Senior Spotlight with Erik Shouse

​Senior Spotlight 
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Name:  Erik Shouse

School:  Graduate of Skutt High School

Band:  Dilemma

Instrument:  Drums

College & Major:  I will be attending Iowa State to study Computer Science.

How Long in BluesEd:  I have been in the program for 5  years.

How many years have you been playing:  I have been playing drums for 9 years now.

What is your favorite BluesEd workshop song:  
My favorite Dilemma workshop song in the years past is probably "Down in the Swamp." This is mainly because of how well the song fit both Dilemma and the program as a whole. I also think we played it very well so we played it for many years.

What is your favorite Blues artist:  My favorite blues artist has to be Led Zeppelin. While not all of their music is blues, a lot of it is, and I take a lot of inspiration from John Bonham in all aspects of my playing.

What is your favorite BluesEd moment:  My favorite BluesEd moments tend to be the weird ones. For example, in Dilemma's 3rd year, we played a show called BloodStock (picture below) that was simply a blood donation drive that wanted music to be played. So we were sitting there playing for a group of people all sitting there with needles in their arms. It was very "interesting". 

Another favorite part of BluesEd was this year when I had the wonderful opportunity to play in 5 out of 6 bands in the program. It was great for me to get to know the other participants in the program as I wouldn't have been able to get to know them otherwise.  

Hobbies outside of BluesEd:  As far as hobbies go, I like to play video games.

Editor's Note:  We would like to give Erik special recognition as a BluesEd student.  Erik has provided his personal drum set for the majority of BluesEd performances for the past five years which meant he had to arrive early to each show and set up the drums and then stay late to tear them down after each show.  Erik has put in a great deal of extra time as a BluesEd student musician.  Thank you Erik! 

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Bloodstock 2014