WKU’s “Midnight on the Hill” event took place in the Downing Student Union Nite Class venue on Wednesday afternoon. The event was sponsored by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and helped raise awareness and donations for St. Jude.

The event featured various artists, including Louisville senior Travis Higdon, who performs weekly at High Tops Restaurant and Bar, specializing in guitar and vocals.

Higdon was not paid to play “Midnight on the Hill,” but cared more about supporting St. Jude and sharing his love of music.

“I don’t even care about the money,” Higdon said. “I play because I just enjoy music. I play because music is a way of putting yourself out there.”

Despite also being a full-time student majoring in broadcast journalism, Higdon says he can always find time to play and learn new songs.

“I’m a senior now, I’ve got all my back-breaking work out of the way,” Higdon says. “I can always find a way to do music. If you love something you’ll always find a way to do it, no matter how busy you are.”

Because he constantly listens to music, Hidgon notes that learning how to play the songs he hears is something that especially interests and keeps him musically active.

Higdon says the majority of songs he plays at shows are ones he happened to grow interested in and eventually decided to learn.

“There are tons of times where I’m lying down in bed, and I’ll hear a song, like, on the radio, or something that’s stuck in my head, and I’ll sit down and I’ll be, like, ‘Oh, I can play that . . . I know the chords to that,'” Higdon said. “It stays in my head, and I’ll start trying to strum and play it.”

Though Higdon is open to taking song suggestions at his shows, he’d like to note that Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” an infamous song suggestion fan favorite, will not be on any of his upcoming setlists.

“‘Free Bird’ is always hard,” Higdon said while smiling yet still hilariously serious. “‘Free Bird’ is extremely hard to play.”

Some of Higdon’s favorite songs to perform are “She Talks to Angels” by The Black Crowes and anything within the genre of 80’s rock.

“[T]hat’s what I was born into,” Higdon said. “I play a lot of 80’s rock and have a good time with it.”

Higdon will resume playing on Thursdays at High Tops after the Thanksgiving holiday and hopes to soon begin playing at Steamer Seafood in Bowling Green. For further information regarding future shows, Higdon is followable on Instagram.

As for Higdon’s appreciation for music and performing, he enjoys “connecting with people” on a deeper level.

“I really just enjoy how emotional and sentimental playing music to people is,” Higdon said. “You’re literally playing a song that somebody sat down and took time to write … [T]o be able to play that to people is just awesome.”

Reporter Griffin Fletcher can be reached at 270-745-2655 and [email protected].