Tempest The Snake

What sets me apart as an instrumentalist and vocalist is that I want my music to have no limits. My music isn't background noise, and it is certainly unlike any of the pop-rock scene that is hitting teenage underground. My strongest influences are bands and musicians who live(d) by this code (Led Zeppelin, Jeff Buckley, The Mars Volta). They had no genre limitations, they were able to cross into different territories because of their massive talent. I hope to do the same with my music. I love and have listened to all types of music from many generations. My music is sometimes driven vocally, other times it is driven by guitar.

I picked up an acoustic guitar when I was 16 years old and the first song I learned was "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" by Led Zeppelin. At first, all I wanted to do was play like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. I never incorporated my own voice into any music I played. Later, when I became more comfortable with guitar I timidly tried to sing a few lines of Zeppelin, or The Eagles, or Neil Young.

When I began to tell people I started playing guitar, it was like I was introduced to a whole new world at my high school of other musicians. I came from a small town where the only outlets for kids my age were sports, music, or a life of alcohol and drugs and failure. Music became my outlet. Any sports I once participated in were shoved to the backburner. My friends became other people who loved music, and my best friends were ones who loved the same bands as I did. It was one of these friends who convinced me I should try to sing.

When I played my first show (at 16), it was an acoustic set of Zeppelin, Neil Young, and Weezer to a crowd of five on my acoustic, using a Traynor guitar amp as a PA system. However crude the setup, I received much praise from my peers, fellow students, and fellow musicians.

From then on I would learn as many covers as I could of the bands I loved and play them for whoever would listen. As time went by, finding people to listen became easier and easier, even though I was playing '70's hits. One of my friends and I would often play for basements full of drunk middle-aged parents. Anything I ever learned on guitar was over-shadowed by my singing.

It was when I was a junior in high school that I entered a local battle-of-the-bands. A couple of my friends and I had formed a jam band during the winter and came together with what we thought was the best possible playlist our experience allowed (we played one original, and a song by Green Day, Weezer, Led Zeppelin, and System of a Down). The only noteworthy equipment we had at the time besides our instruments was a big Fender bass amp. We had to borrow the rest from the competition (to their dismay). Somehow, we won first prize and fifty dollar gift certificate to a local music store. Also, our performance was televised on an obscure cable specialty TV station.

I wanted to start taking music more seriously after this event. I began writing my own songs, and I tried to find my personal style. At first I wanted to play heavy metal in the style of Slipknot or System of a Down. That lasted about a month. My friends all told me my voice was much too melodic to hide it behind a wall of cruncy metal riffs.

When I thought I had about ten decent songs prepared, I spent my summer earnings on a Pro-Tools recording system powered by an MBox and two cheap condenser microphones. With these and borrowed chords I recorded my first set of original songs ever to be heard by anyone but me. I sold the CD's at school for five dollars each (although I ended up giving most of them away for free). I still managed to make a nice profit in the school market.

Over the next year I played small shoes and jammed with an assortment of drummers and guitarists. I played small shows for small money around town, but I didn't receive my actual fifteen minutes of fame until my senior year.

It was fall of senior year that my father suggested I listen to Jeff Buckley. I had never heard of him before, and neither had any of my peers. I still decided to give him a chance. "Hallelujah" was the first song I heard and learned by Jeff. I tried out with "Hallelujah" for a huge yearly production in Valley Center called "Hornet Highlights" (VC's mascot was the 'Hornet'). The results of the show were enormous for me. The song was the longest of any of the other acts, and mine was the only that received a standing ovation from the 600 in attendance.

Ever since, Jeff has been a huge part of my influence and live playlist.

I'm a freshman at the University of Kansas now. I've played shows in Valley Center at the local community building, and at private homes. I've sang at weddings. I've played at coffeeshops and restaurants in the Wichita area, and I've also done my share of street performing in the Lawrence area. As of recent, my current favorite place to play is "The Pulse", a coffeeshop on