Story by: Alyson Svec
Students can participate in a blowout before classes begin for the long semester.
Bookstore Blowout includes live music from local, acoustic bands along with free giveaways including CDs, shirts, posters, artist memorabilia and tickets for upcoming shows from KTSW, Texas State’s campus radio station.
Daniel Hughes, 27-year-old promotions director at KTSW, is in charge of managing this event.
“It gives you something to do and it provides entertainment for free,” Hughes said.
Bookstore Blowout is held all day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the first week during the long semesters and reaches between 2,000 to 5,000 people.
Lauren Mahoney, 19-year-old assistant music director at KTSW has been working the event for a couple years. She helped distribute giveaways and promote upcoming events to students.
“I loved the expression on students’ faces that seemed to scream, ‘Free stuff? Really? Wow, what a change of pace,’” Mahoney said. “Everybody seemed so appreciative of getting free CDs, posters, and other giveaways. I also enjoyed being able to recommend various CDs to people and expose them to new music.”
Previous musicians that performed at the University Bookstore during this event include: Joe Rice, David Booth, Victor Holk, Betsy Phillips and Colin Coby.
Each semester, different musicians come to entertain students as they do some last-minute shopping on books and supplies.
“I get so much joy discovering new music and all of the giveaways at the Bookstore Blowout are absolutely free,” Mahoney said. “It also helps the time go by faster when waiting in the huge long lines while buying books. Not to mention, listening to various artists performing in-store is always a great and somewhat positively unusual experience.”
Jessica Montez, 22-year-old advertising student, attended the Bookstore Blowout for the first time and said it was better than she expected.
“I got a few free CDs and other stuff. From what I recall it seemed like a lot of people waited to get their books then and people were buying a lot more things,” said Montez. “There were also a lot of people advertising things and giving away free samples. Overall, it was a good experience.”
Waterloo Records provided KTSW with hundreds of giveaways this spring.
The Bookstore Blowout is supported by the Texas Music Theater in San Marcos, a venue for Texas bands of all kinds, local and regional artists, to provide shows for the public.
“Because we are a non-profit organization, such contributions hold such significance to us,” Mahoney said.
Dan Schumacher, KTSW general manager, advises the Bookstore Blowout and other events the radio station hosts.
“A lot of my work has to deal with contracts and payments. The students are the ones who take care of everything, and they bounce ideas off me. They put a lot of effort into this program,” Schumacher said.
KTSW’s promotional efforts and funds from the Bookstore Blowout go to the station’s annual spring music festival, MR. Fest.
