Texas Music Star Performs for Johnson Students
By Zachry Brown JGSM '10
Issue date: 9/9/09 Section: Johnson News
Who ever said Yankees don't like country? Last week, eighty-some Johnson students twirled and two-stepped to country ballads in the cozy honky tonk of Castaways. If you are not from Texas, then you might not know who Paul Eason is. However, any good Texas music lover will tell you that Paul Eason is the new best thing to hit the Texas music scene, with tunes echoing the husky rhythms of Robert Earl Keen and Pat Green. Sporting Lucasey boots and a country guitar, the young singer-songwriter entertained concertgoers with hit songs like "The Mountains of Nuevo Leon," "One More Dance," and "Tonight We Ride." The revelers witnessed not only his vocal prowess, but also his extemporaneous two steps, as he spun Kalia Waits-Smith on the dance floor. Even Paco Cortes, suspicious of most guitar-strumming gringos, was won over by Paul's rendition of "Cancion del Mariachi." Following the concert, the party continued at Dino's, where Paul Eason joined Kat Stevens and other Johnson wranglers for a Collegtown soiree. The stars were bright, and the night was Texas.
On September 3, the Cornell Business Journal teamed with the Texas Club to host the Fall Benefit Concert to benefit the FEED Foundation. Planning had begun in April, when the concert co-chairs-Pedro Garcia Franco, Brandon Ray, and I-met to determine how to create an authentic Texas-style hoedown for our Johnson classmates. None of that Nashville nonsense-we wanted country, Texas country. Over the summer months the concert took shape. Paul Eason was the man we wanted. The venue? Castaways-a gruff dive bar that would serve as the perfect honky tonk. Invitations were sent out to students' mailboxes, and buses were hired to transport folks from the Sage Social to the venue. The only thing left was to find a beneficiary for the concert proceeds.
As the name suggests, the Fall Benefit Concert was a charity event, with net proceeds donated to the FEED Foundation, in support of the United Nations World Food Program. FEED was founded in 2006 by Lauren Bush and sells fashionable burlap bags, whose purchase provides food for one child in school for one year. For more information regarding the FEED Foundation (and where you can get your hands on a trendy FEED bag), please read Lauren Bush's accompanying article, "To FEED or Not to FEED?"
Inspired by the organization's model for social entrepreneurship, we believed the FEED Foundation would be the ideal beneficiary for the concert. The Fall Benefit Concert generated approximately $3,000 in net proceeds, comprised of donations by corporate sponsors and proceeds from student ticket sales. A mighty big thank you goes out to all those students who contributed to the FEED cause! Students who purchased tickets and/or made donations were entered into a raffle to win either a FEED 2 Bag ($100 retail value) or a FEED 2 Kenya Bag ($195 retail value). We are happy to announce that Jared Rasmussen and Jaclyn Reiman are the two respective winners.
The concert's success would not have been possible without the generosity of our corporate sponsors, including Bray International, Inc., Bray Controls Pacific, and Joe's Restaurant. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude for their support.
On September 3, the Cornell Business Journal teamed with the Texas Club to host the Fall Benefit Concert to benefit the FEED Foundation. Planning had begun in April, when the concert co-chairs-Pedro Garcia Franco, Brandon Ray, and I-met to determine how to create an authentic Texas-style hoedown for our Johnson classmates. None of that Nashville nonsense-we wanted country, Texas country. Over the summer months the concert took shape. Paul Eason was the man we wanted. The venue? Castaways-a gruff dive bar that would serve as the perfect honky tonk. Invitations were sent out to students' mailboxes, and buses were hired to transport folks from the Sage Social to the venue. The only thing left was to find a beneficiary for the concert proceeds.
As the name suggests, the Fall Benefit Concert was a charity event, with net proceeds donated to the FEED Foundation, in support of the United Nations World Food Program. FEED was founded in 2006 by Lauren Bush and sells fashionable burlap bags, whose purchase provides food for one child in school for one year. For more information regarding the FEED Foundation (and where you can get your hands on a trendy FEED bag), please read Lauren Bush's accompanying article, "To FEED or Not to FEED?"
Inspired by the organization's model for social entrepreneurship, we believed the FEED Foundation would be the ideal beneficiary for the concert. The Fall Benefit Concert generated approximately $3,000 in net proceeds, comprised of donations by corporate sponsors and proceeds from student ticket sales. A mighty big thank you goes out to all those students who contributed to the FEED cause! Students who purchased tickets and/or made donations were entered into a raffle to win either a FEED 2 Bag ($100 retail value) or a FEED 2 Kenya Bag ($195 retail value). We are happy to announce that Jared Rasmussen and Jaclyn Reiman are the two respective winners.
The concert's success would not have been possible without the generosity of our corporate sponsors, including Bray International, Inc., Bray Controls Pacific, and Joe's Restaurant. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude for their support.
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