Courtesy photo of Colin Jones

When you throw dance rock, funk and jazz influences together, you get the recently-formed local band The Slack Theory.

Officially formed last spring, the genre blending live group consists of Emporia State University students P.J. Stephenson, sophomore music major, on saxophone and vocals; percussion performance graduate John Gilmore on drums; graduate music student Jason Brooks on keyboards and vocals; sophomore music major Colin Jones on bass guitar and senior music major Riley Day and local musician Wade Krump on guitar.

Regarding their influences, Day said their biggest ones include Parliament, Bad Rabbits, Cannonball Adderley and Gnarls Barkley. Day said that he would describe the band’s sound as “party funk rock.”

Jones said there is also a definite influence of free jazz and bebop on their live performances.

The Slack Theory only plays shows locally and intermittently right now, performing about once a month on average at bars and house parties in Emporia. The most recent show they played was on New Years Eve at Beer: 30. But the dance-funk sextet is planning to play more shows this spring.

“We would like to play at some bigger venues,” Day said, “because with at least six people in the band, you need the space.”

Day and Jones said The Slack Theory plays originals as well as covers at their shows, though they are not sure what the band’s set list could consist of in shows to come. Day said the group plans on playing shows outside of Emporia later this year.

The band would like to release an album in the future, but there are no plans to do so right now.

Day and Jones said The Slack Theory’s main focus as of now is to just play more shows in the spring and work on new music.

“Recording is a definite possibility, and we are working on some new material,” Jones said, “but there are no plans to record any material as of yet. We just started doing this nine months ago, and we would like to play more shows before we work on recording anything.”

The Slack Theory will have formed one year ago this May, and although they have only performed a handful of shows so far, it’s a challenge to work around each member’s individual schedule.

“We all have school or work, so finding time to record would be hard.” Day said, “Our saxophone player P.J. has to travel for work pretty often.”

Stephenson said he works for Flint Hills Music.

The Slack Theory is planning on playing shows at Natasha’s and Beer: 30 in March.

Steven Edwards

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Freshman history major Ace Finch keeps track of stats during ESU’s home game Saturday evening in White Auditorium. Finch was excited as men’s basketball team was victorious against the Central Missouri Mules, winning 74-72. Julie Thephachan/The Bulletin

Never missing a KU basketball game, Ace Finch, freshman history major, parks his wheel chair in the lobby, the only place that has cable TV in his dorm.

From the small town of Council Grove, Finch dreams of following in the footsteps of his father, Daryl Finch, who teaches science and coaches football and basketball at Council Grove High School.

“He is the type of kid that doesn’t like being told he can’t do something,” Daryl said. “I remember how angry he was at me when I wouldn’t let him play football. Like any parent, you only want the best for your child and going off to college has always been his goal, and unlike football, college was in his physical ability.”

Finch said that coaching basketball and teaching history at the high school or college level would be his dream job, “since playing is out of the question.”

Born with cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that affects body movement and muscle coordination, Finch is limited to a wheel chair, which he uses to get around campus, and a walker he uses when he is in the dorms.

Finch could never play sports, but he said he has always done his best to stay active. Since sports were such a large part of his life during high school, taking stats for the football and basketball teams and running the 100 meter dash and throwing discus, Finch said that getting involved in ESU athletics was a major priority for him. This inspired him to contact head basketball coach Shaun Vandiver.

“I enjoy stat taking and that is what I do for the basketball team here,” Finch said. “It is what I have always done, besides running my mouth to officials during the games. I do what I can help out.”

Not being able to travel with the team upsets him, but Vandiver said that by next year arrangements will be made for him to attend away games.

“I enjoy it because it’s a challenge for me to keep up,” Finch said. “I had never been to an Emporia State basketball game before, and then here I am taking stats.”

Finch said that the teams both in high school and in college have made him feel like such a part of the team that not being able to play has never bothered him too much.

