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Dallas International Guitar Festival award, Grammy Camp among Cullins' achievements

This year for Fallbrook musician Anthony Cullins has included taking first place at the Dallas International Guitar Festival's 10 Under 20 competition, playing at Don's Celebrity Theater in Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino Celebrity Theater in Laughlin, Nevada and attending the 2018 Grammy Camp in Los Angeles.

"I'm just playing all over the place," Cullins said.

Cullins, who turned 17 in December, was one of 10 contestants in the 10 Under 20 contest May 6 at Dallas Market Hall. Each contestant played one song of his or her own choosing. "I'm from California and I was going to play Texas, so I did a surf song," Cullins said.

The guitarists were allowed to use a medley as a single song, and Cullins' song was a medley utilizing Pipeline and Miserlou.

The contestants were judged on technique and stage presence. Cullins was selected as the winner. "It was just an honor, and it was really shocking," he said.

Cullins noted that his competitors also provided high-quality performances. "None of them were slouches," he said. "All of the kids there actually knew what they were doing."

Cullins relished being on the stage with such talented colleagues. "It was really cool to be a part of that," he said. "It was really an honor, just a good experience."

Jimmy Wallace and David Malone are the organizers of the Dallas International Guitar Festival. Cullins attended the National Association of Music Merchants convention in January at the Anaheim Convention Center and met Wallace and Malone. "We just started talking about guitars and stuff and just hit it off," Cullins said.

Wallace and Malone informed Cullins of the 10 Under 20 contest as well as the festival itself. "It was definitely like a huge thing," Cullins said of the festival.

His performance at the Dallas International Guitar Festival would have been his first show outside of California, but Cullins joined the Six String Society for five nights at Don's Celebrity Theater so his April 11-15 performances were his first outside of his home state.

"It was really a lot of fun," Cullins said of playing in Laughlin.

Cullins is legally too young to be a casino patron. "There were no issues. It was all figured out," he said. "It all went smoothly."

What Cullins didn't expect was to meet a patron from Fallbrook – who was unaware that local musicians were performing. "There were so many people there that didn't know about the show," he said.

The Six String Society still attracted an audience. "There were just people from all over," Cullins said. "People are paying money to get into these events, so obviously they really want to be there."

Don's Celebrity Theater differed from local venues in how much of an audience Cullins had. "It's definitely bigger crowds," he said.

"It's been a lot of fun," Cullins said of playing in Laughlin. "Everybody I met there were really cool."

The Grammy Camp was at the University of Southern California and is a music industry camp for high school students. "You have to apply and you have to hope you get picked," Cullins said. "You just hope you get the call back."

The application includes a video essay. "I just talked about why I want to be in the music business track and how I would benefit from it," Cullins said.

Cullins submitted his essay in November and was notified of his acceptance in March. He was one of 87 high school students from 21 different states selected for the July 17-21 Grammy Camp. "I was really stoked to be accepted," he said.

The Grammy Camp program has eight different tracks: audio engineering, electronic music production, instrumental performance, music business, music journalism, songwriting, video production and motion graphics, and vocal performance. Cullins had also attended the 2017 Grammy Camp. "Last year I took a guitar track and this year I took a music business track," he said.

"It was really an honor to go there again because I learned so much the year before," Cullins said. "I knew I was going to take away so much from it."

Attending for a second year but on a different track complemented Cullins' 2017 experience. "I just learned different things than I did last year," he said. "They still apply to each other."

Cullins noted that he was among dozens of young musicians seeking a career in the industry. "You're surrounded by people who have the same drive you do," he said.

"The staff is really cool, really helpful, and really easy to talk to," Cullins said. "It's just really cool; you get a lot out of it."

Cullins was born at Tri-City Hospital and is a lifelong Fallbrook resident who attended William Frazier Elementary School and Potter Junior High School. He is now a senior at Mission Vista High School.

Cullins formed his first band, Lucid, when he was 12. He was in Lucid for approximately a year and then formed a band called the Vigilantes. He formally uses Anthony Cullins for his solo projects but is also known as The Fallbrook Kid. Cullins released an extended play album in spring 2016, and in April 2017 he released his first full CD which is titled "Hittin' All Cylinders".

Between his Dallas International Guitar Festival and Grammy Camp activities Cullins joined Fallbrook musician Casey Hensley's band for the June 16 Julian Blues Festival, and Cullins also was with Hensley for the Sept. 1-2 Long Beach New Blues Festival.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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