Local Fans Meet Favorite Singer
Seward County Independent
April 7, 2005
By Stephanie Croston
Every fan dreams of meeting his or her favorite athlete, musician or actor.
For two Seward girls, that dream has come true.
Lacy Embree, 18, and Eirinn Boyd, 17, got to meet singer Josh Groban before his recent concert in Sioux City, Iowa. Both were still excited March 31.
Both are in the Friends of Josh Groban fan club, which hosts opportunities for members to earn chances to meet Groban. For the Closer tour, members were invited to write an essay describing why they would be the best person to represent the fan club in a meet-and-greet. Lacy decided to write.
Eirinn, a home-school senior, was the first of the two to hear Groban, and she introduced Lacy to Groban's music the day the Closer album was released.
"He seemed good, but it was kind of slow," Lacy, a student at Southeast Community College in Lincoln, said, adding that that style of music was not what she usually listened to.
However, once she heard "Oceano," the first track, she was hooked.
"After I got the CDs, I mostly just listened to the songs that really jumped out at me, until eventually I realized they were all my favorites," she wrote in her essay.
She and some friends, including Eirinn, attended Groban's Omaha concert in August and were very impressed.
"Most singers I've liked just aren't the same when you hear them live-most throw in cheesy dance moves and crazy outfits to make the crowd love them more, and I think it's to make up for the fact that they just can't sing it exactly like it is on their albums," Lacy wrote.
"Josh didn't, he didn't need to be fake, he had what it took-he can just stand there and sing his heart out and everybody loves him."
Both Lacy and Eirinn are familiar with music (Lacy plays guitar and Eirinn plays the piano), but Lacy said she had learned more about music in general since she started listening to Groban's music.
"Josh is just so cultured, and it should be that way with more of our modern musicians," she wrote.
She ended her essay with a request to meet Groban and to represent the fans from this area. Her essay must have caught the eyes of the fan club judges, because a couple days before the Sioux City concert, a representative from Warner Brothers called to tell Lacy her wish was coming true.
Lacy and Eirinn got to meet Groban before the concert, and both said he just seemed like a normal guy.
"He stuck out his hand for me to shake, and I just gave him a hug," Eirinn said. "He seemed pretty down-to-earth."
Lacy said he complimented her on her glasses and put his on for the photo.
"He seemed so normal and at ease," she said.
After becoming a Groban fan, Lacy has been "spreading the Josh" as she described it in her essay.
She tells everyone she meets about Groban's music and encourages them to listen, in addition to requesting Groban's songs on local radio stations.
That doesn't mean everyone likes Groban's music, which ranges from pop to classical. For example, Lacy's and Eirinn's coworkers at Amigo's don't like him. They prefer country, the girls said.
"There's a lot of adversity," Eirinn said with a smile.
So until Groban's third album is released, the two will continue to spread the Josh, sharing their favorite singer with everyone they meet.
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