Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Zach Kline has two major passions; of course one is football, the other is music.
He first picked up a guitar when he was eight years old and fell in love with playing and writing songs. He only took lessons for a few months, finding that playing in bands taught him more.
His first band, Way Past Bedtime, was formed when Kline was just in Grade 5. They stayed together all the way through high school. shifting genres from rock to hardcore punk.
That was the last time he had performed before this summer in Edmonton. His girlfriend encouraged him to play at an open mic night. He was nervous and shaking on stage, despite the fact he had performed before. But this time, it was his original blues music, and not punk.
View photos of Kline in the gallery below.
In his punk years, Kline said he would scream into the microphone.
“No one understood what I was saying, only me,” Kline said of his punk rock days. “So the more songwriting stuff I was playing was only me in my room, recording on GarageBand. This was the first time where I was like, ‘OK, people are going to be able to understand my words and my feelings and my thoughts.'”
Get breaking National news
It was after that night that he met a number of blues musicians in Edmonton and formed The Zach Kline Band. The group played a number of sets and finished recording an album before he headed home to the U.S. for the off-season.
“I’ve got about 20 original songs of mine that I can play and teach people and record,” Kline said. “Out of those, we’re doing the four best… that I think are my four favourites that can highlight what we can do.
“This is like a passion… I do love it a lot, but music should always be for fun. I love it because there’s no competition in music, or there shouldn’t be.”
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers prospect has passion for music
Watch below: (From September 2018) When Cooper Marody isn’t concentrating on hockey, the Edmonton Oilers prospect works to fulfill his passion for music. Kevin Karius explains.
Comments