Temple Beth El hosts an Independence Day event each year with live music and food, and for several years, the featured performer has been local fiddle champion and country singer Amaya Rose.
Known as a child prodigy with virtuosic ability on the fiddle, and a clear, bright singing voice, it’s been a few years since Rose visited Santa Maria for a concert. Now 18 years old, she’s been away at school, but is back on the Central Coast, explained banjo player Bill Mirken. They are ready to continue the July 4 tradition at Temple Beth El this year.
Mirken, who is a regular at the temple, has collaborated with Rose since she was 14. The July 4 concert will feature Rose, Mirken, and Ryan McKinley, but “it’s Amaya’s show,” Mirken said.
“She has played at Beth El three or four times,” he said, “and she’s got a whole fan club down there. They just love her.”
Rose and McKinley will trade off on fiddle and guitar, Mirken said, so Rose can strum guitar and sing when not fiddling. Rose sings her own originals along with country and bluegrass standards.
Mirken explained that Rose was schooled in classical music early in her musical education, but took to Americana styles of music because it allowed her the freedom to be creative and play more than what’s written on a page. Growing up on a Paso Robles ranch, she played a lot in jam circles, he said, often with gray- or white-haired bluegrass pickers.
“She’s very comfortable being around people three and four times her age,” he said, “and she relates well with them and they just enjoy her. She’s got a personality unlike most teenagers.”
Rose definitely knows how to make an impression, especially on professional musicians. She played with Monte Mills and the Lucky Horseshoe Band at the age of 9, Mirken said, and after that was asked to join the band.
But most impressively, Rose was asked to play as an opening act for none other than Merle Haggard and The Strangers in 2014.
“She’s the most magnificent musician I’ve ever seen,” Mirken said. “It astounds me that she’s willing to play music with me because I am nothing compared to her. She’s special, and there’s not too many special people like that around here.”
The concert at Temple Beth El is a bluegrass concert, Mirken said, but they will play some country songs too, and Rose will play one original. There won’t be a whole lot of “patriotic songs,” he said, but they’ll focus on Americana style music that most will recognize, like Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” or Elvis Presley’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”
But no matter what they perform, Mirken knows that Rose is going to bring her astounding skill to the show.
“She’s just phenomenal,” he said. “Everyone who meets here and hears her play just can’t get enough.”
Managing Editor Joe Payne never fiddled with the violin. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 6, 2017.