At the beginning of the spring semester, OCCC Coordinator of Music Michael Boyle approached 19-year-old student Daxton Clemons with an offer. An orchestra would be performing at Oklahoma Christian University on March 12, and Boyle needed a guitarist with a specific style to accompany a larger production. Clemons accepted the offer to be a metal guitarist for the orchestra.
Clemons has been playing the guitar for about six years, starting at the age of 13. He credits his father for encouraging him to pick up the instrument.
As a young teen, Clemons learned that one of his friends had received a drum kit and felt excited about learning how to play. He told his father, who encouraged him to try out an old guitar that they had lying around the house. The young Clemons felt hesitant, uncertain if he would really enjoy playing.
Following some debate, however, Clemons agreed to sit with the instrument for five minutes to see if he would like to play. After eight hours passed without Clemons ever putting the guitar down, it became obvious that he would develop a passion for the instrument.
Over the years, some moments would stand out as highlights for the young guitarist as he began playing for crowds of people. Audience members have swayed with their flashlights to the beat of the music and scrambled to grab guitar picks that he tossed out to onlookers.
After all, Clemons reached those moments because he recognized the true meaning of making music.
“Music,” he declared, “is just a way to get feelings out that you can’t do with words.”
While Clemons has played in bands for years, his recent concert with the orchestra was his first professional performance with a large group of musicians. At first, he felt a twinge of doubt about how his sound would mix with the group. But after the first rehearsal, he felt welcomed and ready. He even found a way to put his own style into the solo that he was set to perform.
Clemons has a band, Abomasum, that is preparing to play live shows and a solo project, dB0, where he serves as both a guitarist and a vocalist. Balancing these creative endeavors with school and work keeps him occupied but never overworked. That’s because each facet of his life is centered around music, since he studies music at OCCC and also works as a guitar tutor.
Even now, Clemons still recognizes how difficult it can be to pick up a new instrument. So he shares advice with his students and peers that is designed to motivate them.
“If you’re learning an instrument and it gets hard, don’t put it down,” he urged. “The fact that it’s getting hard just means that you stumbled across something that’s going to make you better.”
