- April 19, 2024
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Hammock MusicFest scholarship winner James Stup. Courtesy Photo
Hammock MusicFest scholarship winner Dallas Rinek. Courtesy Photo
The Hammock Musicfest is one of those events where you can have a good time while making a difference in someone's life.
The Musicfest is scheduled for 4 to 10 p.m., Sept. 6, at Bing's Landing. Tickets are $10, and all proceeds from Musicfest support local aspiring musicians.
James Stup, a 2015 graduate of Matanzas High School and a freshman at the University of North Florida; and Dallas Rinek, a 2011 graduate of St. Joseph Academy in St. Augustine and a senior Florida Atlantic University, are the scholarship recipients this year.
The musical lineup features The Stacy Mitchhart Band from Nashville, TN, Eddie Uzzle & Parallel of Daytona Beach, Kenny & the Jets of St. Augustine, and The Jeremy & Andrea Mix (The Jam). Stup and Rinek will also perform.
“I will be playing a couple of songs, two or three depending on the time allotted,” Rinek said. “I will play a cover and one or two of my own works. People want to hear what they know. The cover song might be Badfish by Sublime, it's beachy and one of my favorites.”
Rinek started out majoring in business but switched to a commercial music major, specializing in composition and classical guitar. He described his music as soft rock and reggae.
“My goal is to be able to write and compose music for other artists as well as produce and record my own music,” Rinek said. “Hopefully I can find a balance between the two and make a career out of it.”
Being awarded the scholarship was a big first step to realizing his dream.
“Being chosen out of all of the people who applied made me feel that people thought I was worth supporting. It was a nice surprise.”
Stup has played the saxophone for the past six years in middle and high school. In high school he was in the Florida State University TriState honors jazz band, and the recipient of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award. He frequently sat in at the Jazz Club 727 at European Village.
“I've known for the past five years I want to make it my career,” Stup said. “The scholarship is going toward my education at UNF.”
“I have played in two professional bands, Jim Miller's Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and the Milt Farrow Jazz Band,” Stup said. “I am looking at a career in performance and private teaching.”
After only a week at UNF he was already auditioning.
“I will be playing in a jazz combo at UNF and I am auditioning to enter the large jazz ensemble and concert band,” Stup said.
At the Musicfest he will perform with one of the groups.
“I will be playing with the blues band,” Stup said. “I will meet with them before the performance, sit in and go for it.”
