Campus concert ‘Releases’ talent

This Saturday, March 22nd, Chadron State College will experience “Release” for the eighth year in a row. In years past, students and community members have packed Memorial Hall’s mainstage auditorium, ready to experience CSC’s artistic heavy-hitters. At 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Release organizers hope to see a similar turnout.

This year, performer and organizer Karl Minor, of Montego Bay, Jamaica and Joshua Scheler, of Box Elder, S.D.,  Creative Director, have taken the event in a new direction. Instead of the usual creative smorgasbord, Minor and Scheler’s Release will feature three major artists: Minor, Freddy Culp, and Living in Air. All three acts are veterans from last year’s Release.

Freddy Culp, senior of Miliani, Hawaii, won CSC’s “The Voice” competition in January, and traveled to Nashville for the show’s audition in February. Living in Air features artist Arielle Tiensvold, a senior in music education from Rushville.

Minor, via the Release Facebook page, is advertising ticket pick-up locations and times. Currently, students can claim free tickets in the Student Center, at the RLA front desk, from noon-2 p.m., until Friday.  The Facebook page also features video logs of the different bands preparing their acts. One video shows Minor and his group traveling to Rapid City, S.D., with Laure Sinn, Student Activities Coordinator, to purchase costumes for the event.

This video is indicative of some of the changes Minor and Scheler have made to Release. Tiensvold explained the differences thus:

“This Release is set up more like a concert,” she explained on Monday. The show will be composed of groups that are more likely to go on tour, and they will share the stage in equal parts with “transitioning acts” in between. Tiensvold continued, “not only that, but Freddy, Karl, and I are getting our hair, makeup, and even wardrobe put together for us.”

This shift, from Release’s previous, more home-grown feel, is also reflected in its title. The red and tan posters, hung around campus, are emblazoned with “Release: Live.”

The addition of the second term shifts Release’s focus from the communal to the commercial. Although students are not charged entry fees, the concert-like focus draws a line between the acts as students and performers.

“We will be walking on stage transformed from our regular, everyday appearance,” Tiensvold said.

In years past, students have attended Release to cheer on their peers. Now students will be attending, if Minor and Scheler’s vision works, a concert. This will be Minor, Culp, and Tiensvold’s last Release. Tiensvold is sad to be leaving Chadron to student teach, but said of her fellow performers, “I’m excited to share the stage with them one more time before we take off for our future journeys.”

This being his last Release, Minor will hand off the event’s organization to another student or group. Each organizer, since the show’s creator, Jovan Mays, has given Release a unique feel. Minor’s legacy may be one of glitz and glitter, but that commitment to putting on a show may add an exciting professionality to Release. However, combating this exclusive, performative feel, the Release team will host an after party in the Student Center, to which everyone is invited.

“A night of free entertainment and a party following?” Tiensvold said, “I don’t know why anyone would want to miss this.”