Gigs line up for zealous muso

Wanganui 17-year-old Jeremiah Peipi got himself a spot on TV when he won a talent quest during the Ratana celebrations in January.

The Year 12 Wanganui City College student played a guitar solo at the competition. His talent caught the eye of one of the organisers of the National Waiata Maori Music Awards.

He's been asked to play in the opener of the fourth annual awards tomorrow night, in the Hawke's Bay Opera House in Hastings. The show will be filmed and shown on Maori TV next week.

The band Jeremiah, which his younger brother Daniel and four friends were in, has twice won the Smokefreerockquest in Wanganui, but never reached the nationals. Mother Hinerangi Peipi says this may have been because the group didn't have the skills to make a flash video of themselves.

Whatever the reason, the boys became disheartened and Jeremiah said he would have to try to persuade them to make another attempt next year.

Perhaps for that reason, he is keen to stand out on Thursday.

"I just want to get noticed and out there. Famous, so I can show the world what I have," he said.

The awards will be challenging because he will be playing Maori waiata with a house band and violinist and his usual style is modelled more on Joe Satriani. But he practised the waiata with college music teacher Andrew Wetherall on Monday and nailed it.

Jeremiah started playing drums at the age of 9 and guitar at 13. He learned by listening and practice, and took music at school. He said he played for about an hour every day because it made him feel better.

His mum said she sang and played piano and guitar. The boys' father was a left-handed, upside-down bass guitar player. Their grandfather played a whole list of instruments.

She bought her six children three guitars and a piano, and played music right through her pregnancies.

"Their whole life was just music," she says.