By Avarie Cook
Not many musicians can say that their mom encouraged them to pursue music instead of school. Teddy Geiger, however, can.
On Jan. 22, thanks to the Student Union Activities Board, Framingham State was able to have an intimate concert with Teddy Geiger in the Dwight Performing Arts Center (DPAC).
After picking up the hobby of music from his grandparents while growing up in Rochester, N.Y., Geiger began to write his own songs. As he became more interested in music, his focus on school started to slip.
“My mom was like, ‘Well, we better think about you trying to do music professionally,’” Geiger said. “She set me up on the reality show, ‘In Search of the Partridge Family.’”
With the support of his family, Geiger has had plenty of success that includes releasing two full-length albums and co-writing a song for One Direction.
His most recent album, “The Last Fears,” was made mostly for his fans. The success of his romantic single “For You I Will (Confidence)” inspired so many people to contact Geiger asking for a second record.
Geiger’s performance in DPAC felt like a large group of friends gathered together to hear some good music. He talked to the audience with friendly ease and was flattered that people walked to another building in the cold weather to seem him.
He played a mixture of old songs and new ones with expressive lyrics that touched everyone’s hearts.
“‘Sunshine Fires’ was such a beautiful and relatable song,” junior Rachel DeNardo said, “His lyrics made me tear up!”
Geiger said that he gets his inspiration from books that he’s reading and things that happen to him in his life. What makes his songs special is his ability to write about situations that everyone can relate to without being able to put it into words themselves.
Although his albums mainly fall into the singer/songwriter category, Teddy Geiger likes to play other genres that spark his interest. He is currently working on an electronic project that he plans on releasing under another band name.
“In between [making the two albums] I spent a lot of time just experimenting with electronic music and different sounds,” Geiger said. “I like doing different stuff because it keeps it fresh.”
This was apparent when Geiger closed his show with a cover of R. Kelly’s “Ignition” while walking around the theater, singing to the audience. Geiger thinks personally connecting with his fans is really important.
He showed this by staying to meet, take pictures and talk with every fan after his show in DPAC.
Geiger recently moved to Los Angeles to focus on his songwriting. Along with touring and making his own music, he is trying to become more involved in the actual production process.
“I was on a label for the first record, and there was a large space in between where I took a break and was working on a bunch of different stuff and not doing too much actively,” Geiger said. “Coming back from that place, social media’s been huge, being able to have fans on Facebook and Twitter, you don’t need a label that much.”