Nick Lindblad Memorial Scholarship

Music has greatly affected my life during my high school years in many ways. I started my musical journey around the time I was just starting high school with no interest in music beforehand at all. I quickly became obsessed after I started taking lessons from a family friend. I would play for hours, learning and playing different tunes I loved from many music books with chord sheets and charts that I had. When the pandemic hit, I got creative. I discovered a whole new side of the instrument. I discovered "Fingerstyle Guitar" from a Korean prodigy guitarist named Sungha Jung. I was fascinated by the idea of playing the melody while incorporating basslines, rhythm, and harmonies simultaneously. It was a long and difficult journey to start on Fingerstyle Guitar techniques as I hadn't had very much technique and great "skills" on the guitar beforehand. I would write out all kinds of tabs and things that I was watching on YouTube and would start learning many things by ear. I soon found many other players like Tommy Emmanuel, and later Chet Atkins. I was then introduced to "Thumbpicking", a whole new world of solo guitar playing. I would soon find players like Jerry Reed, Merle Travis, Lenny Breau, and Django Reinhardt. I was consistently working on all of this, and at the same time, learning about the history of all this music and all the great players. This helped me expand to all sorts of new styles and players. Around this time, I was also starting to play some gigs at local farmers markets and later some restaurants and other small venues. These interests in music have helped shape who I have made friends with and activities I have participated in at school. Music has greatly helped me connect with others, whether it be my peers in the Marching Band or the people I call my friends. Being part of activities like the Band has allowed me to meet others that share similar interests as me, and I will be forever grateful for that as there have been many people in my school life that haven't understood my passion and love for music. I am incredibly thankful for all those in my school who have supported me and helped me grow. Today, I have had many amazing experiences and have gotten to know many of my heroes and many fellow musicians. I have also since gotten into many Blues guitar styles as well and have studied players like BB King, Eric Clapton, and Mike Bloomfield. I am now fully immersed in the Chet Atkins world and know and have played with players like Tommy Emmanuel CGP, John Knowles CGP, Richard Smith, and many others. This year alone has been an incredible year for me musically. I attended my first Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention in Nashville and had the great honor of being chosen to play a tune on Scotty Moore's Gibson Country Gentlemen Guitar at the closing concert. I also competed in the 2023 International Thumbpicking Championship in Kentucky and came out as Grand Champion of both the Traditional and Junior Championships. I have also appeared on the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour TV/Radio Show 4 different times now. During my last appearance, I had the ultimate privilege of being asked to be on the show with Tommy Emmanuel, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams. All of these amazing opportunities I have had early on through my years in high school have already had a huge impact that will affect me for the rest of my life.