On September 30 at 6:30 p.m. Lake Land alumni, students, their families and community members started to fill the Field House to enjoy The Henningsens’ final concert.

To celebrate Lake Land’s 50th year, they decided to bring Laker alumni Brian Henningsen and his two children Clara and Aaron to Lake Land to perform for students and alumni alike. At 7:00 p.m., the show finally started—Clara introduced herself, Aaron and Brian to the audience.

“If it weren’t for Lake Land, there wouldn’t be the Henningsens,” the band said.

Brian and his wife met at Lake Land, and the band was formed in Atwood, Illinois. They started their career as a band seven years ago, and this concert was their farewell concert. It was very upsetting to the crowd to hear their last song and see them leave the stage.

The end of the Henningsens doesn’t mean the music is over, though. Clara and Aaron are starting their own solo career in the country music industry. Throughout the concert, not only did the alumni, students, and adults enjoy it, but there were little kids singing and dancing along. The Henningsens also pointed out a couple people from the crowd they knew and brought Rob Wolf, who helped write their song ‘Airstream,’ up onto the stage. He grabbed a guitar and started to play and sing along.

The Henningsens were a hit at Lake Land, from my perspective. They played several songs together and separately, too. Clara sang a couple of songs she is thinking about recording and Aaron and Brian also sang a couple on their own.

There was one song that really got the crowd up and singing: ‘American Beautiful.’ That was their very first single that was played on country radio.

The Henningsens didn’t just write for themselves, but they wrote for The Band Perry, Sarah Evans and many more artists. This concert was so organized, unlike a state fair concert, and the band was very friendly with everyone there. The concert ended around 9:30 p.m., and they had a little meet and greet afterwards. Lake land made a wonderful decision by bringing the Henningsens to our community for their 50th Anniversary.

Farewell to the Henningsens, and good luck to Clara and Aaron on their solo careers and to Brian in the rest of his journey of life.