Drake Bell, Beta Play, and many other artists perform in live music festival at HC

October 12, 2017

On Oct/3/2017, HC hosted, “High School Nation,” being one of the two schools chosen in Kentucky. The program hosts many performers including, The Christopher Brothers, Nikki’s Wives, Beta Play, Kerrie Medders, and Drake Bell. At the end of the program, High School Nation donates a thirty thousand dollar recording studio to the hosting school.

The event is held to show students interested in the arts the potential of music. Drake Bell, the star of the long running show Drake and Josh, joined High School Nation to allow more students to experience live music. Being that he has both a career in acting and music, Bell thinks that the art form

Drake Bell enthusiastically performed for all of the HC student body. Phto By Katelyn Collins.

allows an outlet for so many, including himself.

“I thought it would be so cool if we could bring the concert to (students),” Bell said, “Music is my life, its affected everything, how I think, how I act, how I respond, it’s everything. If I had this when I was in school, I probably would have stayed in it.”

Performers such as Kerrie Medders and Ethan Christopher, both current high school seniors, and Karoline Roman, a junior, hope that their shows serve to inspire kids that they can follow their dreams as well.

“It’s just such a great program,” Nikki Whitehead, lead singer of Nikki’s Wives said. “It’s just so cool being able to talk to people who want to pursue music as a career. I had a lot of doubts before fully going into music, and I actually, in eleventh grade, [switched to] online learning, something like this would have helped me make that decision.”

The staff of High School nation also joined in on the fun at the show. Photo By Katelyn Collins.

The people behind the performers, stages, and pop-ups are dedicated workers that work for hours to make sure everything runs smoothly. Most event workers are from California, specifically Santa Monica, Los Angeles and San Francisco. They follow the program state to state, usually staying in each state for a week. The Spring tour went down the West Coast, and the Fall includes Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, and many others.

“Basically to give back, we are putting arts and music back into high schools that are getting those programs cut,” event worker Elijah Wright said.

Other than the performers, both sponsors and event managers believe in the High School Nation’s message of how important arts can be to students. Sponsors, such as Guitar Center, to give students the unique opportunity to work with state-of-the-art music equipment. Sparkling Ice kept students hydrated while PETA kept festival goers aware of where their food comes from.

“It’s a good cause, just giving back [to] arts and music,” a representative from Sparkling Water said. “Definitely can’t say no to something that is going to be so beneficial.”

HC theater production teacher Kiefer Schuler let five of his students participate in the building of the show. These students began working at nine in

Students were amazed at the sight of a festival on the soccer field. Photo By Katelyn Collins.

the morning, continuing after the show was over to dismantle and clean up. With a background in theater, the prospect of the donated studio excited many of the students.

“I think it would be really cool if we could get a cast recording of our musicals,” HC Junior and active member in the drama department Alyssa Payton said. “That would be awesome.”

The recording studio allows students to work with real-life tools used in the music industry.

“It [gives] them a real life [learning opportunity],” Schuler said, “something that they could actually see, and feel and touch, something they can actually experience instead of just learning through a book or through someone else’s story.”