Erlandson pursues musical dreams

The Sisters community has proved to be the perfect venue for an aspiring young musician like Austin Erlandson. With his own CD, original compositions and an infectious voice, Austin is well on his way to attaining his goal of working in the world of professional music.

At age eight, Erlandson bought his first guitar and has been playing ever since. So great is his love for the guitar, Austin challenged himself to build a guitar of his own while enrolled in Sisters High School's advanced woodworking class.

A senior at the high school, Erlandson is involved not only in the high school's jazz band, choir and jazz choir, but also the Americana Project, a program in which student musicians are taught songwriting and learn about the influences of American music and culture.

Brad Tisdel, Americana Arts Project director, remembers Erlandson joining

Americana in middle school.

"Austin has been heavily involved in Americana, and he often seeks out professional advice which takes his abilities to another level," said Tisdel.

High school band instructor Jody Henderson, who has enjoyed Austin as a student, noted, "When I first met Austin, he said he didn't know there was so much to learn about music. Everyone knows Austin is a good musician, so his comment was a clear testimony of his willingness to work hard and improve."

Last summer, with the encouragement of Henderson, Erlandson was invited to attend a five-week Summer Music Performance Program at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. Before summer's end, Austin performed on stage at an outdoor venue at the foot of the Three Sisters, honoring deploying troops in a Fourth of July celebration.

Again, Henderson notes Erlandson's desire to continue to challenge himself.

"He has actively sought out opportunities to study music seriously through continuously getting involved in the most demanding and rich settings available to him," Henderson said.

After making two trips to Nashville, Erlandson was inspired to create a CD of his own, called "Three Days." He says the CD is a compilation of earlier recordings that he put together believing they best represented where he was musically at that time.

Erlandson also has a talent for engineering and coordinating music events. This past year, Austin coordinated 14 different acts of high school talent to create one concert which benefitted Sparrow Club USA.

"In a way, it was like a mini Starry Nights. It was a perfect platform for a concert and a great way to contribute," Erlandson said.

The musician says he gets the greatest satisfaction not from awards or recognition, but from participating and contributing to the community through music.

Although Erlandson will soon be leaving the Sisters community, he will have his handmade guitar in hand as he leaves to attend Belmont University in Nashville. He plans to study Commercial Music Programming with an emphasis on music business. Austin says that "music is my love and passion." Along with the tremendous support of his father, he feels the Sisters community is to be thanked for his success so far.

"It's really a blessing to have these opportunities that a small town provides," he said.