C-Webb makes his musical debut

Every performer remembers his first time in the spotlight— whether he was excited, nervous or confident. For one man, best known to Chapel Hill students as “C-Webb,” the moment came during Junior Follies 2016.

Permanent substitute teacher Charlie Webb was asked by Chapel Hill High School students to sing lead vocals as part of an act for the school’s Junior Follies, the annual district-wide talent show hosted by Chapel Hill High School.

Although Webb was new to performing, he was willing to give it a try.

“I’ve thought about [performing] off and on through the years, doing something for fun, but I was too nervous and just never carried through,” Webb said. “When [senior] Robert Carmichael came to me and asked if I would be interested, I just thought, ‘I might as well try it sometime.’”

The idea for the act came to Carmichael during last year’s Junior Follies.

“I was thinking to myself how I could make an ensemble that was the most enjoyable to anyone in it,” Carmichael said. “I thought about having C-Webb be the lead singer, so I went and asked him and he agreed.”

The band, called C and the Webbs, performed “What’s New Pussycat?”, a song originally sung by Old Tom Jones. Besides Webb, the band had nine other members, all playing various instruments. Senior May Burgard was on the tambourine.

“I was really proud of C- Webb,” Burgard said. “When we approached him with the idea, he was so enthusiastic about it. There was some initial nervousness about getting the song down—it didn’t come easily to him—but he quickly grasped the pitches.”

When asked about his thoughts during the performance, Webb said he was mostly focused on the audience’s enjoyment.

“Before I walked on [stage], I was thinking about greeting the crowd and getting everybody into it,” Webb said. “When performing, you’re trying to get the crowd to enjoy what you’re doing.”

The act was a success, drawing applause from the crowd, especially at the end when Webb “hit the dab,” a dance move that involves tilting the forehead to the elbow—as if sneezing into your sleeve—and then walked off.

People in the crowd were not the only ones surprised by Webb’s dramatic exit.

“There’s a great video of him doing the dab, and then it just pans over to me and I had just screamed because I was just so startled that he did that,” Burgard said.

Senior Annie Bocko enjoyed Webb’s performance.

“Everyone loved seeing him up on stage in his suit, [and] it was just a super fun thing to watch,” Bocko said.

While Webb does not plan to perform in the future, Carmichael believes the performance was a good debut.

“I think C-Webb did great. He only started singing [this year] , and he has excelled so much,” Carmichael said. “I’m quite proud of [him].”

jricha70@gmail.com

#cwebb