“There have always been times that I wish I could play, but the times when we are down by 30 points, I feel bad for the guys that are stuck on the field,” Finch said. “I have always known my role on the team – keep kids positive and take my stats.”

With only the help of his stepsister, Taylor Morgan, who is also a freshman at ESU, Ace now lives independently in the Towers Residence Hall. Morgan helps him put his shoes on in the morning and does his laundry for him, a job that Finch pays her $50 a month to do.

“Not adapting well was what I worried about most,” Finch said. “It wasn’t really the school work or not making friends because I knew I was going to do that – it was all the physical challenges. The first night I got here, it was hard. It took me like two hours to take a shower because the seat in the shower was higher than anything I have ever used before.”

Finch said he wanted to have the real college experience, and this motivated him to join the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity. Finch’s residential assistant, Jordan Yulich, junior elementary education major, is also a member and encouraged him to join.

“I think Ace is the reason the floor is so close,” Yulich said. “During the first few days they seemed to bond around him, doing the little things like pushing him to lunch. I wasn’t told I was going to have a resident with a disability, but the only thing that worried me was coming up with programs he could participate in.”

Being in a wheel chair did not stop residential life from putting him on the fifth floor of the Towers. Finch said the only thing that he worries about is both elevators malfunctioning. In the case of a fire, Finch is supposed to wait in the stairwell for firemen to come get him.

“For the most part, the campus is handicap accessible,” Finch said. “I know if I do need anything, all I have to do is ask. No one is going to turn me down because they would feel like a jerk. I want to try to maintain my independence, but for some reason my wheel chair battery always dies whenever a cute girl walks by.”

Rocky Robinson/The Bulletin

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William Clamurro, professor of Spanish and coordinator of the honors program at ESU, plays the oboe in his last concert with the Mid-America Woodwind Quintet. This farewell concert was hosted by the woodwind quintet Thursday night at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.Yiqing Fu/The Bulletin

Sounds of harmony echoed between the stained glass windows of St. Andrews Episcopal Church last Thursday. Members of Emporia State’s Mid-American Woodwind Quintet played a final performance with William Clamurro, professor of Spanish, coordinator of the honors college and oboist.

“The music is good,” said Andrew Spencer, ESU alumnus. “The pieces seem to be quite adventurous – they are not commonly practiced.”

The quintet consists of ESU faculty members Catherine Bergman, clinical instructor, on flute; Dawn McConkie, instructor of clarinet choir, on clarinet; Allan Comstock, music department chair, on bassoon; Terrisa Ziek, clinical instructor, on French horn; and William Clamurro on the oboe. The concert last Thursday was Clamurro’s last with the quintet, as the lifelong oboist has retired from the group.

“The group has been in existence since the 1940s, but one of the reasons we have been able to do this is because of Clamurro,” Comstock said.

Clammuro’s instrument of expertise, the oboe, is the soprano member of the woodwind’s double reed family, Comstock said.

“The Mid-American Woodwind Quintet meets for two hours every week and that is a big commitment,” Comstock said. “Clamurro has decided that it is getting to be a lot for him.”

Clamurro said he enjoyed performing and engaging in community service with the group.

“They perform a lot of daring music, a lot of traditional music and modern music,” Clamurro said. “They go out to local schools, the community and local community colleges, so I think it is very fun and rewarding.”

Comstock said that Clamurro joined the Quintet in 1997, despite his employment in the English department rather than the music department.

“He is a wonderful oboe player,” Comstock said. “He has done as much playing as if he is on the music faculty, so we have adopted him.”

Clamurro said he began playing the oboe in junior high. He then studied the instrument under a former member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra of New York and in other locations including New England, Seattle and Washington.

“I have also played in a lot of the places I taught at,” Clamurro said.

After retirement, Clamurro said he plans to continue playing with the Emporia Orchestra and mentoring young musicians.

The music department will host the Fall Flute Festival all day this Saturday in Beach Hall. The concert costs $4 for students and senior citizens and $5 for general admission.

