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bareillesabi_raymaker

Bareilles gave a short concert interspersed with commentary on the current political climate and the artist's rationale for supporting Clinton for the presidency. | Courtesy of Abi Raymaker

Credit: Lulu Wang

Grammy and Tony nominated singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles held a concert in the rooftop lounge of Harnwell College House Tuesday as part of the Get Out The Vote event series.

Held a week before Election Day, the Clinton campaign’s GOTV Sara Bareilles event was an effort to galvanize millennials to vote. It was hosted by Penn Democrats and Penn for Hillary.

“This week is about exciting people to get out, vote and volunteer this weekend. It’s crunch time,” College senior and Co-President of Penn for Hillary Sam Iacobellis said.

With Pennsylvania as a battleground state, the Clinton campaign has been focused on turning out the young vote.

Sara Bareilles, along with Katy Perry and Bon Jovi, is one of the many artists endorsing Hillary Clinton through free performances in Pennsylvania. Many students, such as Engineering junior Alison Weiss, heard about the event through the Facebook event page or word-of-mouth.

“Sara Bareilles has been a huge activist supporter for Clinton. Within the last 48 hours and since posting the event, there’s been a really great response,” Iacobellis said.

Before performing her hit single “Love Song,” Bareilles praised Clinton’s efforts toward unifying the fragmented political landscape.

“Essentially what she is standing for, at this time when we are so incredibly divided, is this will and optimism towards bringing people together,” Bareilles said.

Bareilles, who already voted in California, noted the importance of being politically active.

“This has been a hard year to watch in the media, and it’s brought up a lot of ugly stuff,” she said. “But a great way to channel our energy is to organize and get involved and see the issues as they are. To reach for this higher purpose of bringing ourselves back together.”

Her message centered around the importance of inclusion.

“We don’t have to be enemies,” she said. “This isn’t about hating Donald Trump and Trump supporters. This is about a country that needs to heal.”

Bareilles performed the song “Brave,” for which she was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Best Pop Solo Performance. The song, Bareilles said, was inspired by a friend in the LGBT community.

“I wrote this song to a dear friend of mine who was struggling with coming out. Brave is a song about being truthful and knowing that it’s safe to be exactly who you are. And right now, we need that in our culture and community,” she said.

“I support inclusivity. And that’s another reason I’m voting for Hillary. She’s going to be the next president of the United States,” Bareilles said to the cheering crowd.