Have You Heard?

Senior Tom Koentje's music career began in the fourth grade orchestra when he started on the cello. Koentje later transitioned from the cello to the drums after the head of the orchestra told him he was "tone deaf," he said.

He has been playing the drums ever since, and has been a member of a number of bands. One of the bands he has played for is The Kooks, an indie rock band from the United Kingdom. Koentje is most proud of the work he did with the band on its release "Naive," he said.

"The other bands I play with usually stick to harder stuff than British pop-rock," he said. "I'm a rocker through and through."

Drumming is not something Koentje plans on giving up after college, and he said he hoped to find a group from Richmond to jam with next year.

In addition to playing, he listens to bands such as AC/DC, Van Halen, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Def Leppard. The Allman Brothers were his childhood favorite and his musical influences have come out of his appreciation for The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards, Koentje said.

"My musical tastes are always at least a decade behind what most people are listening to," he said.

This year, Koentje said he had started listening to the rock bands of the '90s, including Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Foo Fighters.

The Outlaws' "Green Grass and High Tides" is his all-time favorite song, but ever since the song made its debut on "Rock Band," Koentje said he did not feel the same way about it.

"I doubt I listen to one band that college kids haven't heard yet," he said, "but I would just recommend that everyone give some artists' lesser-known songs a chance and not to end their collections at the songs you hear everyday on classic rock radio or on 'Guitar Hero.'"

His Recommendations:

Joe Walsh - "Life's Been Good"

Kid Rock - "All Summer Long"

Neil Young - "Cowgirl in the Sand"

The Band - "Don't Do It"

Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Call me the Breeze"

Foo Fighters - "My Hero"

Billy Joel- "The Ballad of Billy the Kid"

Led Zeppelin- "Hey Hey What Can I Do"

Pearl Jam- "Yellow Ledbetter"

The Allman Brothers Band- "Back Where It All Begin"