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Zach Diethelm

Juniors Henry Goertz, Meghan McKee, and senior August Nagel hang out backstage during sound checks Thursday, November 13, 2025.

Last week, Lafayette’s Acoustic Variety show, an annual event where groups of students take turns playing live sets in front of an audience, took place in the theater. A variety of music could be heard ranging from a choral ensemble of jazz standard Autumn Leaves by Vox Solus to a piano solo of Chappell Roan’s Kaleidoscope by Avril Dong.

Many musicians in the variety show have inspiring stories related to music.

“I started music in (around) second grade with playing the cello,” explains junior Luke Matheus, “when I got to high school I started in guitar one and now I’m in guitar ensemble for my second year. So I learned about the Jam Bands from Bolton (Traci Bolton, the guitar teacher,) in Guitar One.”

Though he’s been playing guitar for only around two years, Luke is fond of the Wednesday Jam band.

Guitar teacher Traci Bolton commented that since starting on guitar, Luke’s abilities have grown “exponentially.”

Bolton also commented about the Variety Show in an email:

“The Variety Show groups were absolutely outstanding! I am always amazed at the level of musicianship we have at Lafayette. There were original songs, new arrangements of songs, and well crafted covers. The best part is that we had people performing on stage for their very first time and students who are performance veterans. I’m so proud of everybody involved!”

Many students featured in the variety show, like Matheus, didn’t get their start in music with their featured instrument. In fact, some of them only started playing theirs weeks prior.

“I learned the mandolin a couple weeks ago just for this… but I’ve played the guitar for a long time, like three or four years,” said freshman Nate Bairu on opening the show as the guest star and lead mandolin player for the first song of the night.

“It’s a little scary, but I feel alright that I have enough guitar skill that I’ll be fine playing mandolin,” he said.

Many students, like Bairu, are pushed to practice and perform new instruments they aren’t entirely familiar with, honing their musical abilities.

“This year, I’m playing drums,” said freshman Angus Ramsey, “which is kind of different so it’s pretty cool… I get to learn rhythm and stuff.”

This is Ramsey’s first time playing box drum on stage.

”I just had some free time and decided ‘why not,’” he said.

Ramsey has experience playing guitar as a hobby. “It’s not my main passion,” he said, “but it’s fun just with a group and playing with friends.”

For many players, playing with a group is fun enough to justify participating. In any case, however, the Variety Show and similar school events never fail to push students’ boundaries towards better musicianship. Though sometimes events like these may just be fun, other times they can be life-changing.

“I didn’t know I wanted to become an actual drummer… until around 13,” said junior Charlie Henson, the drummer for this year’s Tuesday Night Rock Band.

Though he said he messed around on a toy drum set since a very young age, it wasn’t until a run-in with fate at a middle school event that he realized his passion for full-sized drums.

“I did concert band through middle school, and then eighth grade is when I started playing drum set because I had to learn a part in like a month. And I was able to learn the whole thing,” he said.

“I was able to figure out what was written down like the week before and I had it down by the time of the concert.”

“I was practicing, like, hours a day for the concert. I would miss class… to go down and practice.”

Even now, Henson has kept up with his rigorous practicing. “I’m putting in 20-25 hours worth of just music in general every week… and 15 of those are worth of just drum set.”

He cites fusion drummer Larnell Lewis, jazz drummer Buddy Rich, and heavy metal drummer Joey Jordison as inspirations, each having very different drumming styles and coming from different genres.

Henson joined jazz band as a sophomore and made the roster for Tuesday Night Rock Band this year, even though he has only been playing for a couple of years.

Henson reiterates a common theme among musicians in the show:

“If you actually sit down and practice and commit yourself, then you will ultimately get better.”

Though her mother taught her to sing at a very young age, Senior and Tuesday Night Rock Band’s lead singer Rylee Stoffel would agree with this statement.

“I’m actually planning on going into music education in college,” she said, “I just wrote my essay on music and one of my biggest things was that I wanted people to feel like anybody can do music… Some people have to put in more work than others, there’s always natural talent, natural skill, but you don’t have to be a prodigy to be good at music—you really just have to have the dedication and you have to have the passion, you have to have the love for it.”

As their peers excel, musicians in the Variety Show are inspired to keep playing and improve their abilities further.

“I’m a part of (Vox Solus)… I thought it would just be fun to do something all together,” said sophomore Emilia Jackson when asked why she pitched in for the acoustic variety show. She has been in a choir since first grade, and she said that her skills have only improved over time, “especially here at Lafayette.”

Seeing “other people graduate and go further in their musical careers, it’s inspiring,” she said regarding her experience here.

Additionally, performers were very inspired by musicians outside of Lafayette.

“One of the artists I think is inspiring me right now is Worry Club. I’ve seen them live twice… they’re a smaller band so I’ve seen them grow over the years, and it’s really cool,” said Matheus.

“It’s cool to see smaller bands growing, because then that could be you,” he explains.

Everybody involved was driven by a love of music.

“I’ve been playing for 11 years, and it never gets old,” senior guitarist Baz Dignam remarked.

Experienced and newer musicians alike were quick to note that enjoyment, above all else, is the key to success.

“For me, when I listen to music, I feel it in my body,” Stoffell said, “it’s like a whole body experience for me… so I think you just have to have that love for it and really you can do anything with it.”

Ramsey urges young musicians on the fence about auditioning:

“If you enjoy it, just go for it.”