Profiled Musician: Senior Jason Wilkerson

Jason Wilkerson is a gifted musician on the rise. He has learned to play and master several instruments in a fairly short length of time throughout his life. We broke down Wilkerson’s musical background  in a questionnaire.

Q: Who taught you how to play the guitar?

A: I’m pretty much self taught. Began to play about two years ago and learned from my friends, YouTube, and messing around with guitars all of the time.

Q: Who are some of your musical inspirations?

A: Well, the most inspirational musician to me has to be John Mayer. A couple more of inspiring artists would be a new artist by the name of “The Weeknd,” and a guy named Justin Nozuka.

Q: Do you play any other instruments besides the guitar?

A: I play the violin and the harmonica.

Q: What got you involved in playing music?

A: When I was a kid I tried a lot of different things; sports, karate, and some other random activities here and there. Eventually I picked up the violin and the guitar, and it replaced all of that.

Q: Why did you choose to play the instruments that you play?

A: I started playing the violin because my school made this program in my fifth grade year for the elementary school that I drew interest in. Guitar caught my eye when I was watching one of my close friends play his guitar. Something just clicked in me, and I’ve been playing just about every day since then. Harmonica was just a random instrument that I picked up on the way for the heck of it.

Q: What is it that you enjoy most about music?

A: You can just find so many variations for music, and there’s so much about it that’s left to discover. No rules to it. Truly an amazing art.

Q: Which genre do you prefer to play?

A: I prefer to play R&B on guitar because of the smoothness of it. Blues and alternative rock are both really nice, too.

Q: Do you plan on playing music for a living, or is it just more of a thing that you’re going to do on the side?

A: I would love to play music for a living, but right now I’m focused on finishing up the rest of my school years. Hopefully I’ll be able to play music all throughout my life though.

Q: Is music more of a hobby or a passion for you?

A: I feel like it’s more of a passion now. It used to be more of a hobby, but now I’m extremely dedicated to it.

Q: Do you have a favorite song?

A: It’s really hard to think of one song in particular that I would call my favorite. The song “Wicked Games” by The Weeknd is the first thing that comes to mind.

Q: Have you ever collaborated with other musicians?

A: Plenty. I feel like when I play with other artists it teaches me a lot about myself and how I want to be portrayed as a musician. [Collaborating] definitely makes you more diverse as a musician.

Q: Have you ever played any shows?

A: A couple. I actually got to play with the high school orchestra as a soloist on the electric guitar. It was a really neat experience.

Q: What is largest audience that you’ve ever been in front of, and how were your nerves?

A: Around a hundred people. The nerves went away once I began to play, and from there it’s just pure focus on what I’m doing. I’m looking forward to future gigs that have hundreds, maybe thousands of people in the crowd.

Q: How much time do you invest into music?

A: If I’m not working, I can play non-stop for several hours. I play as much as time allows.

Q: What genre or genres of music do you listen to?

A: Mainly a lot of alternative. I like a little rap and a little R&B, but a lot of alternative.