Despite not winning contest, student musician keeps playing

Every day thousands of people are posting videos of themselves on YouTube, singing original music, covering artists they've grown up with and vying for attention from the rest of the online viewers in the hopes they will become "the next big thing."

For Nicole Lape, a freshman classics and religious studies major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the idea to post her videos on Youtube came as a reaction to a recent singer-songwriter contest that she entered in the fall of 2011.

Hosted by Guitar Center, the contest gave musicians the opportunity to submit one of their songs online and ultimately win the opportunity to record a three-song EP with producer John Shanks.

The idea to hold the contest on the internet was, as Lincoln Guitar Center store manager Jacob Van Noy said, was a great success.

"A lot of people don't like getting judged," he said. "It's nerve wracking. This way, you can write a song and submit it online."

For Lape, the contest was a personal success: She placed 63rd out of almost 20,000 applicants.

The idea for the contest, according to Van Noy, came from the participants, who had entered some Guitar Center's prior promotional contests.

"What we've found is that males would be the only people who would go for it," he said. "But there are a lot of singer-songwriters who are women. We know that a lot of women are playing music and writing music."

The contest certainly caught Lape's eye and now, almost four months after the contest began, she is continuing to pursue her music despite not winning.

"I'm still writing music and promoting my music page, recording my songs in my spare time up in my dorm," she said. "I'm trying to put together an album right now."

Lape, who started her music career in the 5th grade after being offered a part in her school's musical, has grown up grounded in music.

"I taught myself how to play the guitar and the piano," she said. "My vocal skills were from choir and church and I began to develop my own style when I was leading worship. Music is just how I express any feelings that I have. You can just listen to my songs and you'll know exactly what was going on."

Despite her passion and talent, there is something holding Lape back from recording her music.

"Right now I can't use my own name to promote any of my music because I'm a (UNL) student athlete," Lape, a student bowler, said. "It goes against NCAA policy."

Essentially Lape will have to wait to be able to tack her name on to her music and her promotional pages. But upon graduating, she'll be able to move forward, using her name to promote her music and her image.

Yet music isn't the only thing Lape is hoping to do after she graduates. She also hopes to move to Chicago and start graduate school to pursue a master's degree in theology. In fact, it is likely that Lape will try and find a way to combine her degree and her music.

"My music isn't just a gift," she said. "It's my way of worship."

adrienneanderson@dailynebraskan.com