Whiz Kid Strums up Praise

Tommy Porter

School: Entering sophomore year at

Accomplishment: Eric Kozlowski said he and other staff members at have taken notice as Tommy Porter of Oak Park has continued to take lessons and participate in the music shop's events. "We have watched him progress greatly in his music over the years, and he continues to impress us," Kozlowski said. Tommy also has attended the Rock 'N' Roll Band Camp for the past four years.

No stranger to music

Tommy, 15, always has been into music, he said. He has been playing guitar since the fourth grade and has been singing in a choir since fifth grade. He takes lessons at Berkley Music Co. once a week and can be seen in the shop often, sitting in a room learning from an instructor, strumming a guitar or talking with fellow musicians.

Tommy said his favorite way to play music is to pick up a guitar. He is influenced by "jazz and the classics," he said, and will be joining jazz band this year at Berkley High School.

Berkley Music Co. offers more than 20 instructors who teach stringed, brass and "pretty much any instrument someone wants to learn," Matt Read said. Instructors include local touring musicians, he said, playing with such bands as the Howling Diablos and Sponge.

"You can learn theory, you can learn how to write, or it can be as simple as, 'Can you teach me this song?' " Read said.

Berkley Music also instructed youths at the , which allowed youths to practice being in a band and gave them experience picking out and learning songs as well as participating in rehearsals. At the end of the week, the campers presented a concert at the rec center.

Tommy said he has gone to the camp for four years.

"Camp is great," he said. "It allows us to try to set things up for a band."

And he's taking that lesson to heart. Tommy and three other campers have begun rehearsing as a group that plays blues and rock.

There is no lead singer, said Tommy, but the group eventually may seek one. For now, he said, they just like playing a variety of sounds, and it would be difficult to sing along to the "extravagant guitar" riffs the band creates, he said.

"We just try to do anything," he said.

Key to awesomeness: "He practices his instrument as much as possible and keeps working to improve his playing," Kozlowski said, adding that Tommy is "very friendly and is always happy to help others."