Many students gathered in the lower cafeteria on Nov. 15 to hear Avery Graham perform a setlist filled with cover songs and a few of his own pieces. 

Graham is a sophomore here at Wayne State College. Graham is double majoring in organizational leadership and public relations with a minor in media and promotion. He has been singing as long as he could remember, however, he did not start playing guitar until about five years ago. He is involved in many things on campus, including the campus ministry worship team, CRU.

The performance began at 5 p.m. and went until 7 p.m. with a 30-minute break. While some students were just passing through to grab a bite to eat, many stopped to listen for a while, or sat down to enjoy their meal while listening to the solo act the Student Activities Board provided for the night. Graham has been preparing for the performance by choosing the music, practicing over and over while also doing some behind the scenes type of work practicing setting up and tearing down his equipment. Leading up to the show he also took to his social media platforms to spread the word of his performance taking place on campus. By taking to social media, he has been able to expand his audience and reach them with important information.

At the show, Graham appeared to being using his own guitar, keyboard and tech set up as well. Although Graham ran most of the show from the platform on his own, he had a friend in front running more behind the scenes work. The setlist he prepared was for about an hour and a half perform, not including the 30-minute break. 

He sang songs from all genres of music, making it a pleasant experience for those who came to support. He played songs from the discographies of Harry Styles, Journey, Russel Dickerson and Ed Sheeran. Some of the song titles including “Falling,” “Living on a Prayer,” “Yours,” and “Castle on the Hill.” The crowd cheered and sang along to most of the songs he played. Although admitting to the audience, because he did not grow up on country music, he has begun to learn and play much more of it since being here at Wayne. 

He played some of his own pieces, of which the crowd seemed to listen intently and cheered loud after he finished. It was a soft of power ballad that was played on guitar and a light backtrack. 

After college, Graham hopes to use what he has learned here at WSC to find a career leading worship at a church and also continually pursue his solos music career.