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Murray State football player Carson Beyer has been exercising more than his biceps in the past month. He has been flexing his vocal chords as well.
Beyer, a junior from Paducah, Ky., recently discovered his vocal talent. Due to a power outage during the 2009 ice storm, a friend brought out an acoustic guitar for entertainment. The then 17-year-old Beyer began singing while his friend strummed along and his family and friends were blown away.
That was only the beginning. Beyer released his first single on iTunes called “Turnt Up” on Sept. 10 of this year.
“The song is the first one I really got to (record) myself,” he said. “Instead of doing covers, this was my own.”
Beyer’s rhythm and blues track features his smooth vocals and some soul background. With the inspiration for “Turnt Up” being slightly old school R&B, the lyrics are more up to date with pop culture.
“Our generation uses the term ‘turnt up’ to mean feeling good, like from partying,” Beyer said. “But the song is about a guy who feels that way about a girl.”
Within its first week, “Turnt Up” received nearly 300 downloads from iTunes. The SoundCloud snippet, created to promote the song before its release, had hits from 19 countries.
“Turnt Up” gave attention to Beyer’s singing career, but his newest release, “You Got Me,” is growing in popularity as well. Beyer has one more single to release later this month.
Beyer sings more upbeat hip-hop, rather than the country music he grew up listening to on his family’s farm. Though he enjoys the genre of music, he feels country is not for him. Beyer believes without playing acoustic guitar, a country music career is more difficult. Besides, his talents fit well with R&B anyway, he said.
“I don’t play any instruments,” Beyer said. “I will learn piano one of these days.”
Since discovering his talent singing along with Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours,” Beyer’s musical influences shifted to Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke, Usher and Bruno Mars. The voices of these stars all have a similar falsetto, which Beyer can match.
Despite Beyer’s walk-on football career at Murray State, the music has his coaches most impressed.
Freddie Roach, Murray State’s defensive line coach last season who is now at South Alabama, introduced Beyer to an agent. From there, Beyer signed a one-year contract with J23 Productions. Beyer’s original songs, which are being released one at a time, are products of the recording session in Dallas with J23 Productions.
Even with the newfound fame and the overwhelming support from his coaches and teammates, Beyer remains humble.
“I’m really thankful to be surrounded by people who genuinely care about my future,” he said.
Unsure of where his music career will go, Beyer still plans to earn his degree in exercise science. He also plans to continue to be a role model to the younger generation, through both his music and his involvement in Campus Outreach.
Story by Hunter Harrell, Assistant Features Editor