Freshman public relations major Maddie Indre drives to Kent State University's campus, backpack full of books resting against her guitar, amp and microphone stand in her back seat.
Indre is preparing to play some of her original songs for around 100 students in her Media, Power and Culture class to promote her music.
A full-time student, Indre has spent her first semester at Kent State balancing writing music, writing lyrics, promoting her music, promoting other local musicians' music and studying.
"I chose Kent State because I loved how artsy the campus was. I fell in love with the downtown area and I knew I could play a lot of shows there," Indre said. "I've already met so many cool people just my first semester... people that have inspired me. I've learned; I feel like I've grown as a musician since I've been here."
Indre arranges her own shows and plays at local restaurants, coffee shops and bars. She has played at Last Exit Books Coffee House and Scribbles Coffee Co. in Kent, Ohio. She has also been playing at open mics at Kave Coffee Bar in Barberton, Ohio for three years. She plays both covers and original music.
Indre first started playing guitar three years ago and started writing her own music a year and a half ago. The open mic nights at Kave Coffee Bar, coordinated by Michael Wilsterman, gave her experience in live performance. Indre performs both solo and with friends at Kave Coffee Bar.
"She's got this great stage presence," said Wilsterman, who describes himself as an advocate for live music. "The confidence just exudes from her. She knows how good she is, and yet she's humble, too."
While playing at local venues, Indre enjoys listening to and supporting other local musicians.
This fall, Indre started a social media livestream called "Local Living Room," in which she recorded local musicians from Kent and Akron playing their music in her living room to promote them. She decided to postpone the show until summer vacation due to schoolwork, but the first two episodes got over 500 views.
"I thought it would be a really fun way to celebrate music and get a lot of people together," Indre said. "We're going to pick it up again in the summer... I just see good things happening with that."
In addition to performing live shows and creating "Local Living Room," Indre also promotes her music by passing out business cards and sharing the link to her SoundCloud profile, which features five original songs.
"She played, and I was like holy cow. She's got something right here," said freshman flight technology major Casey Brace, who heard Indre play during his Media, Power and Culture class. "Then I asked for her SoundCloud, and even though it has five songs... each one of them is like a story in itself. It's very relatable. I just remember... being into the music and just really paying attention. And it just sort of warmed the room, you know. It definitely filled the atmosphere."
Indre hopes to keep connecting to listeners while also completing her degree at Kent State University. She chose the public relations major because it's so broad, and she hopes to pursue a career in music after graduation. Her main goals are to write songs people can relate to and to support herself in life doing that, because music is her passion.
"I've just always loved it," Indre said. "My mom was in a band, so I kind of grew up with that, and I've just always loved it."
