From a Maryland-born rapper who has opened for musicians such as Ludacris and Pitbull to a guitar-heavy Nashville country duo hinged on vocal harmony, CougFest will offer a distinct range of musical styles this year.
“As the board, we try to diversify our entertainment,” said Jacob Farris, director of the Washington State University Student Entertainment Board, which runs CougFest each year. “We never want to have the same type of concert. We want to be able to have an event for every student on our campus.”
And that’s why the volunteer-based SEB concert committee chose rapper Logic, as well as duo Love and Theft to perform, Farris said.
The committee receives a variety of student input and then decides what’s feasible, Farris said, balancing student desires and performer affordability. The board does this by choosing an artist who is up-and-coming, yet not quite famous, Farris said. Past year’s artists include Wiz Khalifa, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Augustana and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
This year, Logic — whose real name is Sir Robert Bryson Hall II — will play at CougFest just weeks before going on tour with Kid Cudi, Big Sean and Tyler, the Creator. Logic’s album “Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever” was released in May. The spring before, Billboard listed Logic as the Next Big Sound, or the fastest accelerating artist across all major social media sites at that time.
“Logic is someone that we’ve wanted to get for a long time,” Farris said. “He’s becoming more popular.”
Logic performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Country group Love and Theft has been on the rise, too. Their hit, “Angel Eyes,” was nominated for a Country Music Television Music Award for Duo Video of the Year. Although Billboard reported Love and Theft as the slowest No. 1 climb by a duo or group on Country Songs, it finally reached No. 1 after 39 weeks on the charts.
“After our Florida Georgia Line show, we saw how big country’s getting and how big it’s getting on our campus,” Farris said about the sold-out country concert in April, which lead to the committee's decision to pick Love and Theft to fill the CougFest slot.
The duo performs at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22.
Both free performances will be outside at the Glenn Terrell Mall. Audience members can sit on top of the library, but Farris recommends standing on ground-level to enjoy the show.
For more information on the concert series, visit the WSU Student Entertainment Board Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SEB.WSU and click on “Events.”
Treffry can be contacted at (208) 883-4640 or ltreffry@inland360.com. Follow her on Twitter at: @LindseyTreffry.
->if you go: WHAT: CougFest 2013 WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday for Logic, 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, for Love and Theft WHERE: Glenn Terrell Mall, Washington State University, Pullman COST: Free
