Music in the Air, Soup on the Table: Guitars Unplugged joins Bread & Soup Night

Published: October 29, 2009 | Read Time: 3 minutes

Cue the music. 

Twelve T-Bird musicians will take the stage Monday night when SUU’s Power 91 hosts the University’s annual Guitars Unplugged competition on Monday, November 2, pitting some of the campus’ most talented students against one another in a battle of the axes, and all for a good cause.

Guitars Unplugged, an acoustic-guitar competition for student musicians, has become a much-anticipated annual tradition at SUU since its inception a few years ago. The competition’s popularity has grown steadily year after year, and considering the initial auditions for the competition turned out more hopeful guitar heroes than ever before, event organizers are hopeful this year will be the biggest yet. 

With 12 performers coming in to the competition, fans can expect to see highly energetic and creative performances. All the while, they can sit back and enjoy an all-you-can eat dinner, as this year’s competition will be held during the November Bread & Soup Night, which generates canned food donations for the local Iron County Care and Share. 

According to Chad Thomas, a junior communication major from Cedar City, the Power 91 staff saw this partnership as a great opportunity to do more than simply hold a talent competition, of sorts. With Bread and Soup Night, Guitars Unplugged, which brings with it droves of fans, can champion a very worthy cause and support a long-standing campus initiative through SUU’s Service and Learning Center. 

As to the performers’ take-away, this year’s first place winner of the competition, which will be juried by local professional musicians, will be awarded a new $1,000 custom guitar from Whittlesticks Guitar Company. The second place performer will win a free sandwich for a year from Gandolfo’s Sandwich Shop, and the third place winner will receive a gift certificate for massage service from Pura Vida Massage. 

Considering many of this year’s performers sing as well as play the guitar, and that extra points will be awarded for originality in addition to talent, Monday evening’s performances promise to be something you can’t get anywhere else. 

According to Thomas, this year’s 12 performers represent a wide variety of musical genres, and he believes many of the performers have composed their own songs or adapted popular songs into a new cover performance. 

Beyond the formally judged winners, the crowd will be able to participate in the fun with a “Best of Show” honorable mention which will be selected by the audience. 

In addition to great prizes and a worthy cause, this year’s performers look forward to the “home-court advantage” and encourage the SUU and local communities to come out in force. 

Says Caleb Smith, a singer/songwriter from New Harmony who will be performing Monday night, "There are not a lot of opportunities nearby to share musical talent; this event is going to be one-of-a-kind and I think it will be fun for everyone." 

Guitars unplugged at Bread and Soup Night is open to the campus and local communities this Monday, from 5-7:30 p.m. in the Ballroom of SUU’s Sharwan Smith Student Center. Admission will be $1 plus one canned food item per person or $2 per person without a can of food.

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