By ANDY ROSS, Staff Writer
Sunday, April 20, 2008 5:23 AM CDT
Following yesterday’s performance of the Delta Blues Museum student
band at the Juke Joint Festival, it was announced their own 18-year-old
guitarist, Travis Calvin of Clarksdale, was chosen as the scholarship
recipient to a five-week summer music program at Berklee College of
Music in Boston.
Calvin was one of three finalists in the after-school
music program who auditioned Thursday for the
chance to go to Boston July 12-Aug. 15. While
at Berklee he will join 900 other high school
students representing some 50 countries.
Calvin says he is excited about being chosen
and this will be his first visit to Boston.
“This is the greatest opportunity. I
was trying to go to the program last year,
and then this year it just happened. I am really
looking forward to it,” he said.
Sixteen-year-old guitarist and vocalist Omar
Gordon and 18-year-old bass player Jeremy Horton
were the other two finalists.
Allen Bush, director of media relations at
Berklee, was one of those judging the auditions
and said it was a tough decision as all three
put on solid performances.
“All three are extremely talented and
embody traits of a great musician, so it was
a hard choice,” he said.
A decision had to be made, however, and Bush
said there was something about Calvin that
stood out.
“Travis stepped up to the plate. He
performed a great version of ‘Amazing
Grace’ with a drummer. His solos really
blew me away. I didn't expect solos like that,” Bush
said. “He also seemed like he really
wanted to go to Boston, and I liked the fact
that he says he wants to teach music to younger
kids in the future.”
Judging the sessions with Bush were Shelly
Ritter, director of the Delta Blues Museum,
and Daddy Rich, a local musician and one of
the after-school music program instructors.
“Travis is very dedicated and serious
about his music,” Ritter said. “He
has a natural ear and ability to pick up on
different things, and Berklee can offer him
a more formal foundation that will only be
beneficial.”
The first ever scholarship offer from Berklee
originated after instructors at the school
decided to focus on incorporating more musicians
from Mississippi and their distinct styles
with what is going on at Berklee.
The school is also awarding a summer program
scholarship in Crystal Springs through the
Robert Johnson Blues Foundation.
Bush says he hopes this is just the beginning
of more opportunities to provide young Mississippi
musicians with chances to study at Berklee.
Drawing a large percentage of international
students who come to America to absorb its
musical styles, Berklee is one of the most
prestigious colleges of contemporary music
in the world.
Bush says foreigners enrolled in the school
and attending its summer programs are especially
interested in the blues and Mississippi culture,
of which he believes Calvin will be a great
representative.
“He is definitely going to enrich our
music culture at Berklee. There is no doubt
about it,” Bush said. “Once the
kids from Europe learn he is from Clarksdale,
they are all going to be asking to play with
him.”
Bush also noted the influences go both ways.
“He is also going to be exposed to a
ton of different styles, so I would be curious
at the end of the summer to see how his idea
of music has changed.”
