Being the only Jazz Guitar Student hasn’t Prevented Jared Ferrin from Finding his Place in the Local Music Scene
Jared Ferrin has a unique BYU experience in the School of Music—he is the only student with a jazz guitar emphasis in the string performance major. While this could be isolating, Ferrin has created his own community and found his niche at BYU.
Ferrin views jazz music as a wonderful avenue to create connection. “What’s cool about being a jazz musician is the community is strong although there are multiple different instruments. There are opportunities to be in different music groups so I don’t feel isolated,” he said.
One of Ferrin’s most recent endeavors was playing the banjo on BYU Jazz Legacy Band’s tour to England and Scotland. There he got to play in the Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival and perform at multiple local venues across England. For the tour, Ferrin was asked by a faculty member to learn how to play the banjo. “The music that the Legacy Band plays is so fun,” he said. “I felt like we were really rocking.”
Ferrin has worked to create a musical community outside of BYU as well. He is a member of the Samuel Charles band, a local folk rock band who primarily plays at venues in Provo. Ferrin has friends and colleagues who host acoustic nights and song writing groups where local musicians can gather and share their latest works. He said, “I feel like we’ve created a really cool community of songwriters and musicians around Provo. Provo has a lot of good music and a lot of great songwriters.”
Ferrin’s goal after BYU is to continue to write and record music. He produced his own demo album with 10 original songs in 2022. Although the process of producing music involved vulnerability, Ferrin felt that it was important to share the songs he had written. “I wanted to make something and release it just to dip my toe in the water instead of holding on to the songs forever.”
Ferrin feels very grateful to the BYU music program for all the opportunities it has afforded him. “I feel like the valuable thing [the program] has given me is the connections to a good group of friends who are also dedicated musicians. It’s been a shortcut to meeting all these cool people.”