MLE attends OCSA with me and is currently the only mandolinist at the school. She is in Elison with me, which we formed a few years ago and have been best friends ever since. She is extremely talented and passionate about music. I got the chance to sit down and ask MLE some questions about her musical career thus far.
When did you start playing music? I started playing violin in 5th grade, then switched to mandolin in 8th grade. I started singing shortly after that. Who are your biggest musical inspirations? My biggest inspiration is a mandolinist by the name of Chris Thile, and I also get a lot of inspiration from small folk bands like The Head and the Heart and SHEL. Do you enjoy writing your own songs? I write occasionally when I am feeling inspired, and that is usually when I'm traveling or doing anything outside of my normal routine.
When you are not performing music, what do you do for fun? When I'm not playing mandolin or performing I like to go to the beach and read. What has been the highlight of your musical career so far? I've had a lot of amazing opportunities so far, but my favorite has probably been playing every mandolin song of the Led Zeppelin albums 1-4 with a bunch of extremely talented guitarists. What are your future goals with your music?
My future goals are attending Berklee College of Music to further my education in mandolin and performance in general. I look forward to playing and writing with other musicians and learning from everyone I meet.
