Junior Christopher Dye is a charismatic, well-rounded, and very outspoken student.

While interviewing him, I noticed he had profound vernacular, was meticulous in his answers, and was especially knowledgeable about music.

Dye, a musician at heart, plays multiple instruments such as the bass, ukelele, harmonica, and the piano.

Musician Jimi Hendrix inspired Dye to teach himself how to play a multitude of instruments.

“He (Hendrix) played predominantly all of the instruments during studio sessions, and it inspired me to take on as many pieces of musical art that I can,” Dye said.

His favorite and most dominant instrument is the guitar, which he learned to play from his older cousin.

“Over the years muscle memory has developed and allowed for my mind to abstractly conjure up rhythms and tunes from my soul,” Dye said.

When Dye was just a toddler, his parents realized he was musically inclined.

“When I was around the ages of 3 to 6, they would play music on the stereo and I would dress up as a cowboy, sing to it, and strum this fake guitar,” Dye said.

“I would look the part you know, and that was when they figured out that music could be my thing.”

Dye has a history of family members playing instruments and being musicians. Because of that and the encouragement of his father, Dye felt like he needed to adopt the musician trait as well.

By the time he got to middle school, he felt that it was his duty to learn how to play an instrument.

“I was just brought up to be a musician, and by the time I was 11, I actually realized it was time for me to probably learn how to play an instrument properly,” Dye said.

In sixth grade, Dye’s older cousin taught him how to properly strum a guitar and handle the instrument correctly.

His first time playing in front of people was sixth grade. He played Nirvana’s, “Come As You Are” in front of his class, but it did not make him feel like a musician.

In seventh grade he began to play at local bars, and that’s when he realized he was a musician.

“It made me feel better about myself. It built an ego,” Dye said. “I could go anywhere with a guitar and I could play.”

Besides playing instruments, Dye often spends his free time writing song lyrics.

He writes lyrics that build a story but leaves it in a manner where listeners can develop their own ending.

“I try to draw a mental line between continuity and abrupt finality through my lyrics, ” Dye said.

His biggest inspiration lyrically is Bob Dylan because of his story-telling tendencies.

Dye has a strong love for creating music and feels it is very important.

“Playing music is important because you’ll understand more about yourself,” Dye said. “It opens a door to a whole new world of actuality and makes you feel enlightened, and that’s all music has done for me. It’s helped me change my way of thinking.”