TC Rockin’ Out

The strum of a guitar and the beat of the drums are the sounds that students at TC move and dance to. However, there are some students here at T.C. that choose to create these sounds, students such as Touré Shiver, who raps in his free time and musical groups like The Low Down, a student rock band that plans to rock the stage at T.C. events.
Touré Shiver, or TreyDaGreat as he calls himself, is a young musician who plans to make it to the top. Shiver explained that his rap name is from a shortened version of his name and combined with his desire to become the greatest rapper. When asked about his decision to become a rapper, he answered, “I decided to become a rapper when I saw Lupe Fiasco’s music video ‘Kick Push’ on MTV.” Shiver has already released numerous songs on the internet including “All the Way Turnt Up” and “Throw It” anyone can find these songs on his music page at usershare.net/z2ncqrablxxr. Shiver gets influenced by artists such as Lupe Fiasco, Nas, Jay-Z, and The Notorious B.I.G. He’s currently working on getting a record deal; he plans to send his demo CDs to record companies all over the country. When asked if T.C. students can expect to hear him perform, he replied, “Yes TC students can expect to hear my music at the talent show, if there is one, and any other musical events.”
Another up-and-coming musical act here at TC Williams is The Low Down, a band made up of sophomores Matthew Blevins, Sam Jones, Phillip Espinoza, and Cameron Pattisall. The band started in April of 2009 and has performed at some TC events such as the 2009 Titan Expo and the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria’s annual fall telethon. The origin of the band name came from when “I kept hearing people say or give information by saying ‘here’s the low down’ so I thought it would be a cool name for a band” says lead singer Sam Jones. The band is influenced by artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Metallica. The band can be described as “Hard rock, punk rock, and a little bit of funk thrown in there” says Jones. TC students can expect to hear original songs by The Low Down soon because they are in the process of recording. “Expect to hear us performing soon,” says Jones.
Another artist that T.C. has to offer is senior Willie Bailey. Bailey is also known as Wayze to his fans and friends. Bailey is a rapper, who labels his music as, “expression, it’s like pure hip hop in the sense that it contains more than one genre within itself…its just good music.” When asked about his rap name Bailey responded, “Waze came from around the neighborhood, when people would see me rap and they would say I found a way out, of something impossible.” Bailey has never played at a T.C. event but plans on doing so; he has played in a club called Heaven and Hell, located in Adams Morgan, Georgetown. His future plans are to go to the Art Institute of Washington for audio production, hopefully to become a studio engineer, “I want to find a way to impact music, without having to directly make it.” Students in T.C. can hear Bailey’s music from mix tapes that he has put together, “they have gotten pretty good reception,” Bailey says. A second mix tape called “North face music” is currently being made by Bailey, who plans to release it, in, mid or late December. When asked if he had anything for T.C. students to know its, “Hard work will always beat talent, if talent works hard.”
For right now TC can only wait for the future as these musical acts become more popular, who knows maybe one day these T.C. artists will be seen on your televisions.