{"id":10121,"date":"2025-09-27T15:48:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T15:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/?p=10121"},"modified":"2025-10-04T13:36:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T13:36:54","slug":"emerging-bluegrass-group-upstream-rebellion-has-ties-to-wcu-college-of-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/blog\/2025\/09\/27\/emerging-bluegrass-group-upstream-rebellion-has-ties-to-wcu-college-of-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"Emerging bluegrass group Upstream Rebellion has ties to WCU College of Engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A chance meeting in Physics 230 between engineering students Andrew Bivens and Jared Wills was just one of the chance meetings at Western Carolina University<\/a><\/strong> that sparked the formation of bluegrass group Upstream Rebellion<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Western North Carolina-based band plays songs from \u201cSet Fire to the Rain\u201d to \u201cMan of Constant Sorrow,\u201d and their website says, \u201cWe play to connect, we play to preserve, and we play to give back to the communities that raised us.\u201d And connect they have: Upstream Rebellion currently has 48,000 followers on TikTok and 23,000 on Instagram.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all occasionally enjoy reminiscing about the random ways that we met at WCU,\u201d said Andrew Bivens, a mechanical engineering<\/a><\/strong> student from Rutherford County and a guitarist for the band. Three band members knew each other from childhood in Haywood County, and crossing paths at WCU from jamming in dorm common areas to connecting through classes brought the group together.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong story short, we all have WCU to thank for the opportunity of meeting each other,\u201d said Bivens. \u201cIt\u2019s been the perfect environment to create, promote, and enjoy mountain music.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Their recent concerts have included two at WCU \u2013 one at the Mountain Heritage Days<\/strong><\/a> festival and another at a Family Weekend<\/a><\/strong> event co-presented by WCU Engineering Discovery. Five of the six band members have ties to the WCU College of Engineering and Technology<\/a><\/strong>: One graduated with a degree in engineering technology<\/a><\/strong> and two with degrees in construction management<\/a><\/strong>. Two are current students\u2014one studying electrical engineering<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and the other mechanical engineering<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy biggest regret is that I didn\u2019t meet the guys earlier,\u201d said Adam Winebarger, a guitarist and vocalist from Wilkesboro and graduate of WCU\u2019s construction management program. \u201cI usually just played music by myself, especially not expecting many others to enjoy the same music as I do. I saw a video of Max playing the banjo and sure enough, he was in all of my classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winebarger said they made plans to \u201cpick\u201d together and began playing with other musicians informally, quickly realizing they had something.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought to ourselves that we sounded pretty good and would try to take it somewhere,\u201d said Winebarger.<\/p>\n

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Bivens said what he enjoys about guitar is being able to express himself through music and sharing music with other people.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying with a band is such a special thing,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are moments when it all comes together that make all the work we\u2019ve put into it worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_image _builder_version=”4.27.4″ src=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/405\/2025\/09\/WCU-Engineering-Capstone.jpg” background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” alt=”Photo of Cooper Franklin, a graduate of WCU’s engineering technology program and musician in bluegrass group Upstream Rebellion, presenting an engineering project when he was a student at WCU. (Photo courtesy Cooper Franklin)” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” text_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”quote_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length=”quote_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength=”quote_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″]<\/p>\n

As the musicians build and dream about careers outside of music in fields from electrical engineering to construction management, they\u2019re also excited about the future for Upstream Rebellion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to see Upstream Rebellion become a full-on recognized professional band,\u201d said Wills, the band’s upright bass player and a WCU student from Murphy majoring in electrical engineering and minoring in mathematics. \u201cEven if we don\u2019t get there, I\u2019m ready to see how far we can take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

> <\/strong>RELATED STORY: Bluegrass in Blue Ridge: WCU students, alumni start Upstream Rebellion band<\/a><\/h4>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”4.27.4″ src=”https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/405\/2025\/09\/WCU-engineering-and-construction-management-students-in-bluegrass-band-Upstream-Rebellion-3-2.jpg” background_pattern_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_mask_color=”#ffffff” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A chance meeting in Physics 230 between engineering students Andrew Bivens and Jared Wills was just one of the chance meetings at Western Carolina University that sparked the formation of bluegrass group Upstream Rebellion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3401,"featured_media":10122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wcu-engineering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10121"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10158,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10121\/revisions\/10158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}