Written by Tyler Killough
Outside the classroom walls, many students dedicate themselves to fine-tuning the frets or crashing the cymbals. James Easter, Aaron Young and Kade Dickerson are among this musical menagerie.
“Music is my Go Juice,” Easter said. “It’s inspiring, motivating, captivating and endless.”
A guitar player for his band, Peppered Blue, Easter said he often spends his free time practicing his music.
“Between my personal practice times and rehearsals, I will play 12 to 15 hours a week,” he said.
Young, who plays a Fender Jazz Bass for his band, Some Different Animals, also practices for 15 hours a week, if not more, he said.
“I do about five times more music stuff than I do homework,” he said with a laugh.
Dickerson, bass player for UFO Reel, also enjoys playing music when his schedule allows. The bass he owns is actually one of few in the world, he said.
“It’s a St. Blues five-string bass that was custom made in Memphis,” he said. “It came from the Strings and Things workshop that’s no longer in existence. It was a prototype, and then they didn’t end up making it. Somehow it ended up atBack Beat Musicin Jonesboro, Arkansas.”
Musicians are often compelled by something or someone in particular, as is the case with Easter, who credits his older brother, Justin, for his musical influence.
“He was the one who first showed me songs on guitar in the 7th grade,” Easter said of his brother. “We’d go to shows together, jam and listen to music all of the time. Car rides and road trips were strictly for listening to as many albums as we possibly could.”
Although they primarily play bass, both Young and Dickerson expressed their hopes of learning to play piano in the future. Easter, while well rounded in bass, mandolin, piano and banjo, hopes to turn his guitar-playing capabilities into a career.
“I plan on going to graduate school for guitar and making a living from it, either teaching, performing or recording,” he said.
Dickerson’s band is scheduled to perform at the Recital Hall in the Reynolds Building on Friday at 8 p.m.
