By Heather Cass
Publications Manager, Office of Strategic Communications, Penn State Behrend
People of faith believe that things, even bad things, happen for a reason. Alison Huffman, a senior Computer Engineering major, recalls the injury that ended her college soccer career at Behrend through that lens.
“You know if I hadn’t torn my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), I wouldn’t have had the time to get so involved in music, so in some ways it was a gift,” Huffman said.
Huffman and a fellow student, Adam Boaks, a senior Biology major, recently released their first album, For Your Glory, at the request of The Cross, an Erie church that Huffman and Boaks attend.
The pair wrote and performed the songs, all taken from the Bible’s Book of Psalms. They also played all of the instruments and handled vocals, as well. When it came time to mix it all together, they enlisted the aid of Dr. Joel Hunt, associate teaching professor of music and digital media, arts, and technology.
Huffman, who is also working on a Music Technology minor, was even able to earn college credit for the project. Though the minor is offered at University Park, she was able to fulfill the course requirements taking classes with Hunt at Behrend. That included INART 258A Fundamentals of Digital Audio and a variety of independent studies.
“When we were trying to find an independent study topic for Alison, I learned about the album she was making with Adam,” Hunt said. “We thought it would be a great way to dig deeper into music production.”
After the album was mixed, Huffman and Boaks handed it off to a distributor for final mastering and to set the levels required by Apple, Spotify, and other platforms. The album was released this summer and is available on any major music streaming platform by searching for “The Cross Worship” and For Your Glory.
Huffman and Boaks will be performing live at an album release party tomorrow – Friday, September 10 – at 7:00 p.m. at the stage at Perry Square in downtown Erie.
Can’t make it Friday? Catch them at 1:00 p.m. at Saturday’s West Bayfront Porchfest. They’ll be performing at 627 Myrtle Street.
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