CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — In a spacious music room above his family’s garage, Jack Marston’s fingers fly up and down the neck of his guitar. He picks out fast-moving bluegrass and other tunes, with the sure touch of someone who’s been playing for a long time.
Jack, however, is just 14.
Finishing his freshman year at Cape Elizabeth High School, Jack is making a name for himself as a musician. He plays saxophone in the school’s band, plays guitar in the jazz band, and plays some rock and bluegrass with friends for fun.
Bluegrass music, Jack said, has been a favorite from an early age and still is.
"It seems like real instruments, organic sound that a lot of music is lacking right now," he explained.
So when Jack found out the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame held a guitar competition for teenagers, he decided to enter. Bluegrass, after all, is one of the major roots of country music.
He recorded a video playing three tunes and entered the contest.
"Winning wasn’t my main goal. I wanted to have fun with it and see what happened," Jack said.
He won. And clearly impressed the judges—all veteran Maine country music performers.
"It was a very difficult piece for an accomplished player," Paul Main said, referring to the choice of the intricate “Blackberry Blossom” as one of Marston’s audition pieces. "And for a 14-year-old child to be able to master that as well as he did is exceptional work."
Ken Brooks, current Hall of Fame president and a bluegrass player himself said he was instantly impressed by the audition.
“Oh yes, I was, because that..."Blackberry Blossom" moved right along. I play that song and it's not easy.”
For Jack Marston, bluegrass may have been the first music he started playing, but he has become increasingly focused on jazz as well. Playing jazz guitar in the school’s band, and pursuing an individual jazz group has deepened his interest in that music. He said he attended a jazz music camp last year and has been invited to a jazz class this summer at Berklee School of Music.
However, it will be his bluegrass guitar on center stage on May 19, when Jack will receive his award from the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame, as High School Student Guitar Champion of the Year. The prize is a new Martin guitar, which may get a workout.
Brooks said he plans to join Jack to play "Blackberry Blossom." and they will also join the larger Hall of Fame band for other tunes. The May 19 event at the Silver Spur in Mechanic Falls is also the Hall of Fame’s annual induction of new honorees. The event is open to the public.
For the Hall of Fame, highlighting young musicians is an important part of their mission, said judge and former president Joe Kennedy.
“It's in our statement of purpose, to educate and get young people involved to appreciate country music and its history,” Kennedy said.
For Jack, country music and particularly bluegrass may be part of his future, but clearly not all of it. Perhaps following the example of his father, who plays keyboards in two bands plus holding a day job, the high school freshman said he is thinking about plenty of ways to have a life with music.
"I think I’d like to do something with music, guitar, saxophone, sound engineer. It's really cool and I’d like to be surrounded by it."