Hello friends! My name is Greyson Powell, and I am a Music Education major at Converse University. My main instrument is the cello, which I have been playing since I was 9 or 10. Before that, I started piano lessons when I was 6 at the heed of my piano playing great-grandmother (Thanks Granny). My dad plays the drums and electric bass, and my mom sings. While I have never enjoyed writing music, and I do think I should try it again, I have always enjoyed experimenting with sounds and noises like whistling strangely and tapping my fingers in fun polyrhythms and things.
I grew up in Anderson, South Carolina, and I have never lived anywhere else until now! I have 2 siblings, a 12 year old brother named Keean, and a 3 year old sister named Ivy. Along with music, I also run for the school, rock climb lots, and play volleyball when I can. Seen in the picture is my wonderfully expressive brother cracking me up.
It was very, very hard to pick a piece of music that I often enjoy right now. I love listening to whatever Apple Music’s station for me gives me, which ended up in 2025 being 1,625 different artists. I was very tempted to say You Found Me by The Fray, or Aurora by Hallpass, but in the end I chose Tightrope by Michelle Williams from The Greatest Showman. It is such a wonderful movie, and Tightrope is just a wonderful song. It really isn’t similar to the styles of music I tend to listen to, but oh it is so good. So good, in fact, that I got distracted for 30 minutes writing this learning the chords on the piano (There is a really cool ii half diminished 7 chord on the word fall).
I had a surprisingly much easier time finding a walk-up song. So much so, in fact that I found 2 with very different vibes. First, and this was a very egotistical pick, but the song is just so good, is Everybody Loves Me by OneRepublic, specifically starting at the pre-chorus.
Next, is a song from a much younger me with a very different taste in music. While I have not listened to this song in years, the opening to Afterlife by Avenged Sevenfold is epic. Maybe I should get back into heavy metal…
Lastly, a song that I do not connect to is thank u, next by Ariana Grande. While I do usually enjoy Ariana Grande’s music alright, one morning on the way to school the guys on the radio (shoutout Hawk and Tom) said it sounded like she was saying bacon, eggs every time she sang “thank u, next,” and now I can only hear bacon, eggs.
(I did not mean to make a bunch of links I am so sorry)
Hi Greyson! I really enjoyed all of your picks! I would have to agree that tightrope is a great song. I have never actually watched the movie, buttt I know most of the songs from it and love them. I also just have to say now that you said the whole bacon and egg thing about thank you, next, that is all I am going to be able to hear and think about from now on.
Greyson hiiii, I am a Grande fan too!! I can only hear bacon and eggs too🤣. Also, The Greatest Showman is such a great movie. You just reminded me that I need to rewatch it!!
Hey GreyGrey, guess what I have not seen the greatest showman yet but I sure have heard the music and its cool, I had to sing it for a spring concert in middle school and I will say it is hard to sing songs you have not heard before so that is how i In short learned to listen to everything before perfomingggg Also yay Ariana Grande
Hi Greyson! I really enjoyed reading your blog. I would not have guessed you would pur the greatest showman and Avenged Sevenfold on your blog. I also love all the music from the greatest showman, it is one of my favorite musicals out there, also who doesnt Zac Effron and Hugh Jackmon? Am I right?!
Hey Greyson! I thought it was so cool you was in to metal music when you were younger. To answer your question, yes, you should get back into it! I have never heard of "Afterlife," but I really liked it! You might get sad about this comment, but I have never seen the Greastest Showman, but since you love it a lot, I will start on it. :)
Hi Greyson! I really liked all of your music choices, and I would love to introduce you to some more Ariana Grande (just trust me). Also, the song you recommended by OneRepublic was really good, and I added it to one of my playlists! Can't wait to see what you have in store for your next blog!
Hello Greyson! Valid choice for tightrope, I was in fact hyperfixated on the greatest showman when it came out and also Michelle Williams is fantastic. Also what a perfect choice for your walk-up song, I should really get into metal so I guess now I have something to add to my list.
