By Marisa Tache
Staff Reporter
On Thursday, March 15, former Sacred Heart student, Sam MacPherson, performed in Beta Theta Pi’s first philanthropy event that helped raise money for the Thomas Mathew Miloscia Foundation. The show also featured a special performance from singer-songwriter Ashley McKinley.
“The entire show was really great and I’m glad I got the chance to listen to some very talented musicians,” said junior Kelsey Mulhere.
MacPherson was a student and soccer player at Sacred Heart who transferred schools to further pursue his music career. He has recently been touring the East Coast on his “South of Red” tour, with his band members who also happen to be some of his closest friends.
From beginning his music journey a year ago, to now performing all along the East Coast, MacPherson is continuing to follow his dreams of pursuing a music career by sharing his music with the world.
“Last week we were in New York, this week Connecticut, and we’re closing the tour in Maryland and Delaware,” said MacPherson.
The Beta Theta Pi event was a benefit concert to help raise money for the Thomas Matthew Miloscia Foundation. The Thomas Matthew Miloscia Foundation donates money to cancer patients to help with family assistance, healthcare and other related areas. This foundation started in honor of Thomas Matthew Miloscia, who was unable to finish the start of the foundation due to a rare form of cancer.
“This was Beta’s first philanthropy event and it was such a great turnout. I couldn’t have asked for a better night,” said sophomore and active member of Beta Theta Pi, Jake Doble.
The benefit concert began with McKinley, who performed original music off of her album “Wishful Thinking,” as well as a cover of Katy Perry’s song “Wide Awake.”
“I loved her voice. It is so angelic and I really enjoyed all the music she performed,” said Mulhere.
McKinley has been writing music since she was eight years old and performing since she was fifteen.
“Everyone is so supportive and the show is for such a great cause,” said McKinley. “It was honestly my favorite performance ever.”
After McKinley’s performance, MacPherson and his band took the stage and performed a variety of original pieces off of his extended play record (EP), “South of Red,” which will be released on Itunes, Spotify and Amazon within this month.
“South of Red” will include four original songs written by MacPherson.
“The lyrics in my songs all come from real stuff and things I can relate to. Things I’ve been through and things my friends have been through,” said MacPherson.
Other than his original works, MacPherson also performed a cover of Tom Petty’s song “Free Fallin,” in which he got the audience members to join him in singing.
“I was really happy with the way the show turned out, especially with the audience reactions to the performers,” said Doble. “I knew Sam when he came here last year and to see how much he’s grown as a performer is awesome. The songs he performed were so great and it was perfect for the event.”
Not only did the audience members enjoy the show, but the performers also had a wonderful time being a part of a great cause.
“Everyone in the band killed it and it’s all for a good cause,” said MacPherson. “So it’s a win win for everyone.”