Photo courtesy of Thomas Rowland - Rowland using his musical talent to promote his upcoming concert, opening for Old Crow Medicine Show on April 13.
This April, one of Wofford’s many musical talents will be performing very close to campus.
Thomas Rowland ‘23 is set to perform as an opening act on April 13 at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium alongside famous folk band, Old Crow Medicine Show.
The Old Crow Medicine Show is originally responsible for writing the lyrics to “Wagon Wheel,” later coined by Darius Rucker.
This will not be Rowland’s first public performance, as he has performed many times before around campus and throughout the greater Spartanburg community, most notably as the headliner for Wild Wings’ college night and his many performances at the Greek village for Kappa Alpha Order.
Over Interim, Rowland went up to Kentucky to work on his music and was put in touch with Old Crow Medicine Show.
“One day over Interim, I was at Miss Mary’s studio in Bowling Green, Kentucky writing songs, and a family friend of mine, Woody Platt, called me and asked if I wanted to open for Old Crow Medicine Show,” Rowland said. “He’d been in contact with someone from their team and told them about me. Thanks to Woody for the guidance on this one!”
Students are excited for the concert as Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium has not hosted a student opener in the knowable past.
Rowland headlining this show is expected to draw a large student crowd in a strong show of support.
Wofford marketing has also expressed their involvement in assisting Rowland to promote this concert.
“I did a video shoot a few weeks ago at the auditorium with Wofford. I think the video is coming out closer to the show. … I can’t wait to see it,” Rowland said. “I had so much fun chatting with them and playing for them”.
The Spartanburg Herald Journal, the local newspaper, has also featured Rowland in one of their recent articles written by Chalmers Rogland ‘22, who is the former managing editor for The Old Gold & Black.
Rowland has been performing and singing for a good portion of his life. He started off by covering songs, becoming a songwriter in recent years as well as interning throughout January to improve his musical prowess.
Between his covers and original songs, fans are wondering what they will hear at this concert.
“Pretty much the whole set is made up of my originals. It’s been a really great process planning the set list and rehearsing with my band” Rowland said. “They have really helped me bring the songs to life as well of course there’s gonna be a couple of covers.”
The band is most known around campus for the original song “Rag Doll,” receiving over 42,000 listens on Spotify. Rowland’s cover of “Dark Red,” by Steve Lacey, topped 620,000 listens on the platform.
With these numbers continuing to rise, Rowland has more plans for the future of his music. He is planning to release his expected single “Georgia Girl” within the upcoming months.
Students wishing to attend the concert should plan to purchase in advance, although tickets will also be available at the door.
Tickets are currently priced at $40 but pit seats increase the price of tickets.
Rowland has encouraged all students that are able to attend to do so, promising a “great show” and a good outing for students.
While the number of people expected to be there is unknown, the opening act is surely to be quite the performance.
The concert is projected to last around one to two hours with Rowland’s opening set being 30 minutes