aying hits, improvisation, and original songs at the Hillsdale County Fairgrounds during the “Most Popular Fair on Earth.”
On Sept. 23, five students and one faculty member serenaded the fairgoers with a live jazz performance. The group is composed of seniors Sam McKnight on guitar and Seth Hendrickson on drums, juniors Victoria Cooney on vocals and Trent Meyer on trombone, sophomore Joseph Banovetz on bass, and Teacher of Music Chris McCourry on trumpet.
“We have played at the fair for at least 10 years,” McCourry said. “The fair is a challenge, it is hard to get enough music ready to play a set this early in the semester.”
Each year, the jazz combo arranges a set list to play at the fair that includes a cross section of the jazz genre, from classic jazz hits, to more recent hits, and even a certain amount of improvisation and internally written ditties from the band.
“We played a variety, some vocal tunes; Tory Cooney is singing our vocals, so we played some songs that really feature her,” Hendrickson said. “We did get to improvise, some stuff about Hillsdale College and Hillsdale County in general.”
Endeavoring to reach a wide demographic, they try to pick music that will draw an audience from among both the students and the locals.
“We are playing a tune called ‘The Collegian’s got no swag ever since Campus Chic got taken out’— it was hard hit for us — and another called ‘The Ballad of Patrick Timmis,’ as well as some classics such as ‘Georgia on My Mind,’ popularized by Ray Charles,” McKnight said.
Though they play predominantly on the college campus, McCourry said the combo thought it was important to maintain a presence in town. Playing at the fair is now a tradition for the group.
“The Hillsdale County Fair without Rob Roy would be like the Collegian without Campus Chic,” McKnight said.“It’s got no funk.”
Along with their performance at the fair, the band plays annually in several other events, and are occasionally booked to play elsewhere in the Hillsdale area.
“Last year we played in Reading at an art gallery,” Hendrickson said. “We routinely play at the student union around Christmas time, and whatever else Chris can scrounge up for us. We generally play in jazz in the library and can be seen playing in the festivals downtown.”
tsawyer1@hillsdale.edu
