As students in his Nations and Nationalities class stumble into another day of recitation, teaching assistant Ryan Artrip encourages them to crowd around in a circle.
Showing excerpts from Bill Maher and Avenue Q from YouTube, Artrip hopes to conceptualize a better understanding of ethnicity to today's "entertainment generation."
His approach is subtle but more importantly relevant -- which goes about the same for all endeavors. When he isn't reading journals or grading essays for Professor Edward Weisband, he assures music is therapeutic, to say the least.
"Music has always been a personal aspect of my life, but I've always been back and forth; when I have more free time it's an ambition, but secondary to academia," Artrip said. "I became a TA to pay for graduate school and more so because I love teaching -- it's an opportunity that takes a good 25 to 30 hours of my week."
Striking a balance hasn't been too difficult for Artrip. He finds himself writing often and has performed for the "The Local Zone," sponsored by WUVT, along with several hotspots around town.
A graduate student majoring in political science, singer/songwriter and guitarist Artrip has maintained fashionable modesty since a young age with those "sappy artists" as his vice.
"I started playing bluegrass in sixth grade but it was in eight and in high school that I really got into acoustic guitar," Artrip said. "As my interests broadened, my heart was in acoustic music, I discovered traditional folk, heavily rooted in Appalachia and hold on to those roots."
Although his heart is in Portland, Artrip, a native of Abingdon, Va., grew up on an array of influences from the textured whispers of Elliot Smith to the cordial croaks of Conor Oberst, along with some hometown influences.
"Josh Goforth is possibly one of the most influential artists I know," Artrip said. "He played fiddle for East Tennessee State University in the university bluegrass band and helped me a lot with the instrumentation on the EP - a truly outstanding musician who has introduced me to a lot of folk artists I've never heard like Gillian Welch."
Artrip's debut "Minus Hollywood" EP is a warm and genuine acoustic record which coalesces lyrical imagery with unconditional sincerity. With a couple hundred dollars and a venue of acoustic poetry, Artrip entered a studio in Bristol, Tenn., planning to unleash a folk monster -- in an unpretentious, small-town fashion, of course.
"I knew the studio engineer, Mike Stephenson, since he was a graduate of my school and used to work with another one of my bands," Artrip said. "He was a part of the town and we had established a friendship. We recorded the whole EP in three nights and modest budget -- just went in there for three to four sessions and broke everything out."
Much like his local counterpart, Artrip's messages are far from superficial. Although the recording process may seem swift, "Minus Hollywood" includes weighty themes of sarcastic love, loss, death, childhood and life-reflection. While topics of human tragedy aren't too far from home, inspiration is more than often reliant on state of mind.
"I write when I am the lowest and when I'm at my highest, I get nothing out of it," Artrip claims. "Most of what I produce is crap; I guess the most depressing topics I can find and have affected me are things I've seen. I had two childhood friends that had overdosed around the time I was writing material for "Minus Hollywood." Loss is just this human tragedy I try to describe in what I write, whether it makes me feel strong or sappy sad."
After recording his EP a little over two years ago, Artrip didn't find online promotion the most effective.
"I found that if you promote yourself online, you tend to have a superficial fan base and false friends," Artrip asserts. "I don't have too much faith in MySpace, but you have to utilize yourself as a standard."
Regardless, "Minus Hollywood" has found its way on iTunes, CD Baby and garnered more than 15,000 plays on MySpace.
However, Artrip admits that an accumulation of plays is only a marker. CD Baby, a straightforward method of digital distribution, will put your music on iTunes -- not much profit, but Artrip definitely sees a paycheck.
"After I put my EP on iTunes, I sent it out to radio stations, tried to get my friends to put it on online forums. I think to some degree, it was superficial, but going to festivals and giving people albums in person really made them seem like they cared about it," Artrip said.
Word of mouth has worked well for Artrip. Blacksburg has played genuine host, not only providing education and employment but a medium to deliver his message. Although the Blacksburg music scene is yet growing, Gillie's Late Night and the Gobbler has accommodated well.
"I think it is all pretty contingent on what kind of music you play and who you are," Artrip said. "When I first got here four years ago, I viewed Blacksburg as not being too accommodated toward music. But I believe there has been a movement of foundation. Whether it be constant with the music I play, I don't necessarily think so. People are caring about local music. I think Blacksburg could be a great music town, but it's a work in progress."