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Grant Argent Plays with Jazz Musicians, Chases His Dream

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By Maddie Adams, Yearbook Co-Sports Editor

Being able to live your dream so early on is something that not a lot of people get to say they do, but Grant Argent gets to do just that as a junior in high school. Argent started playing guitar in middle school when he was about 13. He started doing his first gigs at The Rack House in Cottleville when he was 16 which is where he worked at the time. He told his family and friends about it so they could go to see him perform because according to Argent those are his biggest supporters. Little did he know that because of playing at his work he would get involved with something that would lead him to do bigger and better things with his talents.

“Grant works really hard at music so these opportunities he’s been given are well deserved,” his friend James Wersching said.

After playing a few gigs at the Rack House, Argent wanted to do more with music. He got involved with a program called Jazz U in St. Louis. The Jazz U is a program where millionaires and billionaires sponsor kids just like Argent to keep jazz music alive in this generation. He played for these millionaires and billionaires at the Bellerive Country Club, and because he impressed this group with his music, Argent gets to go to some of these people’s houses and perform for them. For example, he played for David L. Steward who was the founder of World Wide Technology and a big supporter of the arts in St. Louis.

“The first time I was asked to play with any of these people for an audience, I was so nervous because I always overthink about what I need to play or what I need to do on stage, but now after doing so much I just get up on the stage and have fun with it,” Argent said.

Argent was adopted at an agency called Dylan International, which is where grammy award winning sax musician Eric Marientha adopted his kid from also. Lucky for him, Argent’s dad, Guy Argent, was able to get in touch with Marientha who invited Grant to play with him and Michael Silverman for a charitable event for the adoption agency.

“I’ve always been very proud of Grant, and I am very grateful and happy for the opportunities like being able to play with Eric Marienthal and I hope he has more,” Guy said.

Argent has been able to compete in competitions for school for his music, and this year he got third in state for jazz guitar. As of right now, Argent is preparing to do many more things involved with music. He is preparing for a gig where he gets to play with jazz musicians who are his age and are also involved with the program Jazz U. He also gets to open for Terrel Stafford, Cyrus Chesnut, Stefon Harris and Rodney Whitaker who are all well known jazz artists. With Argent only being 17, he said he learned a lot from these experiences that he’ll carry with him.

“I hope I get to the place where whenever musicians need someone to open up for them or play for them, they’ll hit me up,” Argent said. “From all I have done so far, what I have gotten out of this is that playing for important people and with important people has been an amazing experience and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me.”