Young Sheboygan musician embodies David Bowie on stage
Two days before David Bowie died, a new superfan was born in Sheboygan.
Valor Yost was riding with his dad, Kyle, in their car when he heard “Life on Mars?” for the first time in January.
“I like songs that are all over the place, where there are a bunch of instruments,” Valor said. “He was really far out with his thinking.”
Valor grew to love Bowie so much, he started playing him on stage, in full Ziggy Stardust regalia. Just 11 years old, Valor is a recurring guest performer with the 10-piece tribute act Spiders from Milwaukee. Established a few weeks after Bowie died from cancer in January, Spiders’ next gigs are at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Mo’s Irish Pub, 142 W. Wisconsin Ave. The free shows are unofficial afterparties for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s David Bowie tribute concerts at the Riverside Theater across the street.
Valor might be in sixth grade, but he’s a seasoned performer. When he was 4, Valor started singing and playing acoustic guitar, his mother, Casey Yost, said. His first gig was in a theater lobby during a Johnny Cash tribute concert in 2009. Before the end of the night, he was invited to play “Ring of Fire” on stage.
“He just loved to perform, and I thought it was such a great opportunity for a child to have that experience before getting to an age where he’s learning self-consciousness,” Casey Yost said.
By May 2009, Valor was impersonating Johnny Cash as “The Kid in Black” in late local musician Mark Shurilla’s band. A video of a show took off on YouTube, with 1.3 million views to date, and Valor auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” through a YouTube round in 2010.
After Shurilla died in 2012, “it was not the same,” Casey Yost said.
“I just started getting bored playing those songs over and over again, and I started to forget my love for Johnny Cash,” Valor said.
He did a few talent competitions impersonating another idol, “Weird Al” Yankovic. “When I reached 10, I
calmed down for a while,” Valor said.
Bowie inspired his comeback. “I really missed performing, and I really wanted to play Bowie’s songs,” Valor said. “David Bowie is one of those people where you can listen to him 1,000 times and you’ll still like him.”
Casey discovered Spiders from Milwaukee online, and learned frontman Brian Wurch was friends with Shurilla. Wurch invited Valor to play a gig in June, “and after the show, Brian told Valor, ‘Just so you know, you’re in the band now,’ ” Casey Yost said.
Valor performs four Bowie songs with the band, including “Ziggy Stardust,” “John, I’m Only Dancing” and “Life on Mars?” (On the band’s other numbers, Wurch plays the Bowie role.)
A performance of “Space Oddity” won Valor a $1,500 first runner-up prize at a Wisconsin State Fair children’s talent competition in August. Valor spent the money on a new Fender Stratocaster, his mother said.
“People all smile when they see him, that’s for sure,” Wurch said. “He might have a future in this. He really loves the music a lot.”