Show Preview: Dean's List Tour
Baker Center Theater
Saturday, March 29, 2014
By Zack Baker, Editorial Director
It’s not easy to make the Dean’s List. It takes a lot of hard work, late nights and focus to be recognized as one of the best in your class. Just like being recognized for academic achievement, earning a spot on the Dean’s List Tour marks you as a truly dedicated individual who takes music seriously.
The tour has come through Ohio University before, and this year’s installment seeks to add even more variety to the traditionally hip-hop focused showcase. A handful of New York based artists travel across the country, picking up local acts as featured openers at universities all over the country, and this year Ohio University brought their A-game.Bringing a stacked lineup featuring Cincinnati duo Those Guys, Middletown’s CADRE, Athens’ own MC Freeman, Yizzo, blues four-piece Wholehearted Halfwits and Rocko Suave, Athens is definitely representing the whole of Ohio on this stop of the tour.
The tour was brought back through Athens thanks to the hard work of campus organization AMplified Communications. For Those Guys in particular, it wasn’t hard to agree to come out for the event. “We've been friends with Ashley [Osborne, from AMplified] for a couple years. she asked us some months ago, and we said we'd be there. AmplifiedOU has been on their shit. No questions left unanswered,” said the group.
Saturday will be Those Guys’ first time playing in Athens, although they’ve wanted to for a while. (“The #FEST won’t book us [laughs].”) They’re working on new music and are in the process of making music video shoots an in-house operation, and they’re ready to share more of their music with the world. This event is only the beginning of their next big push.
Somewhat out of place on first glance are Athens four-piece Wholehearted Halfwits. More focused on blues-influenced rock than hip-hop, the group isn’t deterred by being the oddball act of the bill. “Our drummer at the time and Zack's advisor informed us of an opportunity to try out for the Deans List Tour. Honestly, we had absolutely no clue what it was when we went to tryouts, but we played a couple tunes and had a blast!” said John Molina and Zack Shafer, bassist and guitarist/vocalist for the band, respectively.
While the group has only been together for a few months, the band is already working on an EP and has meshed well. “We all really love the camaraderie amongst the guys. Whenever you have a group of musicians that gets along, it makes it so easy to write fun, songs with influence from everyone's diverse musical background,” said Molina and Shafer. While they may be fresh faces to the scene, Wholehearted Halfwits don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon.
The Dean’s List Tour is kicking off at 7 p.m. on Saturday, with tickets going for $10. Come out to see a mix of the best both NYC and Ohio have to offer.
