CHAPEL HILL, NC— Waiting in the Undergraduate Library for his flyers to print and chatting with people in line behind him, junior geography major and quad guitarist Derek Suggs announced dates for his upcoming quad tour.

Suggs said his performances will take him all over the quad, hitting Polk Place’s biggest venues, as well as smaller, more underground ones.

“Playing a high-traffic spot like the Wilson steps is a real confidence boost,” said Suggs. “But it’s at the hole-in-the-wall joints, like the bushes by Murphey Hall, where I really connect with my fans.

“I want to see the whole quad, just get out there and play for the people,” he said.

Suggs entered the quad music scene after transferring from UNCG last year. He’s since been gaining attention from people walking to class and fellow quad performers.

“He brings a real energy to his performances,” said friend and slackliner Corey Hoffman. “There’s some cutting-edge stuff happening in the quad these days, and Derek’s right at the center of it.”

Suggs plays unaccompanied on an acoustic guitar which he bought last year at Guitar Center. He performs popular covers as well as original songs written in his RA suite in Ehringhaus.

“I can’t really describe my songwriting process,” he said, readjusting his leather wristbands. “It’s like the songs are all in me, swirling around in a thick paste, and I use this guitar to scrape them out of my body and into my audience’s ears.”

He said he will respond to fan interests on his upcoming tour.

“This one girl who walks by Saunders every morning around ten. I think she really digs my stuff,” said Suggs. “I’m gonna play ‘Parachute Panties’ whenever she’s passing by.”

After the fall tour, Suggs hopes to take a sabbatical and perhaps study abroad in India in the spring. But he has already made reference to a 2015 fall tour, which he said would hopefully include dates in exotic venues like Rams Plaza, the Davis ATMs, and the bench in front of Waffle House.

But for now, Suggs said, he’s thinking about the quad.