The young guitarist recently took home first-place honors in four different performance categories at the New England Music Festival, beating out guitarists twice his age.
It wasn’t long ago that Bobbie Rennix recalls her grandson, Kiam, waltzing through the family living room in search of rubber bands, a shoebox and a ruler.
According to Rennix, the six-year-old was in search of the materials necessary to build a guitar on his own, kickstarting a journey leading Kiam – along with the entire family – to guitar competitions across New England.
Now 14, the young guitarist recently took home first-place honors in four different performance categories at the New England Music Festival, beating out guitarists twice his age and achieving a perfect score on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s blues classic, “Pride and Joy.”
“Kiam lives with me. He’s my grandson, but I raised him. A lot of parents kind of press their kids into things, but this is something Kiam wanted to do on his own. He came up with it himself,” she said. “When he was about six years old, he came through the house asking for rubber bands, a shoebox and a ruler. I asked, ‘what are you doing?’ and he said, ‘making a guitar.’ So for Christmas, I knew what to get.”
Rennix said that she bought him a 3/4-sized guitar and immediately signed him up for lessons at Falcetti Music in Springfield.
“In February, he started lessons at Falcetti. He was seven years old. He started with a little music book and went from there. He liked the blues. One of his first songs was “Jump Blues.” He won with that, too, at his first competition,” she said.
Rennix, a retired elementary school vice principal and principal who privately tutors students, said Kiam – with the help of some positive encouragement from family – quickly caught on.
“I go to all of his lessons. I’m probably his worst critic,” said Rennix with a laugh. “Even as a young kid, his practices at home, I’d sit right there. I’d converse with him about his practicing and give him feedback. When it came to the theory part, I was quizzing him,” said Rennix. “Eric Clapton is one of his favorite artists. He really likes B.B. King and loves that twang he gets on the guitar. He likes Prince a lot, too, a fabulous guitar player.”
Rennix said that in the days and weeks leading up to the competition, her grandson expressed doubts about his ability to compete with others.
“This year he said, “there’s students there so much older, there’s people who teach music in their twenties, and he was basing it on age instead of ability. But when it comes to competition, he digs in. He doesn’t miss a beat,” she said.
With the encouragement of both Rennix and Falcetti Music guitar instructor Bruce Yelle, Rennix said that Kiam entered the competition, taking home first-place honors for Advanced Non-Classical, Guitar with Recording, New England Cup, and Guitar Fingerstyle categories.
Rennix said that above all else, she hopes her grandson continues to pursue his passions in life without fear of consequence.
“He works so hard at it. Some of it comes natural too. But I want Kiam to pursue it,” she said.