Noah Guthrie, a YouTube famous singer/songwriter, graced Murray State with an outdoor concert Tuesday evening after the Live. Your. Values. kick off for the Greek community in the Quad.

Guthrie performed many songs from his debut album, “Among the Wildest Things,” as well as three popular covers, including the one that made him famous – “Sexy and I Know It.”

His bluesy rendition of the song went viral overnight.

“I did a cover of a really silly, stupid song,” Guthrie said. “But it really changed my life. I uploaded the video and the next morning it had almost 50,000 views. Now, I will be playing this song for the rest of my life.”

As the handful of audience members sat in the grass, Guthrie interacted and enjoyed the small crowd.

“You beautiful people,” he said. “You have no idea how good even this few of you make me feel.”

The young singer/songwriter from South Carolina uses no special effects in his music, his voice and guitar is all you hear.

Guthrie, who has had the opportunity to perform on “The Today Show,” said he does not normally feel nervous before performances, big or small, even when he started at 13 years old.

“I am not nervous, usually,” he said. “But when Matt Lauer from “The Today Show” walks up to you and his shoes are worth more than your life, it’s a little intimidating.”

This performance was one of the many Guthrie has planned for this year. While touring to promote his debut album, he will be performing at almost 70 colleges. He received many of the gigs by playing a 15-minute slot in Nashville for college event planners.

Even with these performances, more than 42 million views on YouTube and opening for big names like Ed Sheeran, Matt Nathanson and Neon Trees, Guthrie enjoys the humble beginnings of the small campus shows.

Despite the rough start Guthrie has had, he continues to stick to his grassroots style and has developed a sound all his own, and claims to be his own worst critic to his music and technique.

“It’s nice to hear people say ‘You are an inspiration’,” he said. “But the first thing I want to tell them is ‘Everything you just watched me do, was wrong.’”

Even as he stopped to tune his guitar during the show, he said “Some people tell jokes while they tune their guitar and I am just not one of those people.”

By harnessing his own sound, Guthrie has topped the singer/songwriter charts on iTunes. He hopes the growth of his musical career is not finished and he can one day follow in the footsteps of Bono and U2 by giving back to the communities through his music.

Story by Hunter Harrell, Staff Writer