Final Product

Thile and Me

I was eight years old the first time I heard the music of Chris Thile. My dad had bought yet another CD that he claimed all of us would love, (which usually wasn’t the case) and insisted that we listen to it on the drive to school. I protested, but in the end he inserted the disk and began to drive.

The disk began to play, sounding nothing like the horrible synthesized “music” I was used to, (considering it was the 90’s). The sound that came out of the speakers was soft and unfamiliar. There was no singing, just a guitar, a violin, and an instrument I had never heard before. A mandolin, a beautiful little instrument that has the most incredible sound in the world that nobody knows about. It sounded like a violin, but it was played like a guitar. I already played the violin, so this new sound intrigued me. I listened to the album over and over until my parents were the ones protesting. The longer I listened, the more I knew I had to play the little wooden instrument called a mandolin.

With countless hours of bickering and pleading, I finally convinced my parents to let me take lessons. They took me to “The House of Strings”, a small music store near my house that people often taught out of. When my teacher Walt asked me why I wanted to play the mandolin so badly, I told him that I heard someone named Chris Thile play, and I wanted to be just like him.

That was when I discovered that the love of the mandolin wasn’t the only similarity we shared. My new teacher not only knew Chris Thile, he played with him regularly. He told me that Chris Thile had started playing when he was only five years old, just a few years younger than I was. He told me of the dedication and love that he had for the instrument, and how no matter how many hours it took or how bloody his fingers would get, he never stopped playing. His dedication quickly led him to the title, “World’s Greatest Mandolin Player”.

I knew when I heard those words that Chris Thile was no longer my icon just because he was a fantastic musician, but because he was a fantastic person. He never gave up on the things he loved and with time and great patience, he ended up leading himself to amazing places. As cliché as it sounds, I felt inspired. I felt inspired to not only continue playing my instrument, but to lead my life by his example. If I loved something, I could never give up on it.

Eight years later, I still sit in my room listening to that CD, pretending to play along in the air. I’m no Chris Thile, and I probably never will be, but I still follow his lead to this day. I play my mandolin regularly and I know that I have improved with time and dedication. I follow his teachings in my everyday life. I try my hardest, I don’t let little roadblocks get in my way, and I do what I love. I may not ever be Chris Thile, but I will always admire him.

Citations

Thile, Chris. "Ode to a Butterfly." Rec. 21 Mar. 2000. Nickel Creek. Nickel Creek. Alison Krauss, 2000. CD.

"Chris Thile Interview," Personal interview. 2000.