The spirit of fall inspires music by the Rider Rock

By Stacie Hueter

CRISP, russet leaves and a cool breeze befell the evening of Rider’s second “Live from the Rider Rock,” open-mic event. 

Fitting with the theme, “Autumn Leaves,” the environment set a lovely scenery around the makeshift stage for a time of comforting and cathartic performances by various students. 

Junior music production major Madeleine Gilson helped organize the event as the chair of Rider’s Student Entertainment Council. She expressed her excitement about having a second open-mic night.

Another organizer and chair on the SEC Gil Bitsimis, a junior music production major, said, “We get to interact with students we’ve never really interacted with before.” 

The event featured many evocative songs, such as “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood and “Get You,” by Daniel Ceasar, providing a sense of coziness to the audience. 

Mars Springsteel, a freshman music production major who performed at the first open-mic event, said she felt “stoked to be back … I hadn’t performed in quite a bit, so this is really exciting.” She sang “We Fell in Love in October” by Girl in Red, which officially initiated the warm fall vibe for the rest of the evening. 

Another previous performer, Mya Mcfarland, junior social work major, mirrored Springsteel’s thoughts. “It was cool. I felt a little bit more confident than last time because I sang a song by China Anne McClain,” she said. 

Mcfarland enjoyed the low-stakes of the event in contrast to more popular, anticipated ones like R Factor because “it’s not the entire campus.” The crowd’s bright smiles and adoring cheers eased her worries about singing. 

Lathan Gil, known around campus by his alias “Lay Tin,” is a sophomore music production major who performed twice on stage despite “feeling under the weather.” He sang “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey, using an original track sample that he decided to show off to students. Gil added that this was a “very impromptu moment.” The supportive audience, even unfamiliar people, encouraged Gil to step forward showing how the event reels out unexpected actions of nearby students. 

Gil’s striking vocals attracted many to stop by the rock, such as Julie Hilse, a freshman music production major.

 “The first thing I heard was Lathan’s performance of ‘We Belong Together.’ [I  thought] ‘This sounds fun, I should go over and check this out ’… I love the energy,” Hilse said. The event provided a meaningful buffer period in between tiring classes. Hilse was inspired to the point of volunteering herself to perform “Falling Behind” by Laufey despite feeling stuffy as well. 

Gilson and Bitsimis duetted multiple student-singers with appealing harmonies throughout, while senior music production major Koryna Jn-Louis, another chair of the Rider’s Student Entertainment Council, shared her time in the spotlight, singing “Wildflower” by Billie Eilish. 

Many individuals stopped by to admire the talent presented by passionate Rider creatives. 

Jn-Louis said, “We always run a bit past seven o’clock. But I think it’s a good problem to have.” She said it showed the willingness of student performers when given the chance to perform something for themselves, and their fellow peers.

Moving forward, the trio stated that they would love to extend the open-mic evenings to as long as 2 hours. In Gilson’s words, “People want to be up here. People want it.” 

Zyheim Bell is news editor of The Rider News and is Student Government Association delegate. He had no part in the writing or editing of this story.