LEXINGTON, Ky.—Planning a special Valentine’s weekend with your significant other? Don’t miss this opportunity to share the joy of a local performance by international music star and Lexington native Ben Sollee on Feb. 15 at Transylvania University’s Haggin Auditorium, sponsored by the Student Activities Board.
Tickets are $15 for general admission and $5 for Transylvania students, faculty and staff. They can be purchased online at www.tinyurl.com/TUBenSollee.
The doors will open at 8 p.m. and the concert will begin at 8:30 with a performance by the Dreamin’ Rovers, a Transylvania student band that includes Ryan Anderson, Luke Gnadinger, Dan Marnatti, Alex Schmitt and Mason Williams.
Ben Sollee—cellist, singer-songwriter and composer—will then offer his rare mix of genre-bending music, which moves easily from personal ballads to environmental protest songs. NPR’s “All Things Considered” called “Learning to Bend,” Sollee’s debut album, “an inspired collection of acoustic, folk and jazz-flavored songs, filled with hope and the earnest belief that the world is good.” Sollee regularly collaborates with a number of recognized artists, including Bela Fleck, Daniel Martin Moore and Jim James of My Morning Jacket.
Writing about Sollee’s latest album, “Half-Made Man,” noted Kentucky author Silas House says, “The songs give us the many facets of a human being who is acutely aware of the world around him and his own faults. The album is novelistic in its scope and theme as we travel with the narrator who reveals everything about himself as a father, a spouse, a musician, and more. We are along for the ride as the narrator sings of selfishness, joy, impatience, romance…being human.”
Parking for the concert is available in the general parking lots on Transylvania’s campus, including the lot adjacent to the Mitchell Fine Arts Building on Fourth Street and lots along North Upper Street.
Facebook Contest
Community members are invited to participate in an online contest to help promote the event. In recognition of Sollee’s commitment to sustainable practices—and his sometime custom of traveling from city to city by bicycle with his cello strapped on the back—you may submit a creative photo of yourself with your bike in the coolest place in Lexington by Jan. 30 to the Student Activities Board (activitiesboard@transy.edu). The photos will be posted on the group’s Facebook page from Feb. 1 until Feb. 8, and visitors to the page will be asked to like their favorite photos.
The prize for the photo with the most likes is a bike, four concert tickets and an invitation for four people to attend a meet-and-greet with the artist. Second prize is three concert tickets and an invitation for three people to attend the meet-and-greet. Third prize is two concert tickets and an invitation for two people to attend the meet-and-greet. Winners will be contacted immediately after the voting closes.
More Info
Stay up-to-date with the contest and event-related activities by visiting the Activities Board Facebook page (www.tinyurl.com/TUActivitiesBoard) or following them on Twitter (@TUSGA_ActivitiesBoard). For more information, contact Casey McBride, executive vice president of the TUSGA Activities Board, at cemcbride14@transy.edu or 502-321-8740.