Artist Statement

I received a lot of feedback about how I need to include myself in my writing more, since I only talked about myself a little. I don't really like writing about myself and I'm not very good at writing about myself either, so this particular piece of writing is going to be rather tough for me.

I'm not going to edit my first draft, I never do it's just how I work.

I quickly write out a rough draft, just to get my initial thoughts and ideas down on paper, so I have something to work off of. Then, I completely scratch that draft and start fresh, and that becomes the draft that I work off of.

So, for my new draft, I intend on writing about myself much more, then fitting Chris Thile, (my American icon) into the story, then I will work from there.



Chris Thile, Second Draft

I remember being 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 most of the time wasn’t the case) and insisted that we listen to it on the drive to school. With great protest, he inserted the disk and began to drive. I never would have thought that one disk could change my life so much.

The music began to play, sounding nothing like the horrible synthesized music I was used to, (considering the 90’s had just ended). The sound that came out of the speakers was soft and unfamiliar. There was no singing, just a guitar, a violin, and something I had never heard before. A mandolin, a beautiful little instrument 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 started protesting. I knew that I had to play that instrument, the little wooden creation called a mandolin.

With countless hours of bickering and pleading, I finally convinced my parents to let me take lessons. I went 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, I told him that I heard someone named Chris Thile do it, and I wanted to be like him.

That was when I discovered that my love of the mandolin wasn’t the only similarity I shared with him. My new music teacher not only knew Chris Thile, but also helped teach him how to play. He told me that Chris Thile had started playing when he was five years old, just a few years younger than myself. 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 would never stop playing. By the time he was twelve he was signed to a record label and in just a few years he was officially titled the 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. Though it’s cliché, I felt inspired. I felt inspired to not only continue playing and practicing my instrument, but to lead my life by his example. Never giving up on your dreams, never giving up on the thing you believe in, and never giving up on yourself.

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, but I still follow his lead. I play my mandolin regularly and over time, I know that I have improved. I follow his teachings in my everyday life, I try my hardest, I don’t let little road blocks get in my way, and I do what I love. I may not ever be Chris Thile, but I still want to be like him.