One music major has taken what she learned and let it blossom it into her own style. Brooke Waggoner, a 2006 composition graduate, will perform at Chelsea’s Cafe tonight at 10 p.m. along with The Winter Sounds and The Lemurs. Waggoner said she has been playing music since she was 4, but she was sheltered from a lot different genres and styles. She said it didn’t turn out to be bad thing. Waggoner grew up with musicals, church music and her mother’s. The Carpenters albums were her influences, but she was introduced to a wider variety of music once she reached college and started attending local shows. “When you go to concerts, you’re taking what you learn [in school] and seeing what else is out there,” she said. “You don’t want to get boxed in.” She also said she didn’t want to get bogged down in a lot of different styles of music, but she wants to be influenced by a small variety so her compositions aren’t cluttered. Waggoner’s compositions were helped by her constant writing. She said building a catalog is necessary for an artist to grow. Waggoner is a solo piano artist, but she said she keeps progressing as a way to stick out from being pigeonholed into any profile. Dinos Constantinides, Waggoner’s composition professor at the University, said he is pleased to see Waggoner gaining position. “She has very good taste in music,” he said. “Sometimes people who write songs don’t have that feature.” Constantinides said Waggoner wrote some wonderful compositions in her time at the University. Waggoner moved to Nashville, Tenn., months after graduating. She said the city is a great place to perform as an artist, and her timing couldn’t have been better since there is a rebirth of independent artist and musicians in the area. Waggoner said her compositions are guided by her old Baton Rouge band, Blessed Yes. She said it was a great way to get her feet wet. “I never realized what I learned until I started actually writing music after I graduated,” she said. “What I learned and the indie and world influences I have are what make up my sound.”
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