Genna Pennington’s normal day always includes eating lunch at the Rhatigan Student Center.

In her three months of being a Wichita State freshman, she’s seen several musical performances there, including Wednesday’s performance by Aaron Lee Martin.

Pennington said she was passing through as usual when she heard Martin performing and decided to stay and listen.

Martin, hired by the RSC’s graphics and marketing team, said he has been playing music since he began practicing the drums at age 11.

This is his second performance at WSU, with the last time being last semester.

“[Playing at WSU] definitely brings me back to my youthful days, even though I’m not that much older,” Martin said.

Pennington and other bystanders saw Martin performing a number of instruments yesterday, including the guitar, banjo, harmonica and tambourine, sometimes playing three at a time.

Martin told the crowd his music had similar themes to the movie “Frozen.”

“I try to pick up everything,” Martin said. “The only thing I haven’t dabbled in are woodwinds and bowed-stringed instruments.”

Martin described his music as mostly folk but said people can probably hear other elements in his music because of the variety he listens to.

“I’d classify him as indie or folk, which I’m a big fan of,” Pennington said. Martin’s music is also available online.

He said bandcamp.com features a couple of his albums, including a Christmas-themed record. Martin expects his next album, “Learned Behavior,” will be released sometime in the spring.

The album was recorded in a cabin in the north Georgia woods, he said.

“[The cabin] was an open room with a bathroom,” Martin said. “We set [the equipment up] all around us.

The power would go out in the middle of recording which would make it difficult.”

Martin said his enthusiasm for playing for an audience comes from hope that people relate to his art form and himself.

“[My favorite part about performing] is connecting with people in hope, from the songs I write and play, they can maybe know where I’m coming from, because they’ve been there or haven’t been there quite yet,” Martin said.

Pennington said she enjoyed Martin’s performance and hopes to see more music like it in the RSC.

“There hasn’t been a lot of concerts in Wichita lately,” she said, “so it’s nice to hear some live music.”