Everywhere you look these days, FAU students are winning national recognition for their musical talents. Most recently in the spotlight are 16-year-old freshman Emil Liakhovetski and his 14-year-old brother Dariel, a fantastic cello-playing duo who blew away the “America’s Got Talent” judges and audition audience with their performance of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” This week, they were named one of the show’s top 48 acts, which means they’ll soon perform for a national television audience on the Radio City Music Hall stage. Stay tuned! You can follow them on their Facebook page, labeled “Emil and Dariel.”
Another AGT competitor who’s recently been part of the FAU student body is singer/guitarist Carly Jo Jackson. Her single “Wildflower” took first place in the pop category of the 2013 Show Me the Music contest. You can check out her Facebook page at “Carly Jo Jackson Music.”
We’re also excited about a big win achieved this summer by Sean Dough and Chris Felix, whose song “Change Your Mood” took first place in the Hip Hop category at the 2014 American Songwriting Awards. Sean wrote the lyrics and Chris wrote the music for the track, which was produced, mixed and recorded at FAU’s Hoot/Wisdom Studio. It’s featured on the album “CompOWLation, Volume 3,” and you can hear it at this link: http://compowlation.bandcamp.com/track/change-your-mood-blue-album/ Other FAU students involved in recording “Change Your Mood” include Ilana Armida, lead singer; John Frasca, guitar; Reid Santiago and Quincy Knowles, engineering; and Grace Kimmel, Leonia Coleman, Anthony Vincent and David Duque, additional vocals.
Speaking of the CompOWLation albums, Volume 2 featured a performance by former FAU student Alex Kinsey who went on to win “The X Factor” with his singing partner, Sierra Deaton. Following that coup, they released their first single, “Scarecrow,” promoting it with a performance on NBC’s “Today Show.” It sold 30,000 copies the first week. Their debut album, “It’s About Us,” is now available for pre-order. You can follow developments in their career by going to “Alex & Sierra” on Facebook.
Congratulations to these and all our up-and-coming musicians!