Free drinks and coffee were offered to Waynesburg students for attending the coffeehouse held in the Beehive at 8 p.m. The entertainer for the evening was Chris Cauley, a returning performer who had been at several coffeehouses in the past.

The room was full of students and their overnight visitors, as the weekend was a visitation weekend for high school students that were accepted into the university. This event gave visiting students insight into one of the energetic events students can attend at Waynesburg. Some of the students played card games at their tables, and in one corner of the room members of Sting Swing, the swing dancing club on campus, danced to the music. 

Cauley, a contestant on season two of “The Voice,” used to play guitar and sing at almost 100 colleges and universities a year. 

Cauley said he first became interested in music as a child, but he never wanted to sing in public until high school, where he played in an acoustic band with a couple of friends. He then started singing on his own.

“It’s all I’ve ever really known,” said Cauley. 

The coffeehouse was what Cauley estimates as his third or fourth time performing at Waynesburg, and the second time in just the past few months. He said he enjoys playing at the college because the students are loose and willing to have fun. 

“It seems like everybody just is super comfortable about themselves, and it seems like it’s a bit of a big family, from the stage,” Cauley said. “Everybody’s talking with everybody. Like tonight, people got up and started dancing. That doesn’t happen in a lot of schools.” 

Cauley said this is what makes the school stand out from the hundreds of others he has played at. 

“It just seems like a free-spirit place, which is pretty rare,” he said. 

Cauley said he chooses the songs he is going to sing based on preference and the feel of the audience. He chose to play “Hit the Road, Jack” during his performance to give the swing-dancers a fast song to dance to. 

“Everybody’s different, so you just kind of have to read the room a little bit,” he said. “The vibe I get from the students is pretty loose, so I have to be loose too for everybody to have a good time.” 

Cauley said his goal now is to continue to stay busy and juggle the many different responsibilities and opportunities he has. 

“I guess you could say my goal is to just maintain exactly what I’m doing,” said Cauley. “I run and manage a massive events band, which is a 15 piece with a horn section. I’m also partnered up with some event companies to run their entertainment side of things, so I’m really, within the past few months, [getting into] the business side of things, and I also vocal produce.” 

Despite all of the responsibilities Cauley has, he doesn’t take himself too seriously and just has fun at the events he plays and sings at. 

“My whole theme is that I don’t take myself too serious, as you could probably see from the performance; I’m goofing around all the time,” said Cauley. “I just enjoy it, and I’m having a lot of fun.”