Today we’d like to introduce you to Antonio Santiago.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m 16 years old. I started playing guitar when I was 8 years old. I loved to listen to my dad play Beatles songs and Crosby, Stills, and Nash on his car stereo and I wanted to play like them. I soon began taking classes and learned to play some of my favorite Beatles songs. My sister was already involved in the Irish community, Irish dancing and playing the fiddle. One Sunday, my sister and I, went to an Irish music session with musicians of all levels at a local venue. I liked it so much that I kept going to these sessions every chance I got. My sister went to Dublin, Ireland for a post-grad class and when she came back she was excited about learning the tenor banjo.
Not even a week later she received a tenor banjo she ordered. When she would practice I would complain because it was so loud and if I was practicing my guitar I couldn’t think. She ended up moving to I Ireland not even a month later for school. When she left, I missed the sound of the banjo! When I told my mom I wanted to learn the banjo she said I had to ask my sister because I was complaining about it all the time when she was practicing. We skyped her and she laughed and gave me the thumbs up! She started my banjo obsession! My parents started looking for a local banjo teacher. There was only one, he was 17 and self-taught & he lived out in Anna, TX. an hour away. He is my banjo Yoda! I began learning the banjo by the end of 2012.
In 2013 we went to Ireland to visit my sister. The day I arrived the goal was that my sister and I would find a banjo for me. We went to every music shop in Dublin. No luck, we ended up looking online that week and we finally found one from Texas, lol!
The next few years was about perfecting the banjo and being involved in music schools and camps. I competed in the All Ireland banjo competition after qualifying at the North America Midwest Fleadh Cheoil in 2015 and then becoming North America Midwest champion in banjo and mandolin in 2016. In October 2015 I formed the Irish Trad band Reel Treble with my friend. We started performing with 3 band members, now we have 5. We play throughout Texas and Louisiana at festivals, venues & special events. I play tenor banjo, tenor guitar, mandolin, and acoustic guitar & bodhran (Irish Drum). Just recently I started to play with TIMES (Texas Irish Music Education Society) session players which I am very excited about.
Aside from Irish music, in 2016 My mom and I went to Greece during our stay in Ireland and I came back with a Greek Bouzouki! I went to Greek school until I was 11, I would listen to Greek music at home & Greek school but I never thought I would play it. My teacher is in his 80’s and he is still a professional working musician. He’s inspirational and a perfectionist! For over 2 years I have been in FED (First Edition) at my Highschool. It’s a select group of 6 band members, we perform with 12 FED singers. We play/perform all types of music. My new adventure for 2018, is Teaching music, I am very excited!!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Starting when I was 8 through 11 I was not feeling well. My parents were always bringing me to the doctors for nosebleeds, headaches, hearing multiple sounds, then blurry vision. I had so many different diagnosis and treatments from different doctors but it only got worse.
In December 2011 I started getting sick almost every morning. My mom took me back to our doctor that Monday and told them to do every blood test that is available. My mom also made an appointment for Thursday for the eye doctor to get my eyes dilated to see if they could see anything related to all my symptoms. That’s when the eye doctor saw that both of my optical nerves were swollen from pressure.
The eye doctor called the Neuro-Ophthalmologist, who had me in first thing the following morning, after seeing me, he sent me for an MRI immediately. We were in the car just leaving from the MRI when the MRI technician called my dad to tell him to take me straight to Children’s Hospital. That night I was diagnosed with a brain tumor the size of a golf ball in the cerebellum. They had to wait until that Monday for surgery because they had to relieve the pressure in my brain that was the causing me to get sick every morning. Monday, the day I was in surgery for 8 hours, is when my family doctor called my mom back (a week later) to give her the results of my blood tests. Mainly, that my white cell count was high.
My emergency staff said I could have had a different outcome if we would have waited any longer. The tumor was benign!! I recovered fairly quickly and I could hear again clearly!!! It was difficult in the beginning because before I always had to tune out the constant sounds so I could hear in class or play music and now I was overly sensitive to sounds & noises after the surgery, which is normal and I am definitely not complaining! I had another surgery in April of 2014 when I was 13 years old because of residual that they didn’t get out. The GREAT news is that since then, all my MRIs are clear and there is no residual
Reel Treble – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I have 2 things that I am very excited to tell you about. First our band, Reel Treble. We are a Celtic Band that plays upbeat Irish Trad, Scottish & Celt Grass music. We perform for all types of events. We perform as a 2-5 member band depending on the event. What would set us apart from other Celtic bands is our age and how we orchestrate our tunes and there are very few young bands out there. As of 2018, I have started Reel Treble Music teaching guitar, tenor banjo, mandolin & tenor guitar to all ages. Classic Rock, Celtic, Folk & Country.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Doing what you love and making a living at it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.reeltreble.com
- Phone: 469-233-5002
- Email: reeltrebleband@gmail.com reeltreblemusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: reeltrebleband, reeltreblemusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reeltrebleband/, https://www.facebook.com/reeltreblemusic/
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