Scarlet Sessions Brings Student Music to the Spotlight

This semester, the College’s student newspaper and radio station have collaborated to launch a new project called Scarlet Sessions. Scarlet Sessions will serve as an opportunity for student musicians to have their music professionally recorded and released on The Scarlet and Black’s social media.  

Oliver Wolfe ’25, a staff writer and former editor for the S&B, proposed the idea for Scarlet Sessions to his peers at the S&B and leadership at KDIC during the Fall 2024 semester. Wolfe, a large presence in the music scene on campus, sparked the idea in hopes of creating a new space for preserving student music at the College. Wolfe also expressed ambitions about publishing recordings and or interviews of bands and artists performing at Grinnell.  

“The idea was to support institutional memory and to spotlight student musicians and musicians that come to Grinnell’s campus because those things can be forgotten if they aren’t recorded or documented,” says Wolfe.  

Ky Klassen ’25 recently became the Scarlet Sessions’ first featured musician after having their original music recorded by KDIC and the S&B during spring break.   

Reflecting on the experience, Klassen shares, “Doing the session allowed me to share my music on my own schedule and without any looming performance anxiety in front of a bigger audience. I think it is such a cool way to catalogue student music over the years.” 

Following the recording of Klassen’s session, Wolfe reflects, “I didn’t know she wrote her own music, and it was just incredible…not everyone gets a chance to hear what music is being played by other students on campus, and some people are too nervous to play a live show so there’s a lot of music that is being missed out on.” 

Looking to the future, Wolfe adds, “It will be an awesome way for me as an alum to go back and look and see who’s playing right now on campus… It’s also a way to connect future students with alumni. There might be a student who’s thinking about Grinnell and then gets to connect with the students who are here.” 

Scarlet Sessions will be available on The Scarlet and Black’s YouTube channel.