December 29, 1999

Avery far from undecided about music

19-year-old Traverse City resident self-publishes his own compact disc

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Not much out of the ordinary here: 19 years old, college freshman, avid musician with big dreams for the future. Probably thousands of music majors at campuses around the country fit that description, all with stars in their eyes.
      Justin Avery can take it one step further. Head over to Borders Books and Music or New Moon Records and you will find his CD on the shelf, a self-published compilation of songs Avery composed, arranged and performed. Avery released Undecided last August just days before heading off to study at Western Michigan University.
      The disc is the crowning achievement of his stellar high school career, where he was pivotally involved in everything musical at Traverse City West Senior High School.
      "This CD is a dream come true," said Avery, who decided at the beginning of his senior year to publish a CD before leaving for college. "It involves a lot of different styles from funk to Led Zeppelin to jazz, throw that all together and you have something really different."
      Undecided is truly a home grown product. Avery wrote most of the pieces during high school, many during his senior year, and they reflect his journey through school musically and personally.
      The CD also features appearances by Avery's closest friends, who he has been playing with for years, including Dave Luther and Adam Landfair on saxophone and Mike Root on trumpet. One selection is a live recording of the finale from the High School Music Boosters concert last year. He wrote this song just for the occasion to allow him and all his musical friends to pay tribute to the parents and teachers who had supported them through the years.
      "Having all my best friends on it made the CD that much more special," Avery said. "Like I learned in choir in tenth grade: one person can only do so much, think about what 10 people can do or what 60 can do."
      Except for the live cut, Avery recorded the disc's other songs either in a basement studio in his parents' Garfield Township home or at school. He used basic equipment of two microphones and an 8-track tape recorder. Avery also was able to include a few earlier pieces he had recorded on cassette tape, thanks to the wonder of modern recording technology that enhances the good sounds and diminishes unwanted noise.
      These technological recording feats were courtesy of Avery's friend Zach Pavlov, who worked computer magic on the tapes to give them CD quality sound. Pavlov fed the master recordings into a computer in the school's music director's office, tweaking as needed.
      The resulting digital file was then used to press the 200 discs in the initial run. Despite minimal marketing by Avery, who left for college just days after his disc debuted, he is pleased to have already reached the break-even point for his investment.
      Avery credits the school's music director, Russ Larimer, as being an excellent teacher, mentor and inspiration for both the CD and his musical development over the years. From the beginning, Larimer supported the idea of recording a disc and helped in any way possible.
      "Mr. Larimer made my dream come true; he had faith in me and told me what had to happen to do this," said Avery, who aspires to a professional music career as a composer and performer. "He is a wonder, the things he does is amazing. He believes in something so much that everybody follows him."
      Of course, his family laid the foundations for him. Larry and Dianne Avery were itinerant musicians in their own right 25 years ago. They were on the road for more than four years playing with their band, Park Avenue, from coast to coast before they settled down in Traverse City to raise a family.
      They are now co-owners of Dill's Olde Towne Saloon; one of the side benefits is performing with the in-house Dills Family Band. The senior Avery started the band seven years ago to fill the saloon's slow Wednesday nights, dusting off the guitar he had packed away years ago. Justin, their oldest son, sang and played drums and keyboards with the band for four years before heading off to college, solidifying his love of performing.
      His father knows some of what is ahead for Justin, having traveled a similar road in his youth. But he sees the talent, focus and determination in his son and believes he can achieve anything he sets his mind to.
      "I stand in awe of his imagination in writing the songs," Larry Avery said. "And then he orchestrated the whole CD, playing all the instruments except the horns. At 19, I had no idea of what I was going to do. But Justin is not a typical freshman, he's very focused on what he wants to do in his life."