Come next fall, one local band and NIU’s communication department both will be missing one well-known member.

Communication instructor Will Anderson will leave NIU after this summer to become a professor at Central Michigan University. He’s been teaching at NIU for six years.

Anderson also has played bass and guitar as part of the Mississippi Blues Band for the last seven months, with cohorts being fingerpicker Brian Thornton (associate professor of communication), English instructor Ellen Thornton (vocals), NIU graduate Steve Chorak (guitar) and Sycamore FedEx driver Mike August (harmonica).

Anderson will perform with the band at 9 p.m. Friday at The House, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, in what could be his final performance with the band.

“It’s kind of a bummer, but that’s the way it goes,” Brian Thornton said. “He got a better opportunity.”

Anderson, who will teach his last NIU class this summer with COMS 355 (media writing), doesn’t think his departure will derail the band.

“It’s hard to say; I think I’m bowing out at a good time,” he said. “I enjoy playing with them. When we lock up, it’s really good. But the band is billed as fingerpicked blues … Brian’s a purist. He’s gonna be fine without me.”

The relationship has been mutually beneficial for the band members.

“Will has taught me a lot about electric guitar and a lot of the different things you can do with sound,” Thornton said. “It’s been an eye-opening experience for me, and I got to teach him about the Delta Blues.”

The band’s purpose has been to educate and demonstrate the era of Delta Blues, which was produced mostly in the 1920s, ’30s and early ’40s. The four-piece plans to continue making its mark with the ancestor to rock ‘n’ roll.

“We’ll continue,” Thornton said. “I started the group as a solo act years ago, and gradually added more people. We’ll be all right, a lot of the old Delta Blues guys were basically just one guitar and a harmonica, so we’ll probably just go back to that sound.”

The experience of playing in the band certainly has helped Anderson.

“I’m a far better player than I was when we started off,” he said. “I have more of an appreciation for the genre.”

Anderson has been recognized for his talents in writing and teaching media writing for years.

“I love this job because I’m paid to think and I’m paid to think about something I really love,” Anderson said of his current position. “If I wanted to discuss ‘The Simpsons’ in class, I’m free to do it without anybody coming down on me for it.”

Anderson is leaving for CMU to take on opportunities that he doesn’t get here at NIU. More work will come with his new job, but it’s something he looks forward to.

“With the new job I will be researching and doing scholarly projects in the area of writing,” Anderson said. “It’s something I haven’t been able to do at NIU as an instructor.”

Many at NIU will be saddened by Anderson’s departure. It will mostly be felt among the students, among those Ted Croisant, a senior communication major.

“It’s very depressing. He taught me everything I know about media,” Croisant said. “He has a very strong character. I’ve never had a teacher that was so willing to help out after class.”

Anderson echoes Croisant’s words right back at the student body.

“I’m going to miss the students more than anything,” Anderson said. “I have so much respect for them. So many of them work full-time to pay for school, yet they’re so determined to succeed in school. That impresses the heck out of me.”