Smith makes a mark in music, arts

Tanner Smith can call nearly every room in Sisters High School's arts and music departments home.

As both a visual artist and musician, Smith is involved in many activities at the high school, but music and visual arts are central to his experience.

Smith plays three instruments: the drums, piano and guitar. He has competed in local and regional jazz competitions and has even played at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival.

The Monterey Jazz Festival selects a dozen youth groups through video audition to perform as special guests at the annual Next Generation Festival each spring. As a jazz drummer, he opened for the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival this past summer as part of the Oregon All Stars. The Oregon All Stars is a select group of high school musicians chosen by the International Association for Jazz Education.

Sisters High School band instructor Jody Henderson is enthusiastic about Smith's talents.

"Tanner and I attended a recent concert featuring one of the finest drummers either of us had seen," he said. "After the first tune, Tanner exclaimed, 'I wanna DO that!' I hope for music's sake that Tanner chooses to continue on a serious level."

Like many other talented high school musicians, Smith has been heavily involved in the high school's Americana Project since his freshman year. Americana's director, Brad Tisdel, considers Smith an excellent songwriter.

"Tanner is very insightful and has an uncanny ability to be very good at everything he tries," Tisdel said. "He not only has tremendous artistic ability but also has a unique ability to engineer his music, which will likely be a career-related skill. He has recorded quite a few pieces, and continues to be one of our top musicians."

As though playing three instruments would not be enough to channel his creativity, the junior has also dabbled in the visual arts. Although Smith considers himself primarily a singer-songwriter, he also has wanted to try his hand at other forms of expression.

"I'm really into a variety of art stuff, mostly ceramics," he says.

That "art stuff" is what landed Smith a trip to New York last spring to view his National Scholastic Art award-winning ceramic sculpture, "Hand and Foot," which was exhibited at Carnegie Hall.

Art instructor Mike Baynes says, "Tanner put remarkable effort into that project. He is an excellent artist and musician. Considering he only took Basic Art and Ceramics and ended up winning a national art award, it's clear Tanner has the ability to excel at anything he tries."

Smith's college plans are "wide open." He feels he wants to explore all there is to learn first, and not "close any doors." He says that he will pursue some kind of career that utilizes his skill in the arts, but he isn't sure what that is, and he doesn't want to predetermine anything yet.

Although Smith's plans may be wide open, Henderson hopes he will continue contributing his talent to the world of music.

"He has incredible potential," Henderson said. "Very few students do anything as well as Tanner Smith plays the drums."