Piano pop star Sara Bareilles is set to take the stage at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Saturday night to a full crowd of “brave” Ohio University students.
Bareilles’ newest album, The Blessed Unrest, has sent her on a national tour that ends in Athens after playing in some of the biggest cities in the U.S., from Boston to Indianapolis.
“She’s excited because it’s the last day (of the tour) and it’s at a college venue,” said Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of the Campus Involvement Center. “The timing worked well to get (her here) … “Brave” has just been sitting on the charts.”
He added that Bareilles has been a highly requested act for years through the Campus Involvement Center’s survey of the student body.
The Blessed Unrest debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 under Jay Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail, and her single “Brave” peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, enjoying a spot on the charts for 18 weeks.
However, controversy sparked when Katy Perry released her newest single “Roar,” which fans said has striking similarities to Bareilles’ “Brave,” prompting arguments of plagiarism. But, Bareilles never seemed to have a problem with the comparison.
"I don't feel like anything was taken from me artistically," Bareilles said in an interview with E! News, "I wasn't the one having any problems with it."
In many ways, Bareilles has popularized the piano singer-songwriter style since her 2007 breakthrough hit “Love Song,” allowing others to break through to popularity within the genre.
“My favorite song by her is ‘Gravity;’ it’s the last track off her album (Little Voice),” said Alainna Marincic, a freshman studying media. “She’s really a singer-songwriter so there is a lot of soul in her music, but most singer-songwriters don’t have a really powerful voice, but she does, so it’s a mixing of genres.”
The pop artist will be joined by the group Harper Blynn, which has been lending its indie-rock style to the tour all year long for its second circuit with Bareilles, who promotes them via her personal Twitter account.
“She controls her own Twitter, it’s not one of those that’s managed by some PR company,” Holzaepfel said. “I take a lot of stock when she puts something up there like ‘hey, check out this album.’”
Holzaepfel said tickets are still on sale in the upper portion of MemAud for $30. The contract fee to bring Bareilles here was $40,000.
@Wilbur_Hoffman
wh092010@ohiou.edu
