Isaac Biver Music
Camp staff recently sat down with Isaac Biver to discuss his music and future endeavors.
You come from a big Camp family, how has Camp O impacted your music and life? My first exposure to guitar was through guitar lessons from a Camp friend of my family’s, Jason Valentine. There are also a lot of other Camp friends we have that have supported me in my music throughout the past years, and people that give me all kinds of positive support.
You’ve played music at Camp quite a bit. What is your most memorable experience? Last year at Camp, I made a lot of friends during my CIT year, and a lot of them played music/guitar. I really enjoyed jamming with friends and playing during Mass in the grotto.
Your family seems very supportive of your music; do they help you with bookings or other responsibilities? My family is very supportive of me always, and my parents do such a great job driving me places, getting me to gigs, booking me for gigs, and helping me with things like social media for my music, and getting my name out there.
What was your first experience with music? Before guitar lessons with Jason, I didn’t really have a musical interest. After then, I started to quickly become obsessed.
Who are your musical influences? When I first started, I was really into singing tunes, and when the pandemic hit, I started searching all over the internet/YouTube and started studying the fingerstyle guitar technique for countless hours, and I have so many influences in that realm like Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Merle Travis, Les Paul, Django Reinhardt, many others. I tend not to just love fingerstyle guitar but also all kinds of stuff like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Beck, Mark Knopfler, the list goes on and on.
What or who inspires you? My guitar and musical influences/heroes always inspire me to play and keep learning. When I hear and watch other musicians play also, it inspires me.
Do you have any pre-show rituals? I like to warm up, stretch my fingers, and try to stay calm and have fun with it.
What has been your favorite performance so far? My favorite performance was when I was on Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour in Lexington, Ky., which was a huge thing for me. It is a big TV/radio show that goes all around the world.
Who would you most like to collaborate with? There are too many people to name with whom I would want to collaborate, but I would love to collaborate with Tommy Emmanuel, Laurence Juber, Doyle Dykes, Paul Simon, Duane Eddy, etc.
If you could play any venue in the world, what would it be? The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.
What other instruments do you play? I taught myself Banjo, ukulele and bass guitar. I don’t play too much of them though.
Where do you see yourself musically in 5 years? I see myself living in Nashville, going to a music college in Nashville, doing gigs, collaborating, making records and being a successful musician.
What was the best advice someone gave you when starting as a musician? I have gotten a lot of advice from people to always listen to all kinds of music, have an open mind, and never give up or stop playing and keep enjoying it.
Click Here to learn more about Isaac Biver’s music and upcoming performances.