Just months away from entering the music industry, senior Caitlyn Davis is still learning. Due to her involvement in the Music and Entertainment Industries Student Association, she has gained valuable knowledge that will help her in her field. The members experiment, through trial and error,with different ways to plan a successful music show.

‘It’s a real live laboratory,’ said Davis, president of MEISA and a senior in the Bandier Program for Music and the Entertainment Industries.

The group conducts the entire process necessary to put together a professional musical performance, from contacting the record agency to booking the artist and promoting the event. Throughout the process, MEISA members establish relationships with agents and form connections in the music industry. Davis said the group has remained focused on its original goals since she joined her sophomore year.

‘MEISA’s goal is to teach the kids, give everyone an opportunity to get involved in the process of putting on a show,’ she said.

Despite two earlier attempts this year at performances, both were canceled due to severe snowstorms. Through rescheduling, MEISA was able to bring Nigel Hall to Syracuse.

Hall will perform at Funk ‘n Waffles on Thursday at 8:30 p.m., along with Sophistafunk, a Syracuse-based band. Tickets will be sold for $5. Hall, a member of bands Soulive and Lettuce, will sing in the acclaimed jam band group with Warrens Haynes (of Allman Brothers and Gov’t Mule) in May.

‘It’s the cheapest ticket prices in the most intimate setting Nigel will ever play,’ said Lucas Sacks, vice president of MEISA and a staff writer for The Daily Orange.

Hall’s performance will be one of five shows MEISA will host in the next six weeks. The shows used to be on campus, but this year the group decided to branch off campus and accommodate the Syracuse community. Two of the shows will be held downtown at the Red House Arts Center.

The amount of student participation for each show strongly depends on the venue. For example, Red House requires more hands-on-deck staff. In the process, Red House’s venue staff teaches MEISA members how to read soundboards.

The funding for the shows comes from Student Association, the student-run governing body at Syracuse University, which allocates money based on student interest level. This year, MEISA experienced almost a doubled increase in funds, Davis said. With the group’s new philosophy to include both locals and students, the headliners are always big names, and the supporting artists tend to be local or student-run bands.

MEISA’s mission is to get bigger artists to play smaller rooms right before they blow up nationwide.

In the past, MEISA has predominantly been made up of music industry students, but in an effort to revamp its image on campus, this past fall Sacks and Davis recruited new members, mainly freshmen in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. There are between 25 to 30 active members.

‘It’s a different group of kids with different sets of skills, which is great to utilize for our benefit at MEISA,’ said Sacks, a junior in the Bandier program.

Chelsie Dias, who will photograph her second show with Hall’s performance, said she loves being a part of the organization.

‘I look forward to the shows, it’s a lot of fun,’ said Dias, an undeclared freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. ‘I get to talk to the artist and build connections. It helps me spread my photography and get exposure.’

MEISA has a lot of potential thanks to its members, Dias said, who go to great lengths to do everything they can to better the group.

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Published on March 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm

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