Zach Person & The Reissue

Well, the HBS have a few events lined up over the next week or so, which we'll get to later, but right now it's the last Thursday of the month, and we all know what that means...? That's right, it's time for The HBS Jam, when the local blues community gather at The Big Easy to be treated to some real-deal music and celebrate their good fortune with friends and new bluesers alike.

This evening, we'll be starting off with a reformed youth band that's sure to grab your attention. Sarah & Reagan Kimberly and Daniel Holder, three of our celebrated 2015 IBC Showcase Band Rusted Avenue, have drafted in a relatively new face on the club circuit, Zach Person, an explosive young guitarist who's quickly establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with. - Glyn Westcott

A local teen has rhythm & blues and is poised to take Houston by storm! - KHOU

Zach Person is an amazing gutarist that is only 16 years old. He has only been playing for 5 years and is very talented. - KRBE (104.1)

“American Idol” saved one of the best for last.

Houston teen Zach Person was one of the final hopefuls to get TV time in front of the judges. Ever. The show’s current season is its last.

Person, 19, impressed the judges with a soulful rendition of “Next Door Neighbor Blues” Gary Clark, Jr. Person’s raspy voice was a perfect fit for the song. The judges commended his uniqueness. - Joey Guerra

“There’s nobody in the world that sounds like you,” Jennifer Lopez said.

“It’s just refreshing to hear somebody that’s not so caught up in sounding like other people that they can come out and do their own thing,” Harry Connick, Jr. added. - Joey Guerra

Zach Person, 18, is from Texas and he turns out to be an extremely talented guitar player. His cover of Gary Clark‘s “Next Door Neighbor Blues” is just incredible, and he’s got a super unique style! Harry mentions that it’s refreshing to see someone do their own thing with confidence, and it’s a resounding yes from all three judges. - Gabriella Ginsberg

Full-time musician Zach Person brought a lot of experience and confidence to his performance. He had a soulful voice and rich tone. His guitar skills were as impressive as his voice, and the judges liked the whole package, sending him through to Hollywood. - Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

American Idol judges annotated Zach Person’s greater story when they told him his music was unique because he didn’t aim to imitate. Obsessively drawing and skateboarding to the blood-pumping rock at Flowland’s skatepark conditioned Person’s young independence. When his father was killed while working as a correctional officer, nine-year-old Person asked his mother for a guitar, and he’s worn it like a friend ever since.

Person opens First Friday on Friday, May 6, at 5 p.m., along with Dangermuffin. The event takes place on the grassy lot next to The Sunrise Theater at 250 NW Broad St. in Southern Pines and is sponsored by Murphy Insurance Agency and First Bank.

Then Person performs at Pinestock Saturday, May 7, from 4 to 8 p.m., along with Ethan Schneiderman, Alexandra King, George Morris, Danielle Cormier, Hunter Boyer, Mikayla Ceraso, and several other students of Baxter Clement.

The event takes place on the corner of New York and Bennett streets, behind the Southern Pines Post Office. Pinestock will feature a mini-festival of face-painting, volleyball, giant Jenga, corn hole and a freedom-of-expression wall. Grilled hotdogs, hamburgers, bratwurst, sides, wine and beer are available for purchase.

The Mosquito Authority of the Sandhills and Bill and Ralph Ronalter sponsor the event, which benefits the Boys and Girls Club.

Both events are free and open to the public. Person performs both shows with his former music teachers, James Villone on drums and Baxter Clement on bass.

Person began his guitar lessons with Villone, but his interests pivoted when a mandolin player at a yard sale recommended he study under Baxter Clement.

“And Baxter introduced me to the blues,” Person says. “He taught me that when you’re playing a solo, one note with feeling can mean more than a bunch of notes; like someone rambling on with nothing to say compared to someone saying a short ‘I love you’ that changes everything.”

Enchanted by the cloistered studio with its long hallway and poster-covered walls, Person found confident identity within music.

“The first music video I saw was B. B. King and Gary Moore playing ‘The Thrill is Gone,’” he says. “B. B. King had on this big green suit, and would play a solo for a second, then Gary Moore would play a solo for a second, and back and forth that way, almost like a conversation. At 11 years old, that captivated me.”

“He was a rather strange and very intense young dude,” Clement says. “He always wore a fedora. When he came to me, he was listening to bad white person music, but when he heard the blues, it changed his world, and he went crazy with it.”

Person moved to Houston, Texas, at 13 and didn’t reveal himself as a guitarist until a career fair. He afterward accepted an invitation to play guitar and eventually front his classmates’ band Project X for a couple of years before going solo.

While watching “American Idol” one afternoon with his grandmother, Person says he thought, “I can do just as good or better than those people.”

Two video submissions and a minute-long video interview later, he was flying to Philadelphia to audition in front of judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr.

The judges commented that Person’s rendition of “Next Door Neighbor Blues,” by Gary Clark Jr. was atypical, unexpected and authentic. And although those three yeses didn’t carry Person beyond the the Top 51 round, they spurred him to release “Working on Tomorrow,” his first full album in February.

The album features complimentary songs like “Make a Change” with its powerful orchestral close and “Listen” with its lighthearted pop and simple hooks.

“I wanted people to hear me completely as an artist,” Person says. “I came back home and everybody says ‘You made it, man,’ and I’m like ‘Not yet.’”

That seriousness and drive, wrought since his childhood, enriches the album’s very title.

“He’s an extraordinary guitar player, not just a guy who sings,” Clement says. “At such a young age, except in the captains of the music, you don’t see that often.” - The Pilot

Videos viewable by LINK - acousticguitar.com