By Kelsey Rogers, Assistant Living & Arts Editor
Haeley Vaughn, an up-and-coming pop-country recording artist, performed for students at Charlie’s Coffeehouse on Oct. 19.
Vaughn, a former contestant on season nine of “American Idol,” performed at Susquehanna as part of her #HGT2017 (Haeley Goes to College) tour that started in January 2017.
Vaughn’s passion for singing began at three years old. She auditioned for the hit TV show when she was 16.
After finishing as one of the top 10 females, she moved to Nashville in order to further advance her career.
Since relocating to Nashville, Vaughn has written with songwriters such as Jennifer Hanson, Marty Dodson, Mark Irwin, Jennifer Adan and Jenn Schott. She has also performed at the CMA’s annual Country Music Festival.
Primarily a pop-country singer, Vaughn performed a variety of covers for the crowd, accompanied by Spencer Wade on guitar and backup vocals.
Pop hits covered during the performance were “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars, “Love on the Brain” by Rihanna, “Send My Love” by Adele, “No” by Meghan Trainor, “Side To Side” by Ariana Grande and “Roar” by Katy Perry.
Hits from the early 2000s were covered as well, such as “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton and “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne.
“Growing up in the 2000s, I got to listen to a lot of different stuff, from Destiny’s Child to Britney Spears to Avril Lavigne,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn took requests from members of the audience, turning a request for 50 Cent to a mash-up of “In Da Club” and “Shape Of You” by Ed Sheeran.
She also performed a cover of “Free Fallin” by John Mayer, originally performed by Tom Petty as per request of a member of the audience.
Country hits were also performed, such as “How Not To” by Dan+Shay and “Love Me Like You Mean It” by Kelsea Ballerini.
“In Nashville, I do a whole lot of everything,” Vaughn said. “I love going off of what the crowd’s reaction is.”
“We were getting nothing but pop requests,” Vaughn continued. “I just wanted us to kind of vibe and play what you guys wanted to hear.”
Vaughn’s performance was concluded with an original song that she wrote, titled “One Hangover At A Time.” The original piece will be released on an album that will debut on Spotify this November.
Junior Coleman Dieffenbach thought that the performance was very enjoyable.
“I thought people enjoyed the performance,” Dieffenbach said. “They play popular songs that people know and can sing along to, it wasn’t just their own music.”
Vaughn regularly performs at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, located in Nashville, Tennessee, along with other festivals and clubs from coast to coast all across the country.
