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The Appalachian 04.24.14
Appalachian State University’s student news source since 1934
Vol. 88, No. 47
Freshman performs with Great Caesar by Nicole Caporaso News Reporter
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Paul Heckert | The Appalachian
Freshman elementary education major Annie Joy Johnson sings ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’ by Great Caesar in her Cannon Residence Hall room Wednesday. The band found a cover of the song she posted and invited her to play with them on stage in Connecticut.
nnie Joy Johnson, a freshman elementary education major, performed with one of her favorite bands, Great Caesar, at their concert April 11 at the Outer Space Ballroom in Hamden, Conn. Johnson was personally invited by members of the band after they came across her cover of their song “Don’t Ask Me Why” on Facebook and YouTube. “I first received comments on my Facebook music page from a couple of the band members just saying who they were and how impressed they all were that I covered the song on my own,” Johnson said. “I then got a few likes from band members, comments from the band’s page, comments on YouTube and even a couple of shares by the band.” The YouTube video now has more than 1,000 views. John-Michael Parker, the lead singer of Great Caesar, personally commented on the video. “I’m sitting here, listening to your beautiful and moving performance, beaming with happiness and gratitude,” Parker wrote in a YouTube comment. “You make our song sound so good!” In Parker’s comment, he included his personal email address and told Johnson the band was interested in bringing her out to a show to perform.
“Overall, I think what was really special about her cover was that she put such spirit and meaning into her performance,” Parker said. “She really told the story, you know? With emotion and power.” Johnson emailed Parker with the date that worked best for her. “I drove there with my twin brother, Luke, and friend from Appalachian State, Matthew Ford,” she said. “It was a smaller, more intimate bar, but there were about 50 to 100 people there.” Johnson performed “Don’t Ask Me Why” with the band twice, the first time on stage during the concert. “The whole thing was really very surreal,” Johnson said. “All of the members of the band were extremely friendly and excited to have us there.” Johnson said she was overcome with happiness because of the support she received after the concert. “After the concert we stuck around while the band was greeting everyone and we actually got to greet some people ourselves,” she said. “I was actually very overwhelmed with how many people, total strangers, came up to meet us and to tell me how great it was.” Johnson also performed the song a second time with the band, after the concert outside of the venue. “Once everyone was sort of heading out [Parker] grabbed
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PMA supports brother with brain cancer by Laney Ruckstuhl Assistant News Editor
Appalachian State University’s Phi Mu Alpha chapter, a fraternity for men in the musical professions, is currently raising money to help its brother Blake Ryall, who discovered in December that he has brain cancer. Josh May, Phi Mu Alpha’s chair of outreach, said the chapter is selling T-shirts and rubber bracelets in the Broyhill Music Center in support of Ryall, which are both printed with the word Blakestrong. May said they have sold approximately 49 bracelets for $1 each and 10 to 15 shirts for $10 each. The money will be split evenly between two cancer research charities, the American Cancer Society as a part of Relay for Life and the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center for their annual Angels Among Us 5K. Ryall, a senior music performance major currently not enrolled, was hospitalized at the Tisch Center this semester but has since finished chemotherapy treatments. He will find out in the near future whether he is free of cancer, May said. Assistant professor in the Hayes School of Music Christopher Blaha has also provided encouragement and support for the fundraising efforts.
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Boone bookstore suffers through past embezzlement, slow sales to visit the bookstore. “We need foot traffic to supplement the store enough to stay open,” Walker Black Bear Books, an independent said. “The problem is there’s not many bookstore, is fighting to stay open in the places in Boone where you can get that.” Boone Mall. The couple thought the bookstore Husband Chris Walker and wife Karen would do well in the mall because of the Hall-Walker bought Black Bear Books in central location. fall 2009. “With people coming to the mall from “When we first bought it, we knew the several different counties, we thought economy was bad,” Hall-Walker said. that we should be able to survive,” Walk“We just thought that er said. we needed to outlast In 2013, the ownPeople have always all of the other book ers discovered their loved the store. It’s just manager, Scott Harvey stores.” trying to get that love Hall-Walker said Wheeler, had embezzled to translate into book Amazon has hurt inmoney from their store. sales. dependent bookstores Wheeler’s job was to since they can sell in monitor the money that Karen Hall-Walker, co-owner of Black large volumes. was coming in and out Bear Books “I’ve had people of the bookstore. He was say to me in the same in charge of making sure sentence, ‘I believe in supporting local the book collections were stocked and businesses, but I’m just going to get it on the bills and taxes were paid. Amazon,’” she said. “That is part of the Instead, Wheeler would use the money problem.” that was supposed to pay for state taxes Despite slow sales, Black Bear Books for his personal use. Because of Wheelhas managed to remain open for the past er, Black Bear Books currently owes five years. $35,000 in back taxes. “When we say we do well, we mean we Wheeler was convicted of one count can get by,” Walker said. “We’ve always of felony embezzlement, but did not rehad to put money in the business and ceive jail time. Because the owners did have never gotten anything out of it.” not have definite proof Wheeler had only The owners said they would like to find been using business funds for personal a space where rent is cheaper, but also a use from 2009 to 2013, their insurance place where people would still show up was not able to cover all of the store’s by Jessica Eley
Intern News Reporter
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Cara Croom | The Appalachian
Senior economics major Christiansen Doucet (back) and senior Spanish education major Taylor Sims (front) look through Black Bear Bookstore on Wednesday.
losses. “We took a huge hit from that,” Walker said. “We are still trying to recover from that.” Undeterred by the different setbacks, Black Bear Books hopes to stay open for the community.
“We would feel bad if the community lost a bookstore,” Walker said. “We just feel strong that a community needs a bookstore.” “People have always loved the store,” Hall-Walker said. “It’s just trying to get that love to translate into book sales.”