The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Jared Wentrick an All Star guitarist
Jared Wentrick trying out for ‘America’s Got Talent’
WATERVILLE >> Jared Wentrick recalled it was a case of sibling rivalry that inspired him to pick up a guitar when he was 12 years old.
“My sister wanted to play and I was jealous so I said I wanted to also,” Wentrick, now 17 and a senior at Waterville Central School, said.
His first guitar was a $100 Fender Squier, an axe he spent the entire summer doing chores like weed eating to earn the money to buy. Wentrick took some lessons, taught himself some additional technique, and learned Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall Part II” as his first song. He now plays with not one but two area bands, Against All Odds and BoCNY.
However, it was a third combo that recently earned him instant recognition throughout Central New York.
Three months ago, the Oldies 96.1 WODZ radio station was looking for an interactive and festive way to get their listeners more involved in the music. Their promotion plan was to have area music fans put together the firstever Keith James All Star Band -headed up by their morning show deejay Keith James on keyboards -- through online voting.
Wentrick, the son of Bonnie and Craig Wentrick of Waterville, said his mom was the first to hear about the contest. They made sure Wentrick was old enough to be a part of it, and his campaign quickly evolved to a big rally of family and friends spending substantial time at their computers for the week of online voting for him.
“That was the most stressful week I ever had,” Wentrick admitted, recalling how he followed pretty closely the voting as it was tabulated during that week.
The day voting ended, Wentrick received a Facebook message from James telling him he won, as well as what he called a “screaming phone call“from his mother. He ended up the top of 26
nominees for the guitarist spot in the band with a whopping 52 percent of the 18,000 votes cast. The band made their first appearance together -without so much as a single rehearsal -- in a jam in front of a packed house at Cavallo’s Restaurant in New Hartford on Nov. 7.
In addition to James, Wentrick was joined by Kelly Preston of Hot Roxx, a former Waterville Central School student herself, on lead vocals; Walt Butler of Gridley Paige on bass; and Ken Race of Downshift on drums.
The party started with opening sets by Against All Odds -- also featuring Zach Brown on vocals and synthe- sizer, London Rowland on drums and percussion, Brandon Brault on guitar and Andrew Deitz on bass -- followed by Downshift and Hot Roxx.
Then the Keith James All Star Band took the stage for a set of classic rock covers including “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Hot Stuff,” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “Old Time Rock ‘n‘ Roll,” and “Livin‘ on a Prayer.” Wentrick said he got the set list about a week before, and admitted afterwards he had never played any of those songs before. He also had a school concert only two days before that gig where he played with three separate acts as well as performing a solo of his own, so he had to learn all of the All Star Band songs in just the couple of days before their Cavallo’s debut.
As the All Star that he is, Wentrick pulled it all together and made a big impression on the crowd as he jammed with bandmates all older than himself.
“It was definitely a great experience to play with different musicians outside of my element,” Wentrick said. “The scariest but best part at the same time was that it was a jam, so it was totally unrehearsed. It was a great time and the exposure was good, too … I got a lot of compliments from it.”
Wentrick is not resting on that accomplishment, however. Even as this paper goes to press he is in Manhattan this weekend for an audition for “America’s Got Talent.” He said he wasn’t sure exactly what to expect in that audition, other than the long wait it will take before he can go before the judges, but he was looking forward to the opportunity.
After he graduates in June, Wentrick plans to go to college for music. He hasn’t decided exactly where yet, but said he is considering heading to either Potsdam, Berkeley, or Fredonia.
BoCNY, also featuring Aaron Davis on vocals and guitar, Ken McConnell on bass and backing vocals, and Allen “Elby” Miller on drums is playing Nov. 27 at Club Aqua in Bridgewater and Nov. 30 at Mr. McGills in Utica. Meanwhile, Against All Odds will soon release their first disc, a five-song EP of all original songs they are finishing up right now.
For more information on either group, call Wentrick at 941-8603 or log on to www. facebook.com/AgainstAllOdds.Utica.NY or www.facebook.com/BoCNY