Slam poet, acoustic guitarist perform at ISU

Acoustic musician David Campbell opened Union Board's "Once in a Blue Moon" event with a mixture of original pieces and covers of popular songs such as Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and John Mayer's "Waiting On The World To Change" Sunday evening in the HMSU.

A native of Seymour, Ind., Campbell has performed at several colleges across the region including the University of Michigan and Purdue University.

"I just like performing at different places and playing music that people enjoy," Campbell said.

After Campbell's performance, slam poet Isis Speaks took the stage and presented original poetry that reflected aspects of her life that have shaped her as a person.

Speaks is a first generation college student and touring musical artist with a recently released CD, "It Is What It Is."

"We have responsibility for the children after us," Speaks said. "We are paving the way for them."

Speaks also teaches a creative writing workshop and strongly believes in teaching as a way of public service.

"There is a statistic stating that 90 percent of African-American college students will drop out before graduation and that just isn't right," Speaks said.

She went on to give an intuitive performance consisting of original poetry pieces. In one powerful monologue, "Honeysuckle," she reminisced about the simple aspects of her childhood that inevitably contributed to her emotional growth.

Speaks, who is originally from New Jersey, now resides in Denver and performs at several poetry venues.

To date, she has sold several hundred CDs and was the sole opener for the Def Poetry tour in Denver.

"People died for me to be where I am, so it's my duty to set a positive example," Speaks said.

Both Campbell and Speaks are accessible on MySpace and have pages that provide links to original songs and video performances.