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Caamp performs at Express Live in Columbus on Aug. 27 and 28, while also partnering with Columbus Music Commission to run a musical instrument drive right outside of the concert entrance. Credit: Sophie Yates | Lantern Reporter

Columbus-native band Caamp did more this weekend than thrill audiences at its first hometown concert since December 2019.

Caamp, a folk band known for songs such as “All the Debts I Owe” and “By and By,” performed at Express Live! Friday and Saturday. They also brought philanthropy to town through a partnership with the Columbus Music Commission, running a musical instrument drive called The Gift of Music right outside of the concert entrance.

Thane Leshner, project manager for the Columbus Music Commission, said the partnership between Caamp and the CMC began when Adam Sensenbrenner, Caamp’s manager, attended one of the CMC’s monthly forums, Music Business Mondays, which discussed how to get into the music industry.

“The folks at Caamp are great for the community,” Leshner said. “They’re very philanthropic and they let us do this.”

Taylor Meier, Caamp’s lead singer, encouraged the crowd at the end of the show to pursue a career in music if they have any inkling to do so, nodding to The Gift of Music’s goal with the instrument drive. The audience met Meier’s words with substantial cheers.

Leshner said the CMC partnered with Columbus City Schools three years ago to start the music instrument drive. Leshner said the goal of the drive is to provide new instruments to schools whose art programs are underfunded.

“Our motivation is that school funding for arts has, for the past two decades, been cut,” Leshner said. “And the school system in Columbus, we talked to them, and they said they’ve had some of the same instruments for a long time.”

Last year, the CMC had 11 locations around the city and collected 800 instruments for distribution, Leshner said. This year’s drive is ongoing, running through next weekend at different locations around Columbus, such as Easton Town Center and Groove U. Those interested in donating instruments to the Student Instrument Drive can find more information on The Gift of Music website.

In addition to Columbus City Schools, Leshner said instruments collected at the drive will also be donated to other programs.

“We’re going to be sending instruments to a couple different programs — [Arts & College Preparatory Academy] and also Franklinton Preparatory Academy,” Leshner said. 

For some members of the audience, Caamp’s shows this weekend were their first concert experience since the beginning of the pandemic.

Caroline Porterfield, a first-year in biology, said she had missed the energy of live shows.

“I literally went to a concert the day everything shut down, and I haven’t been back in this environment, and I just love it,” Porterfield said. “The energy is unreal.”

Porterfield said her favorite thing about Caamp is their universal style and music fit for any mood.

“My favorite song is ‘26,’ ” Porterfield said. “I listen to it all day, every day, any mood.”

Lydia Muldoon, a first-year in psychology, said this is also her first time at a concert since the pandemic began. The new policy at Express Live! requiring proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 tests from up to 72 hours prior for concert entry provided an added level of comfort, she said.

“I haven’t been to a concert in so long, and this is my favorite band,” Muldoon said. “It makes me feel better that everyone is vaccinated.”