Each year, Family Weekend is filled with many unique events not found every weekend Oxford. This year, one of the events the Campus Activities Council has planned is a concert that will be held in 6-9 p.m. Sept. 24 in Uptown Park. Two of the stars of this concert are Miami University senior Adam Saxe and junior Grant Peterre. Both men say that Miami has significantly impacted their musical careers and aspirations.
Adam Saxe has been playing musical gigs since he was a senior in high school, although he has only been playing shows in Oxford since he was a sophomore at Miami. When asked how he thinks Miami affected him as a musician, Saxe said, "I came here thinking I was going to be a doctor, which obviously changed. I got involved in Glee Club and the Cheezies. Both of those things definitely changed my perspective on what I wanted to do, how I wanted to spend my time, things like that…Music was always there. One thing led to another; now I'm playing uptown."
Saxe now plans on putting a CD out sometime this year. He wants to try to make a career out of his music. He says that if he hasn't made it in five years that he will always have his psychology degree from Miami to fall back on.
Grant Peterre also explained how Miami has affected him as a musician. He said that on-campus organizations like the marching band and the countless opportunities to play with students on their own personal endeavors have aided him in developing his musical career.
Peterre's former roommate was the director of the Cheezies, a men's a cappella group affiliated with Glee Club, and through that connection, Peterre was able to play the guitar on their summer tour.
"I have played uptown on weekends and anywhere else I can. Everybody [at Miami] has been really open," Peterre said.
The Family Weekend concert was a brainchild of Miami's CAC. Saxe was originally approached about the possibility of playing over Family Weekend last spring. He explained that he did not think anything would actually come of it, so he was surprised when he received a call over the summer (which he spent playing piano on a cruise ship) to confirm whether or not he would perform.
Saxe said that Max Richards, the man responsible for hiring him, most likely heard about the self-proclaimed "Adam Saxe Band" through word of mouth.
Peterre originally met Saxe through the Cheezies and began collaborating with the band soon after. Other musicians that will be joining this duo for the concert uptown include Saxe's brother, Aaron, Kyle Westhafer and University of Cincinnati student Christian Schlorman.
These men will be playing a variety of music and instruments. While Saxe sings and plays piano and Peterre plays guitar, the concert will also include a drummer, a bassist and a five-piece horn section. Most of the music the band will play for this particular gig will be a wide variety of covers.
Saxe cited band such as Earth, Wind and Fire, The Script, Dave Matthews Band and Maroon 5 when asked what types of music his band would be playing. Saxe also emphasized that although these songs are covers, he likes to put his own twist on each song.
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Saxe explained that personally, it is the first time he has been hired by Miami for a gig and that he is hoping this concert will be a great way to get his name out there.
"It's not going to be your stereotypical college band, " Peterre said. "The thing I'm most impressed about is that we managed to get together some of the best musicians in our age group from around the state … we are looking to put on a good show."
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