Simone Cosper

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Photo Illustration by John Henningsen

If there’s something strange in your Emporia neighborhood, who are you going to call?

At 7 p.m. tonight, Ghost Hunter Jeff Davis will be in the Memorial Union’s Web Hall, courtesy of the Union Activities Council.

“We chose to bring Jeff because it’s different and we thought it would be something the students would want to see,” said Eden Tullis, senior English major and UAC president. “Picking it to go a couple of days before Halloween was definitely planned.”

Davis will discuss his own experiences with the supernatural and inform students about hauntings on campus, Tullis said. Before his presentation, Davis will spend the day pursuing any ghostly activity on campus.

There are various stories that deal with the paranormal on campus. One of the most well-known deals with the top floor of the Memorial Union, Tullis said. Rumor has it that the halls are haunted by ghost named Martha.

The top floor of the Union used to serve as living quarters for 10 teachers. One of the teachers, Martha, allegedly committed suicide in these quarters and has been causing havoc ever since, doing things like turning lights on and off in locked rooms and opening and closing doors, according to Tullis.

Born and raised in Washington, Davis has experience ghost hunting mainly on the west coast. Some of his accomplishments include being featured on an episode of “Haunted History Over the Northwest,” a television program on the History Channel, as well as writing several books.

“Students will enjoy hearing about the paranormal Jeff has found during his years as a ghost hunter, as well as things he has found while hunting the ESU campus,” said senior accounting major Ellen Huschka.

The American interest in the paranormal has peaked in recent years due in part by the media, according to Ghosthuntingserets.com. This includes the Sci-Fi hit television show “Ghost Hunters,” as well as the 1984 classic movie “Ghost Busters.”

“I think students enjoy this because the paranormal always seems to interest people,” Tullis said. “The fact that we also haven’t had (a ghost hunter) on campus for a very long time should get all ages and classifications interested.”

At the end of his presentation, 50 participants will be selected by a drawing to accompany Davis around the college grounds. During this tour, he will share with students his observations and the locations of activity that he found.

Susan Welte

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Emporia residents dressed up for the Rocky Horror Picture Show Friday night at the Granada Theater. The movie showed both at 8 p.m. and midnight. Yiqing Fu/The Bulletin

Hundreds of fans swarmed the Granada Theatre last Friday night to take part in the object-throwing, aisle-dancing cult classic known as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The show played at both 8 p.m. and midnight.

Shelby Lindsey, junior art major and volunteer at the Granada, said that the show appeals to viewers because it is a “cult film,” which means that fans are highly devoted to it.

“It’s interactive,” Lindsey said. “We had prop bags for everyone.”

The first 200 people at each showing received a prop bad, which contained rice; a newspaper; glow sticks; rubber gloves; noisemakers like whistles; a strand of toilet paper; pieces of toast; party hats and playing cards, Lindsey said.

All items were used during certain parts of the show and were most often thrown towards the stage. For example, during the opening scene of the movie, audience members mimicked the actors by throwing rice at the newlywed couple leaving the church on screen.

“We have concerts every month but this is really the only interactive event we have ever had,” Lindsey said, “I love it because it’s just strange – in general it’s just creepy.”

Some audience members came dressed in unusual outfits, which included maids in fishnet stockings. Two such viewers were Brenna Mercer and Daya Williams, Emporian sisters who said they came to enjoy the show and relive pleasant memories from their teenage years.

“The first time (I saw it), my dad took me when I was 18 and it was with the audience participation,” Mercer said. “It’s one of my most fun memories from when I was younger.”

Williams is an Emporia State secondary education graduate. She donned a maid costume.

“I love the audience participation,” Williams said.

Along with using the items in their prop bags, viewers sang along with the music and danced in the aisles to the song “The Time Warp.” Members of the audience also shouted at the screen during key moments in the performance.

“It was nice having the prop bags – I didn’t have to remember what to bring,” said Janet Burenheide, Emporia resident.

