The Silver "Brass Instrument" Lining.

It's been two weeks to the day a tornado ripped through the center of Hattiesburg and turned everything on it's head. Classes were canceled, roads were closed and several students and area residents had to endure the strenuous task of finding a new place to live. For a moment, it felt as if nothing would never recover.

Now, things are slowly returning to normal, or what we are coming to know as the "new normal." You can't see nearly as much debris when driving down Hardy Street and classes are back in session...for most of us.

Then there are the groups of displaced music students. With one practice building destroyed and the other condemned, music students, jazz students in particular, have recently had no where on campus to practice. Much work is being done to provide a space for these students on the far end of campus from what they used to call home; double-wide trailers are being set up on the parking lot behind Hillcrest Apartments and is being dubbed "twister town."

But this temporary practice space couldn't come soon enough for students desperate to get back to work.  

Which is why, when I stepped on campus Monday morning, I could hear the faint sounds of a euphonium playing from the green. Turn the corner and another brass instrument could be heard from across campus. The moody tunes of these deep sounding brass instruments reflected the mood of city broken at twilight, but slowly rising again at dawn.

The past couple of weeks have been rough to say the least, but seeing these music students bring their practice outdoors was a pleasant surprise. And for those of us walking around campus these past few days to enjoy the temporary sounds of practicing students, I would certainly say this is one silver lining to a cloud that has brought so much recent destruction.    

Music in the face of tragedy.

It's hard to talk about the arts on campus right now without talking a bit about the terrible tornado that graced itself in Hattiesburg, MS Sunday evening. Estimated as an EF4, the Tornado that hit Hattiesburg tore up everything in it's path, including the Jazz Station music building and other buildings on USM's campus as well as around town.

This catastrophe has greatly affect all the USM music students as many students stored their musical instruments in these buildings and now may never see them play again. The destruction of the Jazz building has also brought the morale of USM students, especially music students, way down. Classes have been cancelled along upcoming orchestra performances and music events.

This tragic natural disaster may have had a negative impact on the morale of students and Hattiesburg residents, but it has not broken us. In light of these horrible events many are banding together to rebuild, restore, and raise money for those impacted around town, including the Southern Miss Jazz Bands.

Tuesday night at 10 pm, the Thirsty Hippo will be sponsoring an event featuring Brownout, a latin funk band from Austin, Tx. A portion of the proceeds from the event will go toward the USM Foundation to help rebuild. Music will be used to bring the Music Department back to life.

It's events like these that will help restore morale of those in the affected area. If you have a chance, please come out and help support this great cause while taking a load off, after all, it's been a long week.