Downtown Bryan is going to be a bit spookier, and more musical, this weekend as Texas bands raise the roof to raise funds for Texas A&M’s official student radio.
Following an extended break due to COVID-19, KANM is set to host their annual “Save the Music” concert on Oct. 29 at The 101 in Bryan, with doors opening at 7 p.m. and music starting at 8:30 p.m. In addition to highlighting a variety of bands, all funds from ticket and concession sales will benefit the KANM student radio station.
Sociology senior Gwen Howerton is the public relations director for KANM, and as a College Station native said it’s important to promote local bands and the growing music scene in town.
“We do have a small music scene in Bryan-College Station, and to me it’s just important to foster that and it’s important to grow that,” Howerton said. “I’ve been going to shows here since I was in high school. So for me, it’s really important that we give back to the local bands, the bars that do shows every night, the musicians who are trying to stick out a living in this area making music.”
Though the country music scene in College Station is more defined, Howerton said concerts like this allow for students and residents to see all different types of local musicians.
“There’s not just a music scene here but an alternative music scene here. There’s not just country or certain university organizations,” Howerton said. “There’s all sorts of musicians here; there’s DJs, there’s rappers, there’s poets, there’s metal bands. There is a little bit of something for everybody here. You just have to know how to look for us.”
In addition to providing a great show to the audience, this year’s concert is also special for the KANM staff, especially new members like visualization senior Noel Jones, the finance director. Jones said she’s anticipating in-person interaction the event will provide for the whole team.
“I joined the org[anization] during [COVID-19], I made friends by talking in the group chat and everything was online so it was weird,” Jones said. “I made all these friends and now it’s exciting that we finally get to do something together in person, have fun and really appreciate something that we all love, so I’m just excited.”
Audiences can look forward to bands like Dirty Bynum, Skunk Money, Sykotic Tendencies and The Dead Meadows, as well as a merchandise sale from the student radio. By having this event, KANM is able to continue their tradition of being student-run, Howerton said.
“We are definitely smaller than a lot of student radio stations across the country … We are almost exclusively for student run,” Howerton said. “We don’t have a faculty advisor in [the office daily] making decisions for us, every decision we make is all us … Coming to Save the Music is a way to continue [our station], and it covers things for our members like more concerts, so we can do this again next semester or even multiple times a semester.”
Jones also encourages students to interact with KANM radio outside of the concert, and she said this has been an opportunity for their members to get real-world music experience.
“This is a completely student-run org[anization], and this was put together by our team of officers,” Jones said. “We don’t have any experience planning an event like this. We were all hoping it went well, and it seems like it’s going well. Listen to our shows, you can listen to them at KANM.org. All our shows are so diverse — there’s something for everyone.”