Maria Morris, Flint Hills Technical College student, said that she loved the audience participation and her favorite part was when the volunteers at the Granada threw water at the audience during a rainy scene to simulate being rained on. Audience members put newspapers over the tops of their heads to keep dry from the “rain.”

The next show on Granada’s calendar is “Beetlejuice,” set for 7 p.m. this Friday night. Admission is $5 and the doors open at 6 p.m.

Khaili Scarbrough

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Carson has been performing for six years and producing music for 10 years. His first album, “I’m Ready,” has already sold out, 500 copies in all, since its release last May. The concert was Carson’s statement to Emporia that he is ready to let his music be heard.

“The crowd is amazing and my town is amazing,” Carson said. “They’ve been showing me nothing but love. Regardless of the numbers, we had the community come together to support local music and that’s what it’s all about.”

This was the first hip-hop concert the theater had ever hosted according to Jessica Buchholz, executive director of the Granada.

“We were really excited to try something new,” Buchholz said. “We have never had a hip-hop or alternative rock music concert like Chad’s.

Buchholz said that the Granada is trying to expand the live music scene in Emporia.

“Sometimes it’s a challenge, but there are a lot of great bands in Emporia, there’s a lot of local talents,” Buchholz said. “It’s just getting people out to support that – it’s very important.”

The concert was advertised as “the biggest concert of the year” and got about 500 RSVPs on its Facebook event page.

Carson himself helped produce the performance. He invested about $2,500 into the concert with the money he earned from his first album. He also promoted the concert by distributing 700 fliers and 100 posters since ESU’s block party in August.

“I think (the concert) is a great thing in Emporia,” said Naomi Aranda, junior hospitality and culinary arts major at Flint Hills Technical College. “We’ve been looking forward to this for three weeks. We’ve never heard of anything like this before. It’s magnificent.”

Carson said that his father was a musician, so he was exposed to blues and rock and roll during his childhood. He combines these styles with electronic dance music and heart-felt lyrics, which he said makes his sound unique.

“I’m so different from everybody else,” Carson said. “I’m from Emporia, Kan.–  that’s not really the hip-hop spot. California, New York, Atlanta, those places already have so many people, and the market is so saturated already, and they already have their sound.”

Carson said that the Midwest is diverse, so musicians here do not have to stick to one sound. The Midwest is a melting pot of styles from the east, the west and the south.

“I will develop my own sound,” Carson said. “What I would like to do is to put mainstream music out that actually has a meaning, rather than just talking about cars, women, or jewelry or money. I’d like to put out music that everybody can listen to, but is also telling my life story.”

TIANHAI JIANG

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The Paperclips perform at Beer: 30 last Friday. ESU students praised the Paperclips for their live performance. Yiqing Fu/The Bulletin

For Jake Briscoe, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for Missouri-based rock band The Paperclips, music is much more than just playing notes and singing. The Band performed last Friday night at Beer:30, 402 Merchant St.

“Music means everything because music can tell stories that you could not speak,” Briscoe said. “Emotion is something that is told through body language, but even more accurately, through music.”

But for The Paperclips, performing is also a method of self-expression.

“You can put on a song that you love at any point in your life and it can make you feel better or it can make you feel terrible,” said Jason Richards, bass guitar and backing vocals. “You associate music with certain people in certain moments, it’s a stronger, more sensual memory than smell…we are not talkers, but through music, we can communicate with each other and always know what the other one is saying.”

Briscoe said the Paperclips first performed at Beer:30 while on tour with John Henry and the Engine.

“We fell into it,” Briscoe said. “It was a good opportunity at the right time and since then we have had a good relationship with Josh Olsen (owner) and everyone at Beer:30. We have been here several times and it is always a blast.”

Zack Daniel, bartender, said The Paperclips usually “put on a great show,” for the bar’s patrons.

“They have a good following, and people like to come watch them play,” Daniel said. “The band has a good time and everyone has a good time watching them.”

The band originally formed for a talent show at the University of Central Missouri and decided to continue performing from there, according to Briscoe.

