MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas — There’s a future guitar hero in the making in Montgomery County. As he gets deeper into the instrument and the music, he wants to make sure other kids in his community get that same chance.
Montgomery High School senior Jake Bednarsky can’t remember a time when music wasn’t a big part of his life.
“My dad was playing Van Halen for me on the radio when I was about 4, and I’ve loved music ever since,” he said.
Like his hard rock hero Eddie Van Halen, Bednarsky wasn’t satisfied just listening to music. Five years ago, he started playing the guitar himself.
“A lot of hours in my room just practicing and a lot of hours at band practice, playing gigs,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
The fun continued as Bednarsky founded his own band, Bullethead, and started playing shows around the area. However, his interest in the guitar to another turn when he started building guitars as well.
“The first thing I did, I bought a cheap guitar and I thought it’d be cool if I did the electronics, the pickups on it. So, it really started from there,” he said. “I worked on about four other guitars, then I started building from there. And I enjoy it a lot.”
As Bednarsky continued to build guitars, he decided he didn’t need to keep them all, so he recently donated one of his creations which he calls “Snakey Guitars” to Lone Star Elementary along with a demonstration.
“The guitar comes with a little amp, so I just played for the kids and they enjoyed it and I did too,” he said. “It’s just an awesome feeling. I’ve never felt that. Just playing for them, I enjoyed it a lot.”
Bednarsky now plans to donate a guitar to every elementary school in Montgomery ISD. He said he hopes his work can give the younger students the same love for music he has and for some, maybe even provide a boost in the classroom.
“Guitar is just a good outlet. It gives them something to grab onto. Something to work at,” he said. “There’s something about the guitar, each time you learn something new it’s like a new achievement, and hopefully that’ll transfer over to school.”
Bednarsky is proving to be quite the renaissance man. He’s a good student himself who plans to study mechanical engineering in college. This year, he’s also the captain of Montgomery High School’s golf team.
As for his band, Bullethead, they released their first EP earlier this year.