the woods, fishing and hunting so very…
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Lipscomb’s Red Dog Productions Revamps The Well Stage
If you have attended a show at The Well recently, you may have noticed a few changes. The stage has undergone a rebranding and operational shift, now under the management of Red Dog Productions, a hands-on venue management practicum for Lipscomb’s music students. These students are learning the ins and outs of running a performance based business. “Students get to book shows, work with artists, ticket shows, manage shows, host shows, run the sound and lights. They get to have their hands in that whole thing,” says John J. Thompson, director of music industry studies. The practicum students, alongside Thompson and adjunct professors, spent last semester re-inventing the program. Thompson…
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A Look into Sarah Free’s Musical Journey: From Young Creativity to Exploring New Sounds at Lipscomb
Ever since she was young, Sarah Free, a senior songwriting major from Hendersonville, TN, had a passion for music. “Before I could talk, I was humming,” Free says, “the classic thing, and just kind of making up songs when I was little on like whatever instrument I could get my hands on.” Free switched from public to a private Christian school when her family moved to Tennessee after her eighth grade year. She says that move had a vital role in her decision to pursue music. “I was able to do a lot of musical things and was kind of like affirmed in my creativity. They were pretty welcoming there…
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Familiar faces dominate 54th Annual Dove Awards
The GMA Dove Awards have made their way back to Nashville on Lipscomb’s campus for its 54th show. To no surprise, this show was jam-packed full of big names who took home prestigious awards. One familiar face who took home an award early on in the night was Toby Mac, who received Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year for his album Life After Death. After Mac won the award, he made it known that this was his favorite. “I mean, winning this Dove for Life After Death is definitely the most special moment at my life at the Dove Awards,” Mac said. Mac was certainly not the only one to feel…
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A Lipscomb pep band comeback?
The atmosphere in Allen Arena is about to change drastically. According to Landon Parrish, Special Assistant to President McQueen, Lipscomb University will have a full-fledged band playing at every basketball game this year. Parrish says, “Without a band, Allen arena just feels empty during games. You can fill dead air during timeouts and transitions with piped-in music from a computer along with the cheer team, but there’s just something missing.” This wouldn’t be the first time Allen Arena’s court is met with live music. Since 2001, the university has had different versions of a band at many games. Parrish has been there to see all of them. The history starts…
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The do’s and don’ts of booking gigs
Republished from Build Your Own Career: a music student’s guide to “making it” in Nashville, February 15, 2023. Sending a booking email is a lot like a job interview for musicians. The difference is that nine times out of 10, there was no “Help Wanted” sign on the venue door. Because of this, musicians rarely have regular gigs. Instead, they bounce around from place to place. Naturally, the material played, pay and length of gigs will differ, but hey, you signed up for this. Since nobody is going to pay you minimum wage to play 9-5 every weekday, here is what you need to know about booking yourself gigs. Let’s…
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Behind the curtain with Hello Darling — a band with origins as Lipscomb freshmen
You never know what might come out of Lipscomb’s music ensemble classes. The Nashville-based alternative folk band Hello Darling just happens to be one of those things. The band was born when a group of five musically talented people wound up thrown together in an ensemble as freshmen and discovered they all shared a passion for good music. Hello Darling comprises juniors Patrick Armould and Grace Russell, who share lead vocals; junior Amber Sawyer on bass; senior Riley O’Donnell on drums; and senior Noah Haggard on lead guitar. They come from different parts of the country and have different majors, musical tastes and backgrounds, but they found common ground through…
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Lipscomb students share the stage with Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli is an Italian international opera singer with record sales of over 80 million units performing with artists such as Celine Dion and Sarah Brightman. The world renowned singer just kicked off his tour on February 9th at Bridgestone Arena. Accompanying him, was not only the Nashville Symphony, but students and faculty of Lipscomb. Lipscomb students have performed with the symphony before and regularly perform with professionals. However, this unique opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Josiah Smith, a Vocal Performance major from Green Bay, Wisconsin described the performance as, “Chills all the way through,” The Lipscomb choir rehearsed for a week leading up to the performance and learned eleven…
