Rosenbush's performance a somber reflection on hope and love

After playing a few songs in Maucker Union on Tuesday night, Ben Rosenbush stopped to recount a short anecdote about his grandfather and his great uncle.

"One day they just said ‘screw it,' quit their summer jobs and headed West to look for an adventure."

Rosenbush followed this up with a song he wrote about the story called "West."

Rosenbush was hosted by the University of Northern Iowa Campus Activities Board as part of their Coffeehouse Concert Series, which invites local artists to perform for students. Although Rosenbush usually travels with a full band, he opted to perform solo for the night – just him, his acoustic guitar and a few speakers.

"I sure could use someone who knows me better than I do," sang Rosenbush during one of the songs in his hour long set in the Hemisphere Lounge. The students who were in attendance moved between listening, chatting with friends and doing homework, resulting in a very relaxed and casual atmosphere.

Rosenbush and his band recently finished recording an album that was inspired by his childhood in Duluth, Minn. Rosenbush reminisced about camping on the dunes by the great lakes and lighting bonfires that let him see for miles out into the sea, and how these experiences and nostalgic memories influenced his songwriting process.

The night was not all talk, though — Rosenbush played a number of songs for the crowd that all had a common theme of somber reflection, mixed with hope and love.

"I think the best way to find your own story is to tell someone else's," said Rosenbush.

A lot of the songs that Rosenbush played that night were inspired by or about true events in his life. One song in particular, titled "Cowboy," was written after a friend of his suffered car trouble and expressed his wish to live in another time period, one with horses instead of automobiles. The song was about a cowboy who was displaced from his life in the Wild West into a modern town, and the confusion that came with that situation.

"It's kind of a weird song," said Rosenbush.

Emily Brodie, a sophomore in English education, said Rosenbush's music was "super chill, and "good to study to." Pat Dayton, a sophomore in sociology who was with Brodie that night, also liked the music, stating that it was "relaxing" and  "something you can sit back and listen to."

Search "UNI Coffeehouse Concert Series" on Facebook for updates on future events.