In the musical community in and around Wichita Falls grows a rich culture of musicians of all styles, genres, and ages. I was fortunate enough to be at Bruce Lyons’ Sidewalk Jam that he puts on once a month in front of his guitar shop downtown when he had a trio of young musicians from Iowa Park perform. They go by the name ‘Revelation’. What was revealed that day was the first group of local musicians that I know of from Generation Z, which are the people born between 1996 and 2010. They are Mark, CJ, and Maddy. Mark and CJ are brothers, and Maddy is their cousin.
Mark is the 10 year old guitarist who learned some songs through the Rocksmith video game. Having been playing guitar for only a year and a half, he rips through Guns ‘N Roses leads about as well as Slash can. He is a fourth grader at Bradford Elementary.
CJ, who will be celebrating his 13th birthday in June, has been playing drums for about a year. As his brother Mark was beginning to learn guitar, CJ’s dad Chris asked him if he would like to play drums. It didn’t take two beats for him to jump on the opportunity. He is a self-taught drummer, learning the parts from listening to the songs. And, he confesses, that he adds a little bit of his own style into the songs that he plays. He also plays the Saxophone.
Maddy will be 15 in April. A freshman at Iowa Park High School, she began playing guitar but switched over to the 5-string bass. She has been playing for about two years. She also plays the flute in the high school marching band, and is skilled on the ukulele.
They have been playing together as a group for about five months, mainly in their church. Their next public performance scheduled at this time will be the opening act for the ‘Second Occasional Tim Maloney And Company’ at Stick’s Place on April 21, at 8:00 p.m.
It is nice to know that these young artists have the support and encouragement of their parents to keep the musical heritage of North Texas alive and well for decades to come.
~Tim Maloney
