Opportunities for young musicians

WE ARE PROUD of the lineup for Q-Fest in Washington Park. The music starts at 10 Saturday morning and goes all day Saturday and Sunday.

We have a good mix of young and veterans musicians playing. There's a couple of them worth highlighting and I really hope you can get down here to see them and support them.

Todd Klingele of Liberty is kicking things off at 10 a.m. Saturday. He just graduated from Liberty High School and he's one of my best guitar students. Every now and then we get a young person who comes in and outpaces my ability to teach. Now he's better than me and the sky is the limit for him. You have to love a young person totally into the blues!

It's a great experience for a young musician to get a paid gig in front of people. Q-Fest is a very social event and it's not like there's a million people staring at your every move, but there are a lot of people in the park and I love it when they stroll past the gazebo, stop, and appreciate the music and talent on display.

Todd is also playing later Saturday in Missouri and I'm sure he'll do very well.

Another young person who has impressed us lately is Aspen Gengenbacher. She has played around here for a few years but her guitar was mothballed after she got discouraged. She finally brought it into Second String Music and Sheryl worked her usual magic to bring it back to life. I've hired her to play the July 12 noon blues acoustic show with her friend Noah, and they've been practicing to get ready. The other day they were in Electric Fountain Brewing strumming and humming and it sounded really good.

HartLyss is playing July 13 at Red Light Bar & Restaurant, and we've asked our friend Travis Hoffman to open for us. Travis was active in the local music scene 15 years ago, but life got in the way and he hasn't played in public for many years. He's an incredible musician and guitar player, and we are so glad he's finally getting back out there.

It can be really hard to break into the local music scene. We play a small part here at SSM and seeing a younger person get a chance is a beautiful thing. Get down here this weekend and enjoy the art and the music! It's will great to hear other new musician in July too.