Singer and songwriter Darius Rucker will perform as the leading act for the festival, which will be held in the MSU Amphitheater on April 18. The event will also coincide with the conclusion of Super Bulldog Weekend.
Rucker, who is front man for the rock group Hootie & The Blowfish, released Learn to Live in September 2008 under the country music genre.
Student Association Attorney General Blake Jeter said he thinks this year’s event will be great.
“He has had success with Hootie & The Blowfish and now he has two great country singles out,” he said. “We are getting him at a very good time since he has momentum from those two country songs.”
The SA, Music Makers and Campus Activities Board are all hoping for a positive reaction from the students, Jeter said.
“It takes a lot of work putting on a show like this,” he said. “When it’s all said and done, if students enjoy it and the acts put on good shows, then it’s all worth it.”
Madison Gartman, student director of Music Maker Productions, said it will be great having Rucker for the concert after the Maroon and White game.
“I think Darius is going to be great because he is an all-around guy, and he is involved with universities and college football,” she said. “A lot of people will support him for his music and because he is a good guy.”
Gartman said though this event is geared for a college student audience, it can be a family event.
“He is going to be great for all ages,” she said. “When the game’s over at seven [p.m.], people can come over and listen to some great music.”
Outgoing SA President Braxton Coombs said the collective groups wanted bring in a musical act that appealed to students.
“I think he is someone that has a wide music base, having played with Hootie & The Blowfish, which was a popular rock-alternative band in the ’90s and currently engaged in country music,” he said. “We felt that his combination of genres would appeal to students.”
Senior communication major Adam Shields said he considers Rucker a talented and diverse artist due to the different types of genres he sings.
“He went from singing pop music with Hootie & The Blowfish and now he is singing country music by himself,” he said. “He became popular in the country music industry just as quickly as he could begin putting out songs.”
Sophomore kinesiology major Spencer Boothe said he enjoyed Hootie & The Blowfish when he was younger.
“They were not mainstream and I liked their own style of music,” he said. “They were like their own genre.”
Boothe said he thinks CAB and Music Makers always seem to bring in good bands for concerts.