Kayden Vander Laan is an aspiring guitarist, and recently, the school got the privilege to hear him perform his own rendition of the National Anthem at the girls varsity volleyball game. Vander Laan, 16, is a sophomore, who also plays the saxophone in the school pep band.
How did you feel before your performance?
“I went back and forth from feelings of nervousness and calmness and anxiety for like a half hour, because I thought I going to mess up,” He said, describing the emotions leading up to his performance. But, he didn’t mess up. In fact, he did very well, and the tremendous applause of the audience confirms that he did.
What do you think was the best part of your performance?
But besides his feelings of almost crippling anxiety, there were some positive feeling he had about this performance as well. “I felt very proud after, and the solo I thought I did really well on,” he states. “By the time I got to the solo, I felt a lot more confident.”
What inspired the solo you did while you were playing?
Kayden made the National Anthem his own, by adding a unique solo after the line “O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave.” The solo was based on the techniques used in “One” by Metallica, and “Domination” by Pantera, but the melody was his own. This solo was his favorite part of the performance, as it was “very exhilarating” to play.
Were you at all inspired by Jimi Hendrix’ rendition of the Anthem?
But every musician has an inspiration, right? That’s very true in this case, as Kayden’s performance of the anthem was inspired by Jimi Hendrix’ popular rendition of the National Anthem, performed in the late 1960’s.
What was the hardest part of the performance?
But as easy as it may sound, there were some challenging elements to his performance as well. “The slower parts at the beginning and end were the hardest, because when you mess up going slow, it’ll be a lot more noticeable than if you mess up a note while playing fast.” Kayden hopes to get the opportunity to perform again, and is very thankful for the times he already has.