Hey Greyson, I love how your music experiences started out similarly to mine learning piano at a young age from your Granny! Also, The Greatest Showman- Such an awesome choice!!!
Oh boy, was this a wonderful interview. I gave an interview to one of my close friends from climbing, Dylan. He is a 42 year old engineer who is currently designing a AI powered boat. We climb together, and he is one of my very close friends, though I do make fun of him for being as old as my dad. To start the interview, I took inspiration from Dr. Vaneman and asked, what is the definition of music? He got quiet for a minute and was very indecisive. Firstly, he said it was a form of entertainment, then he thought about the act of making music and the enjoyment that comes from that. Lastly, he said, in very engineer fashion, “Scientifically, I would say it is a combination of sound waves that are pretty”, and then we rambled about how freeform jazz isn’t pretty. I next asked what his earliest memory of music was. He spoke about how some of his earliest memories were of him sitting with his mom in the living room while MTV was playing, listening to Madonna and Paula Abdul and Michae...
I grew up in Anderson, South Carolina. When I was 5 (I think), my family moved from our first house, “The Dunn Rd House” to “The Middle House” and then to “The Carlisle Place House.” There, I got this wonderful gift of a cardboard guitar. I played with this little guitar for. ever. Like I played this thing constantly and I am completely sure only a 6 year old could not be tired of the one minute of song that it played. That wonderful song was Two Princes by The Spin Doctors. I have one very vague memory of playing the little cardboard guitar in our mudroom that had this very strange white piece of furniture (I just found out it’s called a hoosier cabinet) and our green couch. It was a great day. The next song that I have a number of memories with is One More Light by Linkin Park. My dad and I used to listen to Linkin Park all of the time, and this song especially has a place in my heart. One memory I have with this song is the finale of A Million Little Things. My parents had watc...
Hi Greyson! I really enjoyed all of your picks! I would have to agree that tightrope is a great song. I have never actually watched the movie, buttt I know most of the songs from it and love them. I also just have to say now that you said the whole bacon and egg thing about thank you, next, that is all I am going to be able to hear and think about from now on.
ReplyDeleteGreyson hiiii, I am a Grande fan too!! I can only hear bacon and eggs too🤣. Also, The Greatest Showman is such a great movie. You just reminded me that I need to rewatch it!!
ReplyDeleteHey GreyGrey, guess what I have not seen the greatest showman yet but I sure have heard the music and its cool, I had to sing it for a spring concert in middle school and I will say it is hard to sing songs you have not heard before so that is how i In short learned to listen to everything before perfomingggg
ReplyDeleteAlso yay Ariana Grande
Hi Greyson! I really enjoyed reading your blog. I would not have guessed you would pur the greatest showman and Avenged Sevenfold on your blog. I also love all the music from the greatest showman, it is one of my favorite musicals out there, also who doesnt Zac Effron and Hugh Jackmon? Am I right?!
ReplyDeleteHey Greyson! I thought it was so cool you was in to metal music when you were younger. To answer your question, yes, you should get back into it! I have never heard of "Afterlife," but I really liked it! You might get sad about this comment, but I have never seen the Greastest Showman, but since you love it a lot, I will start on it. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Greyson! I really liked all of your music choices, and I would love to introduce you to some more Ariana Grande (just trust me). Also, the song you recommended by OneRepublic was really good, and I added it to one of my playlists! Can't wait to see what you have in store for your next blog!
ReplyDeleteHello Greyson! Valid choice for tightrope, I was in fact hyperfixated on the greatest showman when it came out and also Michelle Williams is fantastic. Also what a perfect choice for your walk-up song, I should really get into metal so I guess now I have something to add to my list.
ReplyDeleteHey Greyson, I love how your music experiences started out similarly to mine learning piano at a young age from your Granny!
ReplyDeleteAlso, The Greatest Showman- Such an awesome choice!!!