The Collegian

Okay.

Juny and the Narrows achieved their reputation primarily FROM their music instead of their music coming from some self-imagined greatness. Yeah, their charisma helped, but it started with good music not with propaganda.

Being a (Hillsdale College music scene) legend requires a combination of charisma, popularity... and playing good music well.

If being legendary is your #1 goal, you're going to make bad music--music manufactured for "greatness." The fact that someone is thinking about the best way to manipulate their image into "legendary" ensures that they won't be.

Also, trying to become legendary is inherently lame. It makes you do things like huge and over-the-top-obnoxious propaganda blitzes... and refusal to change spots because your artificial and engineered bid for legendary status might be inhibited.

Mark's comment is real talk. It seems like everyone has a guitar, but they want to use it on emo boy-band garbage to impress the ladies (even if they already have one), or as Mark pointed out, becoming campus legends. That's not what rock and roll is supposed to be; unfortunately few can tell the difference, even less who actually play instruments.

As someone who was around in the "scene" before Juny and The Narrows came into existence, and to have seen it transform become something so full and thriving, I think there are very few of us who can truly speak of what a long way things have come from regarding the band scene at Hillsdale College. It's been exciting to watch, and something of an honor to be a part of, because of how much creativity and uniqueness happens in such a small place, as well as the support that is given from friends. Having grown up in a small town just north of Minneapolis playing in the "scene" there, and coming to Hillsdale and playing the "scene" there, I can say that the music does really happen as just "something you do."

As a recent alum (Class of '08) and as an alum of Mu Alpha Men's Music Fraternity, I was privileged to have shared the stage many times with fantastic musicians (including those of Seraphim/The Eastern Gate), and I think that greatness was a motivator, but having fun (both for ourselves and for the sake of bringing enjoyment and entertainment to our friends) was a big motivator as well. So, in that sense, I agree with Mark P. However, when the "big" bands leave, it is on one's mind who is gonna step up and "fill the shoes" because that's who everyone is paying attention to that year.

Of the debt that I think the student body owes to bands like Juny, The Narrows (now called Ten and Six Band) , The Hotness, Seraphim (now called The Eastern Gate), the Moonshiners, and the bands before them (Billy and the Magic Swingset, Searching For Shoes, and Street Fight), as well as Student Fed, InterVarsity (Now HCF, unless it's changed again), and Phi Mu Alpha and Pi Beta Phi for creating venues for these groups to play at, that debt is immense, but as Dan said, Hillsdale is in good hands. Still, to aspire to greatness in the "scene" at the Dale is one thing, and it's good practice for something bigger if you want that, but you're still only playing Battle of the Bands, Homecoming, Centralhallapolooza, Black Sheep Show, The Loft, and so forth. You're still small fish.

That being said, have fun next year and rock out boys and girls. It's been fun :)