Today we’d like to introduce you to James Pitstick.
Hi James, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have a Business Degree from UTA, however over the years I realized that there was a need for mentoring and teaching school aged kids on how to play guitar, sing and book gigs to perform in live venues. I started out as a soccer coach and really enjoyed working with young kids as my kids were growing up and playing soccer. I was performing around the metroplex at the time with a band named Scott and James and I had several parents ask me if I would teach their kids how to play the guitar. This was about 30 years ago. In 2013 I decided to go all in and quit my current job as a 911 Supervisor in Arlington. I started a performance group called Young Stars and Guitars. Once the word got out I had kids from the local high schools get in the program. The program was essentially signing up for weekly sessions to learn guitar, voice and performance skills. And once they learned the necessary skills, they would perform around town at the local music venues such as J. Gilligans or Grease Monkey. As time went on we began to play bigger venues such as opening for the Levitt Pavillion in downtown Arlington or Light Up Arlington where they have one of the largest events in the state for celebrating the 4th of July. I have had four students who have gone on to study songwriting in Nashville at Belmont University and study music at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Every year you have these Seniors in high school that graduate and you have to gather up the other younger performing students to fill in holes for gigs. It’s like a football or Basketball team where you have more than half of the seniors graduate and you have to rebuild.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in taking school aged kids, who have a passion for music, and teaching them about guitar and singing so that they can be successful and eventually become seasoned performers. Once we get a clear vision of what type of artist that they want to become, we create set lists that they can perform. Sometimes they’re not sure on what type of genre they belong in and other times they are very certain what type of genre they are. Some students don’t know how to market themselves and others are very skilled at marketing themselves on social media. I have one student right now who’s name is Mason Engler and he has over 100, 000 followers on TikTok. It’s really about making connections with local music venues and getting these kids out on a stage where they can learn how to become a successful performer. Not all gigs go the same. You have to be resilient and learn to land on your feet if they don’t go the way you expected. Not only is the delivery of the song important but how are you going to introduce the song to make it impactful to your audience. I feel like these are life lessons and if nothing else teach this kids how to be confident when addressing a large crowd.
How do you think about happiness?
I’m at the stage of my life where I want to give back and be a mentor to younger folks and give them the tools to be able to succeed in the music industry. When I see these kids get up on stage and have an amazing performance that’s what makes me happy.
Pricing:
- $35 for a half hour lesson
- $50 for a 45 minute lesson
- $70 for an hour lesson
Contact Info:
- Website: https://YoungStarsAndGuitars.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youngstarsandguitars/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youngstarsandguitars
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@youngstarsandguitars3058/videos