“We did fairly well in the talent show, we got third place, but the most important thing is we had a blast doing it,” Briscoe said. “We were all stage musicians but we had not played collectively in a band since high school and then we had an opportunity to play together and we enjoyed it, stuck with it and kept trying different things and it eventually lead to this line-up.”

The Paperclips were inspired by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and the Rolling Stones, according to drummer, Chris Evans. Briscoe classified the band as heavy blues-metal.

“I love listening to the Paperclips every time they come around – it’s a great show,” said Austin Schopper, senior English secondary and physical education major. “They bring a lot of energy, they have good sound and they are a great band to listen to live…The Paperclips re-guide my interest in live music.”

The Paperclips said they plan to perform again at Beer:30 and in the Emporia area, but currently there is no specific date or time set.

“Whatever comes up and sounds good at the time, we will do,” Briscoe said.

Simon Cosper

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Comedian Ronnie Jordan of Atlanta Ga. performs at “ESU’s Got Talent,” Wednesday night in Albert Taylor Hall. Chris Franklin/ The Bulletin

Some joked, some sang, some even played the ukulele, but everyone had talent at last night’s UAC sponsored “ESU’s Got Talent.” Host Ronnie Jordan, a stand-up comedian from Atlanta, Ga., began the night. He enjoyed the smaller audience with a bit more intimate experience.

Jordan has been featured on BET’s Comic View, 1^st Amendment Stand-up and Bad Boys of Comedy, as well as The Blue Collar Comedy Tour. He broke the college touring record with 102 colleges in 112 days, according to ronniejordan.net, his personal website. Jordan drove 18 hours to host the event.

“The talent is really good, they’re all music majors or are members of Zoiks, there’s a lot of talent, it’ll be interesting to see,” said Chanelle Warner, senior elementary education major.

The event was judged by UAC president Samantha Beye, Corky the Hornet in full costume and ASG vice president Ashley McCullough. They offered awards to the top three acts of the evening.

Auditions were held for the event and the top six acts were chosen to participate in the talent show.

Matador, an electronica band, opened the night with a cover of a DNTEL song. Esteban Gomez mixed the music and sang.

The following act was Nick Donovan playing the piano and singing, he received the second place medal.

Adam Helmer and Ashley Wells covered Brad Paisley’s “Whiskey Lullaby” and received third place. The duet sang as Helmer played acoustic guitar.

Luke Ball and Joel Dixon of Dixon Ball’s Stampede covered a blue grass version of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Dixon played the banjo while Ball played the ukulele and they were accompanied by Riley Day on guitar. This was met with laughter from the audience. They received first prize for the evening for the second year in a row and presented Jordan with a VHS tape for their honor.

Paul Mose closed the night with a stand-up routine. This was only his second time on stage and he was nervous and excited about the opportunity.

“(The talent show) showcases all of our different talent that we have and not a lot of people get to know that or experience it so the people who do attend get to get something different,” said Crystal Ulbrich, senior communication major and member of UAC.

Amy Silva, freshman crime and delinquency studies major, said she was excited to see the audience reaction and was glad that Jordan was able to host the event.

Charlie Heptas

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lic Storm performs Tuesday night at the Granada Theatre. Erica Cassella/ The Bulletin

When Gaelic Storm appeared on the stage under the ocean-blue light during their performance Tuesday night in Albert Taylor Hall, the audience gave a standing ovation. About 500 people from the Emporia community and surrounding areas attended the concert.

The concert started with the song, “Courtin’ In The Kitchen.” Soon, the stage was filled with Irish-style rhythm and the sound of violin, drums and guitar mingled. The audience followed the beat and clapped their hands.

According to their homepage, Gaelic Storm’s music and performances are a celebration of Irish culture, but they are hardly traditionalists, adding modern sounds and drawing influences from American rock and pop as well as music styles from around the world.

