Greg Whalen plays the guitar in Lost Mary’s Studio
COURTESY | Jack Cote
Six months after releasing his first EP “American Deployed,” senior Greg Whalen will perform 18 original songs at Hillsdale’s Dawn Theater this weekend.
Whalen will perform the concert, “An American Story,” Feb. 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. and it will reflect Whalen’s journey over the last eight years from joining the Marine Corps, serving his country in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and finally transitioning out of the military.
“As I was writing these, I wasn’t planning them to be this kind of narrative,” Whalen said. “That’s just what they’ve kind of turned into since they’ve been these moments of reflection through music over the past seven years.”
Joining Whalen on stage will be “The Ramblers,” a collection of local musicians from, including Luke Martin and David Johnson of the folk duo Lost Mary.
The Dawn Theater will begin selling alcoholic beverages at the bar when the doors open at 6:30 p.m. Whalen will also have a table with merchandise available.
According to Whalen, the concert began to take shape when Chair of The Friends of the Dawn Theater Mary Wolfram reached out to him regarding a grant from an organization called Michigan Humanities that could finance the event.
“This is their touring grant specifically designed to encourage performances by Michigan artists, especially in rural areas,” Wolfram said. “We are also receiving support for this concert from local business Hillsdale Renaissance, owned by Hillsdale grad Luke Robson ’17.”
After hearing of Whalen’s success with his first EP, Wolfram said she began talking with him about a performance at the Dawn.
“Greg’s music is beautiful, in and of itself,” Wolfram said. “Let’s just say, it is easy on the ear. But it is also meaningful. I grew up and graduated in the 1970s, during the end of the Vietnam War, so Greg’s music reminds me of the protest songs that spawned the folk rock movement in that era.”
Whalen released his EP last August, three days before the third anniversary of the suicide bombing at Abbey Gate that killed 13 U.S. service members during the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. On Sept. 28, he opened a concert for Five for Fighting in Corning, New York.
Adjunct Instructor of Music Dan Palmer, who played the mandolin on Whalen’s EP, will be one of the musicians joining him on stage. He said that he is looking forward to hearing Whalen speak in between songs about the experiences that inspired his compositions.
“It has been such a pleasure to get to know Greg and his music,” Palmer said. “It has been a fun process of learning the tunes individually and bringing them together to work on arranging. This is the first time that I know of that this music has been played live with other musicians, so the discovery process has been engaging and fun.”
Senior Jack Cote will film the concert, according to Whalen, and the sound engineer will record the entire performance to mix and put out as a live album.
“I am trying to get every last bit of value out of this that I possibly can,” Whalen said. “This is going to give me the material that I need to be able to go to other venues with evidence saying ‘I can actually put on a show, and in fact, I already have put on a show with a band in a theater setting.’”
Those interested in attending can buy tickets for $10 at the door or call (810) 844-1396 to reserve them ahead of time.
