At this year’s Ramstock on October 17, four performers, including Micah Walker (12), Carrie Holdreith (10), Clare Hagan (10), and the four-person band GoodLuck Joseph, performed either covers of songs or their own original songs. As per Ramstock tradition, students in attendance voted for their favorite act at the end of the show.

The winner of Ramstock was GoodLuck Joseph, consisting of Aaron Dyche (12), Cole McNair (11), Zack Uhlenhuth (12), and Nick Uhlenhuth (12).

“I thought they did really well. It seemed like an easy win for them after [their performance] last year,” Timberlee Sutton (12) said.

Kate Hovious (11) especially liked Carrie Holdreith’s singing and guitar playing at Ramstock. “She played all my favorite songs! And it really takes a lot of guts to perform alone,” Hovious said. 

Freshman Kayla Wienczkowski said her first Ramstock “was very fun and different from usual after school activities.” Her favorite performance was by Clare Hagan.

Prior to the announcement that his band had won, Cole McNair (11) of GoodLuck Joseph thought the band had a good chance of winning, but was impressed by the other acts. “Micah Walker’s band did really well,” he said.

GoodLuck Joseph’s prize for coming in first at Ramstock was the chance to perform at the Male/Manual pep rally.

Richard Ballard (12) was impressed with the band’s pep rally performance, especially with the addition of guest performer Ian “IanJ” Johnson (12), who rapped a couple of verses with the band.

“[GoodLuck Joseph was] very entertaining and really got the crowd going,” Ballard said.

“Aaron Dyche asked me a few weeks ago to perform with them at the pep rally if they won Ramstock,” Johnson said.  “I was really excited to do it; they’re a great band.”

Johnson, in addition to pumping up the crowd, started his own “Red/White Cheer” with the students. “It was an awesome experience,” he said.

“He’s already proven himself as a talented rapper,” Dyche said. “There wasn’t a better person to ask.”

“It felt cool to win Ramstock, and performing with IanJ at the pep rally was really exciting,” McNair said. “He added a lot to the show.”

Cal Handmaker is a senior at Manual and has always been in CMA. He is on the Multimedia staff but mainly edits video. He is also a music producer.