All-State Band is a huge achievement and honor for young musicians. It is a chance for them to show everyone what they are capable of and for the musicians who want a future career in music this is a wonderful opportunity.

One of Wentzville’s only students to make it was Liberty’s Jordan Brown. As a young child, Jordan loved working with music and it was at the age of 11 years-old that he found a fascination. Now as a senior at the age of 18 he has made it to All-State. When Jordan was asked about the role music has on his life he responded by saying, “it is absolutely a dream.” For the audition, Jordan had to create an original composition piece with one sample provided to him and then one of his own. The selection was then made and Jordan was one of the few students chosen.

Jordan was selected for “The Collective”, which is a group of fifthteen students who were chosen from all across the state to come together, write twelve songs alongside professionals, and perform in front of a huge audience. For “The Collective” Jordan was the first ever to be put in the category Producer/Beatmaker. Jordan puts down drum beats over the music that they create. This experience will definitely help Jordan achieve his dream in a music career.

Jordan was not the only Liberty student to be recognized during auditions though. The senior, Ben Young, was also complimented on his work during the audition and even though he didn’t make it to the All-State he still feels “honored.” Ben started playing music in the sixth grade when he joined band class and then in seventh grade is when he found his instrument the baritone saxophone. While Ben finds music to be more of a hobby than a dream he still hopes to “keep playing for the rest of his life.”

These students have proved that hard work definitely pays off. Jordan and Ben were both recognized as great musicians all because of how far they have come. This experience has definitely helped their love of music grow.

Freshman Jack Galloway was put into guitar lessons a couple years ago but quickly found out that he prefers to teach himself. He has been playing guitar for three years now.  

When it comes to Galloway, teaching himself is better because he can go at his own pace and learn what he wants to independently. He teaches himself using tab, the app he uses is called Songster. He said one of the biggest benefits of teaching yourself rather than going to lessons is it’s a lot more independent, and also very helpful if you struggle when people tell you what to do. 

When talking about the future of his music career he mentions, “I think I would like to start a band someday.”

Galloway is a self-taught musician and it’s one of his biggest passions. Some of his biggest inspirations are Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell, Jimmy Hendrix, and Eric Clapton.

Galloway can play guitar, drums and dabbles in piano. He loves spending most of his free time playing. “I can’t even sit next to an instrument without playing it,” he stated.

Galloway’s good friend Keena Boschert actively supports Galloway by listening when needed and supporting every move he makes with his music career. Boschert and Galloway have been friends since seventh grade.

“I know he listens to a lot of older music, and it’s definitely a reflection of his personality.” Boschert noted, “When you look at him you can just tell what type of music he listens to.”

When asked why Galloway began playing musical instruments so quickly, his response was “because I love music and it honestly would make me seem kinda cool.”

Another reason Galloway is so passionate about music is because he loves the idea of playing the same songs and instruments of the artists he looks up to.

He expressed, “I think it’s just cool to sound the same as people you look up to.” 

When it comes to Galloway, it’s obvious that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. His dad also plays guitar. His mom’s side of the family has multiple bands that get local gigs, and his step mom played flute in high school. His uncle is in three bands and gets local gigs. Galloway’s dad supports him by playing tunes with him, and they listen to music together.

Galloway 100% encourages people to pick up an instrument. He mentions, “Obviously it’s fun to do, it can also be stressful sometimes, but it’s great to have as a leisure activity.”

Learning an instrument can be very stressful, but after a certain point it becomes more stress relieving. But there are still those days when you can’t play anything right, and it’s just super frustrating.

“I’ve actually broken a guitar string doing that,” Galloway stated.

“I have always been the type in school to finish my work early and find other things to do, and push myself harder to do the things that I like to do.”

Kaylin Schwandner, a junior who is graduating with the class of 2023 instead of 2024. Schwandner has always had the plan of graduating early in her mind, or so it seems. 

Schwandner is a great student and works hard for what she does.

“I was able to graduate early by working hard not just during the school year, I did a lot of summer school just to get the hard classes out of the way and get ahead,” she said. “I tried my best to put school first and stay focused. I made sure to work hard every year and take classes that would challenge me.”

Even though Schwandner will miss high school, she is very excited to make new memories and accept the new challenges to come her way. She has a plan to go to college after graduating from high school.

“I have already been accepted into the University Of Arkansas,” Schwandner said. “I was accepted into the college for engineering and plan on majoring in biomedical engineering. I have wanted to study biomedical engineering since I was in middle school and I am so excited that I finally get to pursue my dreams in studying it.”

Schwandner’s family has also played a major role in her graduating early. Her family is very close which makes it hard to leave, but they are also very supportive in what she is doing and how hard she’s worked to get there.