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Sean Shepard, 20, wants to capture what he calls a “raw performance.” Black pants, black shirt, minimal lighting. Just the artist and a microphone. These are all the elements, simple and sparse, that combine to create the new GVTV performance series, “The Black Box Sessions”.

“We bring them in and focus on the performance,” Shepard says, “There isn’t a light show, they aren’t dressed in anything crazy...so you can focus on the music.”

The first episode of the show, currently streaming on Grand Valley TV’s Youtube channel, fully reflects Shepard's minimalist vision. Standing seemingly alone against a backdrop of pitch black, Joey Parks, 20, begins to sing. “You can have Manhattan, I know it's for the best. I'll gather up the avenues and leave them on your doorstep.” Parks’ only accompaniment is a lone piano which he plays himself.

Though the song, titled “Manhattan” and originally by California based singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, is a cover, Parks makes it his own. His textured croon and warm, fervent piano keys strip the song of its original pop sheen and the whole performance recalls a more smokey and somber style of lounge music. It’s the kind of sound you hope to hear as you cry, alone, into your spaghetti and meatballs, in the dimly lit back corner of an italian restaurant.  

Parks, a film and video major here at GVSU, is not only the show’s very first performer, but also the its co-creator.  “I met Joey through taking film and video classes last winter semester,” Shepard says. Shepard transferred from Oakland Community College to GVSU in the winter of 2015. “I was pretty immersed in the film and video major,” he says, “I knew that was what I wanted to do.” The two met in class and quickly realized they shared “the same goofy sense of humor and similar interest in music,” Shepard says.

In addition to being involved in the Film major, Parks is also deeply involved in working with GVTV, producing his own his show called “Post-Secondary”. Parks say while filming a half hour musical episode for his show in the Fall of 2015 he noticed an abundance of “cool audio equipment in the GVTV studio” that wasn’t getting used because, “nobody does a lot of high intensity audio production.” In an effort to utilize the equipment and taking inspiration from performance based video series’ such as Seattle radio station, KEXP or BBC One’s in-studio session, Parks pitched the idea for “Black Box” to the network. However, due to his own busy schedule he was unable to produce the show himself and began shopping the show around to other students.

“Just as I was putting it out there, Sean was telling me about his music blog and I know he’s always been really interested in music, recording and writing,” Parks says. “So I said, ‘Hey would you be interested?’ and he jumped right on it.”

While Parks is caught up in his busy schedule and says that Shepard runs the show, he describes himself as the shows “grandfather.” “I helped Sean create the logo and the graphic identity,” he says, while the audio recording and bringing in talent is left to Shepherd, of which there seems to plenty lining up.

“As soon as the idea came out everyone got really excited through word of mouth and started coming to me and I started getting emails from djs and local performers,” Shepard says. He also has found people just walking around campus. “They’ll be out playing a guitar when the weather is nice and I’ll just walk up and say ‘Hey are you a performer, do you want to perform on the show?”

As of the beginning of April, Parks and Sheppard have recorded three episode of the show and have at least 20 performers lined up for future episodes. The show’s second episode features Shepard himself accompanied by his roommate, Lucas Negen, covering Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on acoustic guitar and banjo. The video went up  April 18th on Youtube   

Both Parks and Shepard have plans for the show to grow when the pair return for their senior years in the Fall. Shepard is looking to “nail down his format” and create a “safe space for the artist to preform while still being able to capture what it’s like to be in that room.” Shepard is committed to presenting the performances captured in their “rawest form” allowing a viewer to truly judge it for what it is. For his part, Parks wants to establish  the show so it can be continued long after the pair graduate.  

“I want to make sure that it lives on,” Parks says. While other shows on GVTV may come and go Parks says “Black Box” is not, “vision specific...it’s a style that is universal. Music and live videos are something that everyone subscribes to...I think it is something that with the right people in charge, it’s easy to keep it going.”

View the first episode below