Horizons Online Edition

It's Friday night and the strum of guitar strings followed by a soft voice pulls students, faculty and staff to the Lower Hangar. The voice belonged to musician Christopher Jak, who visited Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, on Jan. 27.

In partnership with the Juan Valdez Society, the Board of Campus Activities was fighting campus boredom once again by turning the Lower Hangar into a miniature concert hall, complete with a stage and lights. The mood was just right with coffee and churros offered during the entire show.

With only his guitar, Jak sang songs he wrote, as well as favorites like the theme from "My Best Friend's Wedding". In between songs, Jak would explain the significance of each song and he even told the background story behind the songs he wrote.

The song "Goodnight (I'm So Sorry)" was inspired by a girl Jak met at a concert. Jak said he felt horrible when he left her all by herself at the end of the concert after having a great time and even sharing her blanket. He says he looks for her every time he's back in town in hopes of meeting her again. Many of Jak's songs are inspired by personal experiences, with some even inspired by his two dogs, Levi and Lady Queniviere.

"Starting out as a writer you always write from nothing but complete actualized personal experience," Jak explained. "But as you get better as a writer you find you can just take a little piece of that memory and you can write about someone else's experiences. Like I hear a friend talking about their experiences and I will write about that and its really more interesting."

Jak currently has two albums out: "Applause of the Rain" and "The New Nostalgia." His song from his first album, "What you're thinking" was featured on the show "Smallville" during its third season.

Jak's music career began when he was in fourth grade when he joined the American Boy Choir, and it's still going strong. During high school Jak found the guitar and learned to play it by listening to southern rock artists like the Almond Brothers. After a time in Portland, Oregon, Jak formed his first band and his career really began, writing and singing songs.

Right now in Jak's car music like Shelby Lynn, Al Greene, and Josh Kelley can be found with a lot of singles he pulls off of Itunes. When asked about modern music Jak said, "I tend not to follow new artists but will pick up the stuff that really catches me."

After the show, Tina Blake, Assistant Director of Student Activities, chose the winners to the trivia contest about Christopher Jak that was held all week. Students who correctly answered the questions about Jak's hometown and his first record were given a bag of chocolate as a prize.

Before heading back down to Phoenix, Jak sold copies of his new CD "The New Nostalgia" and personally signed every copy for those that wanted one.

To aspiring songwriters and musicians Jak says, "Do not be self critical: there are plenty of critics out there, and you don't need to be one of them. You need to challenge yourself to try to be as good as you can be or you will be blocked and nothing will come of it."

For more information on Christopher Jak or to listen to some of his music you can go to [www.christopherjak.com].

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