Blues Bluegrass and Beyond

Blues Bluegrass and Beyond

About Me. Let Me Introduce Myself...


     Welcome to my blog! I am Tom Kostelac. You must be wondering, "Who is Tom Kostelac?" In reality, I'm just another musician sharing my passion from the comfort of my plush office chair. My introduction to the musical world began when I was seven years old. Since childhood, my grandfather was a substantial proponent of music. My grandfather’s mother was an accomplished violinist and pianist, and his son was a classical violinist, pianist, and organist. While neither my uncle nor great-grandmother were alive during my childhood to promote me to embrace music, my grandfather was still ‘carrying the torch’ so to say in the name of the art. However, when I was seven years old, my grandfather was diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was a crushing blow to our family, and in an effort to take my mind off of his inescapable passing, my parents enrolled me in piano lessons.
     I was drawn to the piano since the first time my pudgy, youthful fingers touched its ebony and creamy white keys.  I progressed quickly, and within a period of a couple years, changed teachers to a more professional classical pianist who was dubbed by some of her less-appreciative students, ‘The Piano Nazi.’ As high school crept closer, I began to take interest in a wide variety of instruments and styles of music. Somehow, after one fateful expedition of YouTube, I had decided that I wanted a banjo. While my father found my request humorous and was willing to oblige me, my mother’s eyes grew large, and her jaw slowly lowered to resemble the expression that is only seen in Edvard Munch’s painting, The Scream. However, for my birthday, a shiny gleaming resonator five-string banjo complete with decorative fret inlays was placed in my eager paws.
     Time continued to march on. I was enrolled at a private high school. I can still smell the stale August air of the dim, humid, science lab during my first week of freshman year. Little did I know that next four years would create so many pleasant memories, and high school would be so enjoyable. High school was a time in which life changed, I made many close friendships, and time, unfortunately, led to college. During my high school years however, I had numerous musical opportunities. My best friend’s father, a bluegrass Dobroist, who had played alongside bluegrass legends such as Earl Scruggs and Jerry Douglas became a friend and mentor who encouraged me to purchase, and learn square neck Dobro. During my sophomore year, I enjoyed learning guitar, alongside piano, banjo, and occasionally Dobro. My sophomore year also introduced me to the accordion when my piano teacher was reminiscing about her youth, and decided to loan me her accordion. A month or so later, I purchased my own bright red, Lindo, 120 bass, piano accordion. Since then, I have enjoyed a wealth of Finnish folk music such the Sakkijarven Polkka, and Russian tunes such as Karobushka.  During my junior and senior years of high school I was heavily involved with the music department, and received the honor of substitute music theory teacher. I also was able to participate in planning the annual Christmas and spring concerts.  Graduation had arrived, and I had the honor of playing piano at my own graduation. When I left my school for the last time, I choked back a tear and watched the looming clouds of college come closer.
     In the months between high school and college, I had the opportunity to play piano in Charleston, South Carolina, and Orlando, Florida. I became nervous as college approached, and discovered that my apprehensions were well founded. When I began my college career at Penn State Greater Allegheny, I was disappointed to find a lack of music programs available at the campus. Therefore, I forged out into the world to find venues to play music, only to find that college leaves little time for extra-curricular activities. Today, I still have close relationships with many of my music teachers and cohorts from the days of yore, however, true progress is limited to holidays and summer reprieves. After graduating with a business management degree and an English minor from Penn State in two years, I am looking forward to pursuing a master’s degree in music technology and piano performance at Carnegie Mellon University.
     Now that you have heard my story, I hope you are looking forward to the many interesting blog posts I have created, and many more that are sure to come.

                                                                     Until next time,
                                                                     Tom Kostelac
Playin' Piano at a Restaurant on Sea Island, Georgia.

Pictures courtesy of www.flickr.com, www.appleholler.com, and myself. No image on this page is copywritten. 
                                           

1 comment:

  1. I envy you your music journey....but we all must start somewhere....I love your house of the rising sun as well...what chords my friend did you use on saint james infirmary (swing style)? please let me know....thanks ....please forgive me for being blunt I just feel that I came across you and my heart is telling me to talk to you to get this vital info you can give me tyo assist me along in my journey....thanks...Antwane

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