“We selected Gaelic Storm because it has huge following and we saw a lot of people come from outside the area,” said Melissa Windsor, executive director of Emporia Art Council.  “We are very pleased with the turn out. It looks like the entire floor is filled and everyone walked out with happy faces and happiness in their hearts.”

Gaelic Storm’s stage presence is interactive and lively. Audience members stood up from their seats and acted like donkeys when the band sang “Darcy’s Donkey.” During the song “Me and the Moon,” the audience on one side stood up and sang “I brought the whiskey” and then the audience on the other side sang “He brought the light” while waving the lights of their cell phones.

The audience applauded several times for the violin solos of Jessie Burns.

“I like the way of music with violin and pipes sounds. My favorite part is the drums and everybody can get involved,” said Frank Cortez, junior secondary education major.

The band also performed “Green Eyes, Red Hair” from the album “Cabbage.”

“Cabbage was number nine on the iTunes chart for every artist in the county,” said Patrick Murphy, lead singer and accordion player for Gaelic Storm.

Students who attended the event said they enjoyed the performance.

“It’s so much fun and it’s really great. I want to go and see them when they go to Kansas City,” said Enn Gilmane, senior music performance major.

Windsor said this concert is a fundraiser for the general operating budget of the Emporia Art Council and a new art center that was just opened at 815 Commercial St. with 15,000 square feet of facilities, including an art gallery, art shops and classrooms.

Huibing Lu

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Kristin Elliot, who graduated last year with a bachelor’s degree in glass forming, stands by her favorite glass piece Wednesday afternoon in Gilson Gallery inside King Hall. Elliot’s closing reception will be Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. Erica Cassella/ The Bulletin

The Gilson Memorial Gallery in King Hall has hosted a number of exhibitions for Emporia State art students. Currently being displayed in the Gallery, Kristin Elliot’s art exhibition “Over and Over” features the product of four years in ESU’s glass-forming program.

“An exhibition is a culmination of the students’ studies here at ESU,” said Patrick Martin, associate professor of art. “They take all of their studies and draw them into one show. This is the body of work they will use to get into graduate school, galleries and to obtain jobs.”

Though she already graduated with her bachelor’s degree last semester, “Over and Over” is Elliot’s senior exhibition. Her showing was on hold due to the number of senior exhibitions that go through the gallery in King Hall.

“All BFA students will do a senior exhibition,” Martin said. “Each student gets a slot up there (in Gillson Memorial Gallery). Sometimes there are two or three (exhibitions) at a time.”

Like her degree, Elliot’s exhibition has an emphasis in glass forming.

Elliot said there are 16 pieces in total and out of these, two pieces are mix media, a combination of different materials with glass – in this case, pennies with one piece and 40,000 push pins in another.

“My artwork is very intricate and time consuming,” Elliot said. “Some pieces have taken over 50 hours to complete.”

According to its artist statement, the work in Elliot’s display “revolves around meticulous organization and repetitive processes with a material that is somewhat unpredictable.”

To put it in simply Elliot calls her work “organized chaos,” since each piece has a repetitive them and the focus of the display is glass work with patterns and colors being repeated “over and over again.”

“It’s very methodical and she’s very concerned about detail and form in all of her work,” Martin said.

ESU’s art department has the only glass-forming program in Kansas.

“We’re one of only a couple in this region, so we have students from all over the country in our program.” Martin said.

All glass-forming processes are taught through this program such as solid sculpting, cold working, blowing, fusing, casting and slumping. Elliot used all of these for her show.

“Art to me is about the process rather than the end product,” she said.

Martin said Elliot’s work is “exceptional for an undergraduate student.”

Elliot will use the knowledge she gained at ESU in Seattle, Wash., where she has been offered a glass job as a cold-worker.

“Opening my exhibit was a sign of relief,” Elliot said. “It was horrible and overwhelming, but to finish something and have others see it is the best feeling in the world… it’s is not a closing – it’s a new beginning.”

The closing reception for “Over and Over” is scheduled from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 25 at the Gilson Memorial Gallery in King Hall.

Thomas Govert

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