Music on the veranda

_{Brody Rivers sings during “Union Unplugged” Monday on the Student Union veranda on the Brownsville campus. Rivers is a country musician from Rio Hondo. Sofia Cantu Sauceda/ THE RIDER PHOTOS}

_{Brody Rivers (left) performs covers of songs, including “Something in the Orange” by Zach Bryan, “Shake the Frost” by Tyler Childers and “Flower Shop” by ERNEST during “Union Unplugged” Monday on the Student Union veranda on the Brownsville campus. Rivers also performed some of his original songs. Also shown is Lorenzo Morales on fiddle. Sofia Cantu Sauceda/ THE RIDER PHOTOS}

_{Lorenzo Morales plays the fiddle as he performs with Brody Rivers during “Union Unplugged” Monday on the Student Union veranda on the Brownsville campus. Rivers and Morales perform across the Rio Grande Valley together. Sofia Cantu Sauceda/ THE RIDER PHOTOS}

_{Brody Rivers plays one of his original songs “Like the Rain” during “Union Unplugged” Monday on the Student Union veranda on the Brownsville campus. Rivers also performed his original song “Buying My Way to Debt,” which is No. 86 on the Texas Country Music charts. Sofia Cantu Sauceda/ THE RIDER PHOTOS}  

_{Brody Rivers was a contestant on ABC’s “American Idol” and received a golden ticket in October 2023, which guarantees a spot in the next round of the competition. Rivers said, “60,000 people that tried out, and I happened to be one of the 400 people that got to audition in front of the judges, and then from there the next 150 got the golden ticket.” He was cut after participating in one of the stages of “American Idol” during “Hollywood Week” November 2023. Sofia Cantu Sauceda/ THE RIDER PHOTOS}