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Alter tailing lessons lur four or five years and entertaining at family gatherings, Benyo realized that he could make music his future. Practice turned serious. He composed and arranged music. He soon accepted jobs from whatever organization or business would hire him to play.
Ironically, his first job as a pianist for retirement homes throughout Northern Virginia is a treasured memory.
“Sometimes, the best thing you do with your talent is not the much enjoyable, but I had no problem playing for nursing homes,* said Benyo, who made $35 an hour. “That’s where I learned to perform. Everyone has to start somewhere - open mikes, not asking for money. I didn’t play pop in an Irish dancing place. I learned to play things that I didn’t really like to play, but they wanted to hear it. I don’t get stressed out when I performed.”
Well, almost never.
About two months ago, Benyo landed a gig at Borders Books in VJarrenton. This would be his introduction to a new community, he thought.
So, he hauled his equipment from his home in Castleton to the store and played his music. When only a handful of people showed any enthusiasm for his efforts, Benyo thought he had disappointed the Borders management.
“What I thought was a disaster,” he said, “was probably a big move for me and my career.”
Benyo heard just a smattering of applause from those who came to see and hear him. What he did not realize was that there were people drinking coffee upstairs and others browsing through the thousands of books and CDs downstairs who also enjoyed his performance.
So, Benyo will entertain the Borders faithful again Friday and Saturday. His Friday performance includes a special reception for area teachers. Saturdays gig will be a two-hour show.
“What music is now is not what it will be in five years from now. What’s popular now is not what will be popular then,” Benyo said. “Where I come from, you like rock or rap. You don’t like both. And I was having trouble fitting in there.”
Looks as if his relocation to Rappahannock County is a perfect fit.
***
Over the past several days, Benyo has spent some of his free time writing down the lyrics from his Searching For The Sound CD, as well as Fallen, a new single that he will place on a new CD slated for a January or February 2007 release.
For a young man who composed music to inspire others, he soon found himself finding comfort in what he wrote. He dedicated Fallen to his mother, who never got the chance to hear his completed Searching. CD.
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